Jade Hunting Deer Creek/Pilchuck Creek Washington

So, We had a long weekend and decided to take a trip to Okanogan County WA. I did a little research and found that there were lots of places to hunt for Jade in the Creeks below SR 20. So off we went.

Logging Road Bridge over Pilchuck Creek

Our first stop was along Pilchuck Creek off of a logging road below Lake Cavanaugh Road. We didn't spend much time here because there was an open gate on the road and we almost got locked in once on Tree Company Forest Land. There was a beautiful camping spot on the Creek and we did find a few pieces of Jade but as I said, we didn't spend much time 
here.

Looking down Pilchuck Creek from the Bridge

Next, we headed down Lake Cavanaugh Road and pulled off at a good spot along Pilchuck Creek and started looking. We found quite a few good pieces.

Beautiful Spot to Look for Jade

We spent about an hour here picking and choosing what we thought might be jade, and I found a couple pretty yard rocks that may be what they call grossular garnet around here.

Lots of Rocks to Sort Through

The jade is rather elusive. It can weather to have a red or white rind around the pretty stuff inside. You usually can't break it because it's so hard and then if you do, it shatters. We just tried to carefully look at the rocks and determine if there was anything worth lugging back to the car.

From here, we headed up to Deer Creek at Oso. This is supposedly one of the favorite hunting spots for rockhounds. We discovered that the railroad trestle bridge that Gem Trails of Washington recommends to access the opposite side of the creek is closed. We drove down SR 530 over Deer Creek and discovered access from the parking lot of the closed down Oso General Store right past the bridge. It was an easy walk down to Deer creek next to the bridge.

Oso General Store Parking Lot

We found a few interesting rocks here, but not a lot of jade. The hunting was better on Pilchuck Creek. We didn't have time to check out Finney Creek, but it's supposed to be good also.

Deer Creek below the Bridge

When we got home, I'm still not sure what is what, and even apparently die hard jade collectors have a hard time positively identifying their finds, so I will just say that I'm sure there must be some jade here somewhere.

A few of our Finds

I know that we found enough for me to want to go back again and hunt for some more. Meanwhile, I definitely need to get a rock saw. Just so I can see what is inside these beauties.

Jade or Garnet?