My Oregon Sunstone Adventure!

Sunstone - The Oregon State Gem

Oregon Sunstones have been on my bucket list for several years. These unique gemstones are found in south-central Oregon and are a true PNW original. As the official state gemstone, they contain tiny particles of copper that give them a striking red or green shimmer, making them truly one-of-a-kind.

I first heard about Oregon Sunstones years ago from a friend who had found some beautiful specimens. Ever since, I’ve been researching and scheming about when to make the trip to hunt for them myself. It’s a long drive, so carving out the time hasn’t been easy, but I was determined to make 2026 the year it finally happened.

When I mentioned the idea to my wife, daughter Holly, and her fiancé Anthony, they were immediately excited and wanted to join the adventure. We suddenly had a full crew!  As a side note, I was getting so antsy that I nearly headed down to Plush, OR, solo the weekend before. Holly caught wind of my crazy plan and quickly shut it down—she was going, and I wasn’t going without her. We opened our calendars and locked in the dates.

The plan was set: Leave on Tuesday, drive down to Lakeview for the night, then head through Plush and along 30 miles of dirt road to the public collection area. After hunting there, we’d visit the Spectrum Mine to dig through their pay dirt. Holly and Anthony were able to leave a day early and camp near the collection area. They scouted the public site on the same day my wife and I drove to Lakeview. It worked out perfectly, they got the lay of the land before we even arrived!

We pulled into Lakeview around 5:30 p.m. and met up with Holly and Anthony. Over dinner, we admired their haul from the public area and finalized plans for the next day. We’d leave by 5:30 a.m., make the 90-minute drive, and start hunting in the early morning light.

We found lots of small sunstones in the public collection area.

Our plan came together flawlessly. We reached the public collection area around 7 a.m. and drove as far as the road allowed, right back to the promising spot Holly and Anthony had found. Almost instantly, sunstones glistened on the ground in the morning sun. We quickly filled a sandwich bag with smaller stones, then moved to another area where we found slightly larger, even more beautiful specimens. The first part of our adventure could not have gone better.

We found a few larger ones in the public area too.

The public area is well picked over by visitors, but there are still thousands upon thousands of tiny sunstones scattered across the ground. Just wandering a little farther from the main spots, you can easily find all you want, with the occasional bigger prize mixed in. It was incredibly fun, and we gathered plenty of these sparkling little gems.

Entrance to the Spectrum Sunstone Mine

At 9 a.m., we headed to the Spectrum Sunstone Mine. This working mine lets visitors, for a fee, sift through their prime material. We spent several hours working a pile of dirt before moving to their famous conveyor belt, which processes about an hour’s worth of gravel and drops it out for easy picking.

Sifting through paydirt at the mine.

The sunstones at both the pay dirt pile and the conveyer belt were noticeably higher grade than what we found on the public land, with vibrant red and green colors. The beautiful “schiller”—those fiery red copper flakes that give the stones their name and glow—is exactly what we were after! We even found a few rare green ones, which are among the most prized discoveries.

The conveyor belt is where we found our best sunstone!

We had an amazing day combining free public collecting with paid mining, and we walked away with an outstanding haul of beautiful gems.

Our best sunstones from the conveyer belt!

It was another unforgettable day in the incredible Pacific Northwest.

Thanks for reading,

Bill