Central Oregon Searches

I'm lucky enough to live in Central Oregon, which is one of the best places in the country to find geodes, thunder-eggs, and other beautiful formations that the heavy, prehistoric volcanic activity has created for us. A simple walk through BLM land near the town of Prineville can reward you with some spectacular, and sometimes rather sizable, beauties. You might even need to mark your spot on a GPS and come back with a wheelbarrow!
Central Oregon rock-hounding is an adventure in an adventure. See the sites, find some treasure! There's even a geode haven north of Madras called Richardson's Rock Ranch, with the Priday Agate Beds buried inside. Here's a few goodies I found while looking there myself.

I really like the five-point star pattern, which I'd never seen before. These all have yet to be polished, but you can see there's some real gems. The one on the left is still hiding it's glory, but once I cut it open... You can see there's a little poking through on the top, right.
These and many other trinkets in Central Oregon are waiting for your eyes to spy them.

McKenzie River Finds

The McKenzie River winds from the cascades towards the Pacific. Oregon Highway 126 follows the river for a large part of its' length. Parking on the side of the highway gives access to many great rocky beds along the way, and some campgrounds are set perfectly for a weekend of camping and rock-hounding.

The nice find above is my largest solid agate to date. Luckily, my super-vision was on that day, because only a spot about two inches around was showing on the surface. I had to dig this one out, and dig, and dig... I think it weighs a good 15 pounds! Again, I wait for the day I can get it cut and polished to see what it looks like inside.

Jewels from the John Day River

A little east of Central Oregon is a river called the John Day. Winding through rocky channels and rolling farmland, this is some beautiful country to see. Over the years, the river has ground away those rocky cliffs, leaving numerous areas of rocky riverbeds that are great hunting grounds for geodes and crystals that were buried for millennia. Many of these areas are accessible by car or a short hike from the parking area, but my favorite way to get to most all of them is by indulging in a nice float down the river. Here's a link to the current river flow level.

The pic shows a few of the many beauties I pulled from the banks of the John Day. The top, right rock is a nice piece of tumbled petrified wood! The middle, top agate has a really nice blue tint to it, and the baseball shows just how large the finds can be! When I can finally afford a cutter/polisher that can handle this size of rock, I'll finally get to see the real beauty hidden below the rough outer layers...

Natures Jewelry

Jewelry from the store is usually adorned with gems and gemstones. Why not find those gems yourself? Finding these treasures gives a sense of joy in finding something unique and beautiful to keep for yourself. And they are all truly unique; no two finds will ever be the same.
Agates:
Geodes:

Jasper:

Why Rock-Hounding?

Rock-hounding is one of those activities that anyone can do. All it takes is a drive to the country, and some time to take a nice walk. Not only do you get to explore the great outdoors and see some beautiful scenery, you get to find some treasures to take home with you to remember your journey. Through my explorations, I've found petrified wood, thunder-eggs, crystals, agates, jasper, and many other trinkets.

Part of the adventure is keeping an open mind and open eye. What constitutes a treasure is truly in the eye of the beholder. If you like it, that's all that matters. Over time, you'll also gain a better eye in spotting a prize. Sometimes it will look like a plain old rock, but closer looks will reveal what's hiding inside, or just on the other side. Many finds will come from simply flipping the rock over.

The best part, besides finding the treasure itself, is that there is no pressure whatsoever. If you find nothing one day (which happens rarely for me), you still got to take a nice hike and see some beautiful country. Have fun with it, and see what comes your way.