Thundereggs oregon where to find

In addition to thundereggs, there are good picture jaspers and petrified wood here that you should keep an eye out for. Take the beautiful drive through Leslie Gulch to reach the upper end of the Owyhee Reservoir.

This site is basically like Succor Creek; there is so much ground to cover and an abundance of good material. There are thundereggs as well as petrified wood, agates, jaspers, and some fossil specimens. When the reservoir levels are low in the late summer it exposes even more gravels.

This popular access is located between Prineville and Mitchell off of Highway There are some nice picnic areas and campgrounds, and good agate beds that you can dig.

There are dig pits all over this area and there is decent signage to help you find where to look. You can also walk around and explore tailings of the old pits and find some decent material to bring home and cut.

White Rock Campground is just up the road and there are additional pits there as well. There are abundant collecting sites here.

The thundereggs here run smaller than what you will find at the pay-to-dig sites near Prineville, but they have nice agate material and are good prizes. If you really want to get away from the crowds, take a trip out to the Alvord Desert in Southern Oregon and look for nice thundereggs at Pike Creek.

You can search the creek bed, or explore the vast desert and other dry washes around this area. There is good material all over. In addition to decent thundereggs hunting, you can also find decent agate and jasper material too.

Head down to the Lakeview area for an experience away from the crowds. This site is south of Lakeview and just north of the California border. You can also search the gravels of Crane Creek and likely find some good material as well. This is a high elevation site and very remote, so best to save this one for summer.

Go prepared and equipped for a decent hike. This operation has been a rockhounders paradise for over 40 years now. This is a working cattle ranch that also operates a rock shop and several active dig sites where visitors can pay a very modest fee to dig thundereggs. Prices are based on the amount of material that you dig up and keep. There are several different diggings sites on the property.

Some are easier digging, others are difficult digging. Like Oregon, in the state of Washington you also may find a mixture of pay- to-dig sites along with sites located on public lands free and open to responsible collection.

The Little Naches River bed has several sites with high densities of thundereggs and is located on public lands. Located northwest of the town of Yakima, this is a well publicized site open to public rock hounding and collection. Along with thundereggs, a variety of crystals are also regularly found in this area.

While a few sites exist that are well known and sought out sites by collectors, to a curious rockhound, these thundereggs can be found just about anywhere in this area. Some of the favorite and more popular sites include dig sites that have previously upturned earth. These digging sites are fairly noticeable due to all the disturbance and contain ample parking around them. It is without question that Oregon and close behind, Washington, remain the hotspots for thundereggs within the U. With a little bit of research through books and the internet, you can find thundereggs all over the state at diverse sites.

However, there are still other states that one can find and even collect thundereggs in. The Black Agate Hills Geode Bed in the southern California desert is a site that holds some unique thunderegg formations. In this lower Sonoran Desert landscape, rock-hounders are gifted with a unique variety of thunderegg.

This site is not only known for producing on-average, larger thundereggs; but also containing cores that are usually a bold and rich with contrasting light and dark deposits. There are several already dug-up areas where at this site so you can dig around in these areas without feeling to shy about it. For those reluctant or lazy to dig, foraging on the ground surface can also be productive. Getting to this site can requires following a list of directions that can be found online.

Along the rocky slopes for the Florida Mountains in southern New Mexico, near the town of Deming, recreators and rock-hounders flock. Rockhound State Park is an obvious attraction to rock and mineral enthusiasts and is also a popular campground during the spring, winter, and fall seasons. This is one of the few state parks where collection of rocks and minerals is actually supported. While jasper is the most prevalent thing to collect at this site, this state park is also home to: geodes, pearlite, quartz, and of course; thundereggs.

While the site receives quite a bit of visitors, constant erosion is continually unearthing new treasures. After heavy rains can be a good time to see what new rocks and minerals have been revealed. Thundereggs are one of those geological finds that are just really intriguing. Whatever the reason, thundereggs are a natural wonder that has intrigued me since I was a little kid, and they continue to intrigue me.

Have you had a chance to get your hands on a thunderegg? Or even better yet, have you had a chance to go out and dig and cut your own thundereggs? How To Clean Geodes. Search Search for: Search. Menu Search Search for: Search. How Thunder Eggs Are Formed Being a geologic structure and not a pure mineral in itself, thundereggs are formed when a variety of factors are present. How Old Are Thunder Eggs? The solution lined and in many cases filled the cavity molds, first with the darker matrix material, then the inner core of agate or chalcedony.

The beautiful and varying colors were derived from nearby minerals present in the soil. These processes are still going on, but at a much slower rate than during the times of volcanic action, with huge clouds and deposits of volcanic ash rich in silica quartz. Many geologists agree that the materials used by nature in forming these exquisite agate-filled Thundereggs came from the surrounding rhyolite lava rock in which they were formed. The matrix and the agate centers were made and composed by water carrying silica and minerals in solution.

The water by continuous action robbed the rhyolite flows of its rich silica composition, causing it to eventually decompose. The harder more durable agate materials stayed in place.