In 1964, Dick Siebenaler, who moved here from Kimball, NE, where he had a small rock shop, bought Cy’s Rock Museum and turned his love of rocks into the famous “Dick’s Rock Museum” which is now a historical landmark for Estes Park. Although educated in geology, his true love was actually hunting the rocks, then cutting and polishing them. For 42 years, Dick, his wife, Marilyn, and their daughters shared their passion for rocks with everyone who visited. The daughters ran the shop for several years after their parents passed on, and sold the shop in 2003 to the current owner, a close friend who had also been a supplier for years. Finding the proper buyer for the shop was a long process, knowing that the shop would have to be in the right hands so the memories would remain. The museum is a collection of agates, petrified woods and a multitude of exotic minerals from around the world, butterfly geodes, coprolites (fossilized dino dung), jewelry and even a display of how rocks look through the stages of being cut and polished. It is quite an eclectic blend of gems and minerals collected by Dick and his family over many years and is preserved here for all to see. Carl Scott and his family had supplied rose quartz to Dick for many years, from the Scott Red Rose Quartz mine in Custer, South Dakota, which has been in Carl’s family since the late 1800′s. The Scott Red Rose Quartz mine is located southeast of Custer and is probably best known for the largest deposits of high quality rose quartz in the United States. It is also one of the few rose quartz mines still in operation. The mine has yielded the most desirable colored rose quartz in the US and is recognized worldwide as a source of deep rose colored quartz. For many years the best material from the mine was sent to Germany and China for carving into ornamental objects and cutting into beads for necklaces and other jewelry. A beautifully carved bowl from rose quartz out of the Scott mine was donated to the Field Museum in Chicago by Edna Scott, wife of Samuel Scott, Carl’s great-grandfather. Carl and his crew are continuing a long tradition of sharing their love of rocks with everyone who visits this historical shop. There is NO admission fee to see Dick’s Rock Museum! We have “Coffee on the Rocks” with free Wi-Fi next door so you can shop, have breakfast, lunch or dinner and enjoy the beautiful views all in one quiet location. You can find us on your way to or from the Rocky Mountain National Park on Highway 36/Moraine Ave. The Big Thompson river sparkles and flows along behind us, Prospect Mountain stands tall and Longs Peak is in the distance, and you can see the Estes Park Aerial Tramway from our shop.
