Customer Reviews

Gem Trails of Oregon

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We haven't lived in Oregon all that long and having a guide that will shorten our search is very helpful. Gem Trails is very accurate with easy to follow maps and many colorful pictures that help to enhance the experience. We checked out areas that are close to our residence and we were not disspointed. We are anxious to explore further.

A super book with good locations and accurate information to get started on rock hounding in all parts of Oregon

This book is very well put together, great pictures, great camping ideas. Very well written and worth the purchase. Those exploring Oregon should definitely check this out!

The information in this book is dangerous. It so so poor, out-of-date and just plain wrong you could get yourself in big trouble going to some of the locations. Many of these areas NEVER WERE open to the public OR are in areas it is illegal to pick up anything, ie: National Park Land or trout habitat in streams.

Here is some comments on this book taken from a true rockhound who knows about Oregon:
Well I am finally fed up with hearing complaints about the book Gem Trails of Oregon by James Mitchell. So I have to stop recommending it to anyone. When I wrote this I had just got back from a week long trip to central Oregon for - you guessed it - rockhounding. I heard three people complain about the inaccuracies and outdated information in Gem Trails, and I prompted none of them. So I am listing all the errors I know of in the 1998 edition (why would anyone revise a book and not even bother to call the phone numbers they list to see if they are still connected? Sheesh!) here. Most of these errors are corrected on my Rock Dig Locations pages and topo maps. Probably the worst thing about the book is that you will waste massive amounts of time at most sites simply because he didn't bother to ASK anybody where the good stuff was. Only the smaller sites and those with big bold signs pointing to the good stuff have adequate directions to the good pits. On all the rest (i.e. McDermitt, Glass Buttes) he found the dug out places and missed the ones where you could fill a bucket with great rock in a half hour.

Many of the same comments apply to The GPS Guide to Western Gem Trails, by David A. Kelty. After buying this worthless book, I compared some of his GPOS waypoints to my own; the results are below. In short, if you ain't been there, don't put a point on a map and say "there it is" and "sites were checked for mineral availability". Yeah right. Just a few of the more egregious errors I found are listed below; there are many more which I won't go into but suffice it to say that your chances are less than 50% of finding the site using that book, for sites I know of in OR/WA/ID.


Gem Trails of Oregon

Page 11
Keenig Creek
There is no "Keenig Creek" sign on highway 6!
Oregon Coast
12
Clear Creek
It is against the law to dig in the stream, or in any salmon bearing stream in the state, for that matter. The entire area is posted and patrolled by Stimpson Lumber. They rarely give permits to dig and only then to rock clubs. The Mt. Hood club hasn't gotten a permit for at least 4 years...
Vernonia Area
22
Quartzville Creek
Site C is a waste of time. Maybe there was something there 20 years ago but not anymore.
Green Peter Area
24
Calapooia River
Site A is a waste of time. There was never any Holley Blue agate in the Calapooia in this stretch and damn little to no wood .
Calapooia River
26
Richardson's Ranch
There never were opal, moss agate, polka-dot, or rainbow agate beds on the ranch. There are moss agate and opal thundereggs. Don't go expecting to pick rock up off the ground. It's simply not true. Mitchell must have been talking to a tall tale teller that day. He sure didn't bother to ask the RICHARDSONS.
Ashwood Area
28
Ashwood
Nobody at the Ashwood PO knows anything. Call Darrell Friend - he's listed in the 541 area code. Thorton (sic) ranch was sold and closed to collectors in the mid-90s. Swanson hasn't allowed collectors since before the first edition was published. Most of the materials listed were never there or were dug out in the 70s. There is no rock shop in Ashwood.
Ashwood Area
32
Eagle Peak
It's Eagle Rock not Eagle Peak. There is nothing in the quarry at the top that can be dug without dynamite and a trackhoe. Trust me I've been there 3 times.
Post-Paulina Area
34
Maury Mountain
The Prineville Chamber of Commerce dropped all their claims before the first edition was published. Quant's and Elkins' Rock Shops had many of these claims before the C of C and have the best information on collecting them (besides ME).
Post-Paulina Area
38
Biggs
Isami Tsubota is well over 90 and almost impossible to get on the phone. He never leaves Biggs so go there and ask at the beater motel past the gas station on the right for him. His house is next door; it's the one with 10 tons of Biggs in the backyard. There is no camping at the motel, and there never was any blue agate there.
Biggs Area
68
Graveyard Point Directions are wrong. There are NO bridges across the canal. This is the worst area to collect at Graveyard.
Owyhee Mountains
97 Pictures The picture labeled Succor Creek picture jasper is of Owyhee picture jasper which is held under private claim. Did you jump Dale's claim Mitchell?
98
Pictures
Snowflake obsidian from Oregon? What are you taking Mitchell?


101
Pictures
Oregon Jade isn't jasper - it's serpentinite


108
Lassen Creek Where do I start? The directions are impossible to follow, and take the longest possible route anyway. Most of the "sites" are a waste of time or simply do not exist.
Lakeview Area
110
Davis Creek Same as Lassen Creek. These two sites and Crane Creek were my most frustrating experiences ever with this book. I threw away the old edition of the book somewhere around Fender Flat. If you find it, it's yours!
Lakeview Area
146
Owyhee Five minutes at the rock shop in Nyssa could have gotten him the real name of this site - Haystack Rock
Negro & Haystack Rocks

150
Succor Creek North Directions stink. These are the worst collecting sites in the area, IMHO.
Owyhee Mountains
172
Crane Creek Directions are flat out wrong. Don't even try getting there with this map. He was definitely more than a little disoriented that day. The picture is of RICHARDSON RANCH EGGS. Duh.
Lakeview Area

This book is pretty accurate and has a fun selection of rock hunting locations to visit.

We've used GToO for years now and are very happy with this new edition. Index & TOC are well written so the book's easy to use. Five appendices have detailed extra info, web links to some outstanding websites, and clear-to-the-layperson detail on the legalities of what can and cannot be collected which I highly recommend for novice collectors.
As someone mentioned, directions can be a bit vague but don't let that stop you - we've always found the sites. In previous editions there was some headscratching and backtracking to find the sites, but author Romaine has added GPS coordinates & better maps, making it much easier.
We don't leave on a collecting trip without this in our gear.

I just made it back from Oregon and a limited visit to several of the many sites listed. The book was copyrighted in 1998 so it's five years old at this writing. I'll take a star off the rating for age. I found several sites listed were now closed. Oregon is growing along with the rest of the west. The author has done a commendable job in detailing locations. If I had two wishes it would be that both the Gem trail guides and the Falcon guides be updated at least every four years. and that the authors include GPS coordinates for the main turn-off and starting collecting point in the site descriptions. If I was traveling a long distance to collect I would call the local rockshops to verify the desired site(s) were still open.

Many thanks to Garret Romaine and Tim Fisher for taking the time and energy to update the information in the book, as well as adding their own expertise. The most recent edition is accurate, the maps and descriptions are updated, and the inclusion of GPS coordinates and information on what each site has are invaluable in planning a day trip for collecting. This book is again worth the investment!

I know, a couple of people have a bee in their bonnets and are having a hissy fit trying to pooh pooh this book. Ignore them. This book is an excellent resource (especially for the small price) to consult in preparing a family trip. We've used it numerous times. We've also used a variety of other materials. For less than the cost of a lunch, we received great value to enhance our outdoors activities. Now, the Washington version of this series, that was a disappointment. That definitely was not money well spent and, in fact, was counter-productive (think wild goose chase).

Love the updated book. We've already made it to several othe places shown in the book. Easy to find and great places to visit.