Here are several lists of useful links as well as book titles that may help you explore and learn. I definitely recommend doing your own research about any and all regulations where you travel and camp. The same is true of doing any mineral, animal, or planet collecting. These lists will grow over time.
Government
- National Park Service www.nps.gov
- Bureau of Land Management http://www.blm.gov
General Sciences
- Phys.org – An amazing site that takes all recently published scientific studies, across a vast array of subjects, and puts them into a summarized form. Some stuff gets a little PhD heavy, but it stretches the brain!
Geology/Mineral Collecting
- http://www.thediggings.com A useful sight for gathering information about who owns the mineral rights and the location of mineral claims.
- http://www.mindat.org Great information on mining sites and districts, the map feature is super helpful! Also contains a magnificent gallery of minerals.
- www.macrostrat.org A wonderful site that has a large scale interactive geologic map of the US, with general information on each layer, including links to all USGS literature on every layer shown.
Books
- Roadside Geology to (Name of State)- Each volume is separate state (California is broken into two), and they are broken down by highway. Excellent guides for people who have no previous geologic experience, as the first few chapters give you all the tools you need to understand the rest of the guide.
- Geology Underfoot- Broken down more by a region in a state, these volumes get a bit more in depth.
- The Monkey Wrench Gang– Edward Abbey’s classic eco-crusader novel, a hilarious read on a wander through the Desert Southwest. You can’t go wrong with his prose…