Rocks, Rock! and Mysterious Minerals
November 14, 2026 · 10:00 AM · Berks County Heritage Center, 1102 Red Bridge Road, Reading · Free, registration required
About the event
Spend a Saturday morning working like a geologist at the Berks County Heritage Center. This hands on program turns everyone into a mineral detective, with samples to examine and simple tools to test them: streak plates, magnifiers, pennies, and nails. Along the way you will learn how specialists identify what they are looking at, how different rocks form, and why minerals can look and behave so differently from one another.
The session is built for curiosity more than background knowledge, so it welcomes kids and adults alike. Expect to handle the materials, compare results, and leave with a better eye for the stones you pass on a trail or in your own backyard.
The program takes place at a historic county park along the Tulpehocken Creek. The grounds include the Gruber Wagon Works, the C. Howard Hiester Canal Center, Wertz's Covered Bridge, Melcher's Grist Mill, an herb garden, and the Distelfink sculpture, with restrooms and picnic tables available, so there is plenty to see if you want to make a morning of it.
