Yesterday Myself and two other Owhyee Gem Club members ventured into the rugged Owyhee Mountains of Eastern Oregon. For those that are not familiar with the Owyhee Mountains they are situated right on the border with Oregon and Idaho. The Owyhee Mountains are world famous for it’s Owyhee Picture Jasper so thats what was on the menu for the day.
The trip started by heading down highway 95 south about 15 mile from Marsing Idaho to Mcbride Creek. This road is also the back way into Succor Creek for those that are familiar with Succor Creek.
After traveling on Mcbride Creek road for about 10 mile we veered off the beaten path and headed strait in to the heart of the rugged Owyhee Mountains. John was playing the navigator on this trip since he seems to know every road in the area. Just to let anybody that decides to head out in this area the roads are very bad from the heavy snow fall last winter you have been warned!
As we traveled on what I would not even really call a road John pointed out the 3 Fingers Butte in the distance. After going on this trail for about a good 2 1/2 hours we stopped at very isolated canyon with a dry creek bed. We decided to stop and stretch our legs and do what we do best look for interesting rocks. Within minutes John is looking like he just found a hundred pound gold nugget ok maybe not that excited but darn close. This creek bed had more Owyhee Picture Jasper in it than any other rocks. This is one of those collection sites where you just don’t know what to pickup. It is nice to go and collect in a spot that obviously has not been picked over.
Here is one of the pieces of Owyhee Picture Jasper that I collected yesterday. We must have filled our buckets in about 10 minutes with pieces ranging in size from about 1/2 pound up to 15 pounds. This also was just surface material no digging what so ever.
After spending about an hour in this location we headed towards Succor Creek. On the way John pointed out the original Owyhee Picture Jasper mine and a few others in the area. Man now I know why this material is so expensive. Just getting to these locations is hard enough let alone actually mining in 100 degree temperatures.
After driving for about 5 hours total through the Owyhees we finally made it to Succor Creek. I would like to let people know to bring a spare tire and a jack when heading out in this area. The reason why is I’ve been to Succor Creek Park 3 times this year and 2 times I have seen somebody changing a flat tire.
So this bring us to the end of the trip. I would recommend that if you venture in these remote areas your vehicle must have 4 wheel drive and a spare tire. Be careful as if something happens you are a good 20 miles from anything.
This by far had to be the best trip of the season for specimens. I know that a few pieces will have to be made into Cabochons and the rest will probably be tumbled or yard rocks.
Stay tuned for my next field trip which will be to Dismal Swamp Idaho to collect Smoky Quartz crystals and Topaz. Until then enjoy and leave a comment, I love meeting people that enjoy the rockhounding hobby.
8 Responses
Jason Madsen
July 7th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
1Hi Jason,
I enjoyed your comments on the Owyhee jasper. I am new to rock hounding and I have ventured to the McBride Creek area a couple of times. Unfortunately, I have not found more than a few small pieces of petrified wood, and jasper. I am excited to hear that there is still some good collecting sites in this beautifully rugged country. Are you willing to point me in a good direction to go to find some good jasper that I can try cutting into cabs? I would be much obliged.
Thank you,
Jason M.
Jason
July 7th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
2Jason
Thanks for the comment. The best advice I can give is just take a side road in the succor creek area and follow it and check the road for pieces. If you find jasper on the road or on the side start looking around. From what I noticed there is Jasper everywhere in the Owyhees.
Also wanted to point out to everyone that there are mining claims in the area and please respect the law and not claim jump if you happen to find a active mine. Most claims will have posts in the ground on the corners with a possible monument marker in the center of the claim with the paper work.
jon shelton
July 10th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
3Hey Jason I enjoy your site.We met several weeks ago at succor creek. My friend Steve and I were there enjoying the flat tire fix on the dirt bikers truck. Remember? funny stuff. anyways I still have pics of you and John collecting eggs will send soon. I am very interested in your Dismal swamp trip. would love to tag along. Please send info. Would like to check out the jasper site too. The site you reccommended for eggs south and above succor was a big hit. got some nice ones thanx.
Richard Parry
July 20th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
4Jason,
I enjoyed reading about your trip into the Owyhee mountains. My wife and I are visiting Idaho for the summer and need some help collecting.
Today we got some nice thunder eggs from just above Succor Creek Park. Can you help us with finding some nice Owyhee picture jasper? We only need a few pieces.
We drove past McBride Creek road today then turned north towards Succor Creek Park. The views in the canyon were spectacular.
Thanks for any help you can give us.
Jason
July 20th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
5Richard,
It is really hard to give detailed directions since there are roads everywhere in the Owyhee’s. You definitely were at the right place. Explore some of the side roads off of McBride creek road. Look in dry creek beds as all of the pieces I found were located in creeks. Also most of the jasper does not show it’s true colors on the outside, you may want to break some rocks to see whats inside. Hope this helps a little.
Let me know how you do.
David
July 29th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
6Hello! My mother-in-law recently passed away and left a large collection of rocks that she and my father-in-law collected 30-40 years ago. We have a nice pile of what we think is a type of jasper that resembles ocean jasper but is not quite the same. I have not been able to find out what this is. I have one cut piece and lots of uncut. colors range from pale almost buff colored to reds, greens, purples, oranges, yellows, sometimes all on the same piece. If I send you a picture, would you be willing to identify it for me? We are going to sell it on ebay but don’t know how to describe it. Any help would be appreciated!
Alf Hutchison
August 18th, 2008 at 11:26 am
7Hello Jason, I must have spent at least five minutes drooling over the pic of your jasper. I live in Cape Town South Africa and moved here from Rhodesia now Zimbabwe in 1973. If you can bear with an old Rockhound I’ll tell you a tale.
In Jan 1970 I invented a new way of cutting and polishing cabs and had it published in the Jan 1970 issue of Lapidary Journal on page 1364. It caused quite a stir in those days and I lost a worldwide patent to ‘The house of Dior’ and they ran with it for the next few years . I received a phone call from a then senator Carter who purchased four of these cabs including the one in the artical and presented them to the Smithsonian institute. That senator became your president Carter.
After that artical was printed I swopped slabs with many collectors worldwide and that is when I received my first Owyhee jasper and I was hooked from that day onwards . There just is no gem on earth to equal it . I have some cabs and people have asked me who the artist was who painted them, not who orientated the stone to get the best results .
I don’t know how old you are but once bitten by the rock bug it’s got you for life . Enjoy it !!!
Jason
August 18th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
8Alf,
Thanks for the kind words. I here you about the Owyhee Jasper, it is a very beautiful stone and I’m quite fortunate to live so close to it. I have been a rockhound since I can remember I was always looking at rocks and having my family drive down desolate dirt roads not knowing were they may lead.
Jason
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