Crook County calls itself the rockhound capital of the world, and the Forest Service does not argue.
Thousands of rockhounds, pebble puppies and generally curious people come to this corner of central Oregon every year, because the geology packs an unusual variety of rock types into a small area. There are areas free to the public where you can look for agate, jasper, limb cast, petrified wood, moss, dendrite and angel wing, and the collecting ground is managed between the Bureau of Land Management and the Ochoco National Forest.
The Forest Service sorts the material into six major categories: agate, jasper, limb casts, obsidian, petrified wood and thunder eggs. Less common finds run to opal, amethyst, gem quality calcite, cinnabar, selenite and amygdaloid nodules. The Maury Mountains sit inside that country as their own recreation area.
One rule governs all of it and it is not complicated. Rockhound collection sites are for personal use only, and commercial resale is not allowed. Take what you will keep, not what you will sell.
Check the alerts before you drive out, every time. This is fire country and the forest posts closure orders that can shut whole areas at short notice: when these pages were read the Ochoco was carrying a Coyote Fire closure order covering the Maury Mountains, Stage 2 fire restrictions, and a fire danger status of Extreme, alongside separate emergency closures elsewhere on the forest. None of that is permanent and all of it is the difference between a good weekend and a wasted drive.
The Forest Service sells a rockhound map for the area through Avenza, which is worth having, because the free public sites are specific places rather than a general permission to dig anywhere you like on the national forest.
Moss agate, jasper, petrified wood
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
