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The east side of the town of McDermitt is the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation. Beyond the reservation is BLM land where the hills, creek valleys, and rock ridges are all places to explore. The folks that live in the area are somewhat sensitive about exploring near Owl Canyon as they are wary of artifact hunters. So, be careful to explore on BLM and only take rocks! The Nevada or Oregon rockhounding guides are a good place to start to find exact locations. It is always an adventure, however, to scout your own territory and find interesting things not on the map!
Probably the most notable find in this area is thunder eggs. There is a claim up the creek past Owl Canyon that has pulled out a trove of star shaped eggs--blue, white, some reds. Some are the size of cannon balls! Although you can't dig at this claim site, within a few hundred yards are other places where you can dig lots of eggs. They generally are smaller, but fun to find.
The Caldera Rock shop in McDermitt will sell you a star egg by the pound. It is a gamble, but I got lucky with one that cost about 15 bucks!
There are also logs and wood about. Some are too big to carry!
This big bruiser was down the slope from where we dug lots of thunder eggs.
On the hillside slopes under the rock outcrops there are places where the banded rhyolite is black and red and whorled. Beautiful stuff! Careful, scorpions like the underside of these nice flat warm rocks.
There are slabs of jasper laying about that carry black, red, and green hues.
Near Owl Canyon the slopes lead to a volcanic ridge. Eroded thunder eggs and large chunks with irregular inclusions can be found by hunting the surface or digging in the soft alluvium.
The area east of McDermitt is remote and on the wild side. There is no outlet to the road going in and the speed on that bumpy trail is between 10-20 mph. You cross the creek, or depending on time of year, river four times to get to some of the spots. A four wheel high center is required. No Subarus or SUV's! Some areas are accessible only by ATV or side-by-side or...on foot. It is worth the exploration, however!
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