Hampton Butte: Petrified Wood & Jasper Rockhounding in Deschutes County, Oregon

Plan your visit

Generally open to casual rockhounding

County

Deschutes County

State

Oregon

Coordinates

43.85697, -120.25442

Coordinates are approximate. Confirm the exact ground in the RockHoundR app, where land overlays show which agency manages the area.

Land & collecting status

Generally open to casual rockhounding

Most public-tagged spots sit on BLM, U.S. Forest Service, or other federal land where reasonable hand collecting of common rocks and minerals is allowed. Confirm posted rules and active mining claims before you dig.

Access note: The collecting ground is BLM public land to the north and east of the butte, with private property to the west and south, so collectors should watch land boundaries. Roads off Highway 20 are unimproved and best driven with a high-clearance vehicle; the Hampton Butte Wilderness Study Area to the southwest is closed to collecting and should be avoided.

Public-land rules vary by agency, season, and field office. The RockHoundR app pulls live BLM, USFS, NPS, and tribal overlays so you can see exactly which agency manages the ground at this spot.

Best time to visit Hampton Butte

Comfortable months (45 to 90°F highs)

Best months: March to November. Typical highs run 86°F in midsummer and 39°F in midwinter, with winter lows near 21°F.

Climate normals: NOAA 1991-2020 monthlies, BARNES STN station (6 mi away), adjusted for elevation.

Geology at Hampton Butte

This spot sits on John Day/Clarno Group; Clarno Formation, mapped as mudflow, greenish gray, breccia, andesite flows, and greenish gray; calcic andesine some soda labradorite phenocrysts; vesicle fill: alteration mineral mostly in vesicles and fracture filling; alteration: iron magnesium montmorillonite clays silic carbonate zeolites hematite limonite; mineralogy: hornblende clinopyroxene hypersthene olivine augite hornblende-augite andesite that formed roughly 56 to 23 million years ago. Petrified wood typically comes from volcanic ash beds like the ones associated with this ground, where buried forests were slowly replaced by silica.

Mapped unit

John Day/Clarno Group; Clarno Formation

Age

56–23 Ma (Eocene to Oligocene)

Rock types

mudflow, greenish gray, breccia, andesite flows, and greenish gray; calcic andesine some soda labradorite phenocrysts; vesicle fill: alteration mineral mostly in vesicles and fracture filling; alteration: iron magnesium montmorillonite clays silic carbonate zeolites hematite limonite; mineralogy: hornblende clinopyroxene hypersthene olivine augite hornblende-augite andesite

Elevation

4,780 ft

Geologic mapping via Macrostrat and the underlying state geological survey maps (CC BY 4.0). Bedrock at the surface can vary within a mapped unit.

Sources & verification

Spot details combine the public RockHoundR location dataset, normalized mineral labels, agency land-status checks in the app, and community submissions. Coordinates are approximate until verified in the field.

State guidance last verified: April 1, 2026

• BLM Oregon/Washington, Rockhounding & mineral material
• Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI)
• Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, beach collecting rules
• Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules