This Fee-Collecting Site Offers Endless Opportunities for Rockhounds

摘要

Central Oregon, with its great variety of lapidary material, has been a destination for rockhounds for decades. The juniper-covered mountains, canyons and mesas were the center of intense volcanic activity during the Miocene Epoch. Over several million years, the hotspot that now resides beneath Yellowstone Park provided the heat source that gave rise to extensive rhyolite lava and ash eruptions from numerous volcanoes. These silica rich ash and lava deposits are now the source for a large variety of agates, jaspers, thunder eggs, and petrified wood that rock enthusiasts eagerly seek.