From the Pacific Ocean to the west, Idaho to the east, Washington to the north, and California and Nevada to the south, Oregon’s diverse landscape holds hidden gems.

Tourmaline hunters often struggle to find reliable spots, wasting time and energy on fruitless searches. But fear not! We’ve done the hard work for you.

This article reveals the best places to find tourmaline in Oregon, saving you countless hours of research and disappointment.

Our carefully sourced locations ensure you’re looking in the right places, maximizing your chances of striking gemstone gold.

How Tourmaline Forms Here

Tourmaline forms deep underground through intense heat and pressure. It originates from hot, mineral-rich fluids that move through fractures in rocks like granite and pegmatite. As these fluids cool, the minerals within them start to crystallize, forming tourmaline.

The color of tourmaline depends on the specific minerals involved, leading to a wide range of hues including pink, red, green, and blue.

Over millions of years, these crystals grow and become the beautiful, multifaceted stones we see today. Tourmaline is prized for its variety of colors and is often used in jewelry and decorative items.

The Types Of Tourmaline

Several incredible types of Tourmaline can be found in the US as well as in our state. Each is uniquely beautiful and interesting including:

Elbaite

Elbaite is found in pink, red, green, blue, yellow, and even colorless forms. What makes elbaite special is its ability to show multiple colors in a single crystal, like the famous “watermelon” tourmaline with pink and green hues.

This gem stands out due to its complex chemical makeup, which includes lithium, sodium, and aluminum. This composition gives Elbaite its diverse color range and dichroism, allowing it to display different colors when viewed from different angles.

Elbaite has a unique place in history as the first tourmaline variety in which lithium was discovered back in 1818. Some rare types, like the neon blue Paraiba elbaite, are highly sought after by collectors and jewelers.

Schorl

Schorl is known for its deep, rich color. It typically forms long, prismatic crystals with a shiny, glass-like surface when polished. Unlike other tourmalines, schorl gets its distinctive black color from high iron concentrations.

One of Schorl’s most fascinating features is its ability to become electrically charged through heating or rubbing. When charged, it can attract or repel small particles.

This unique electrical property makes Schorl valuable in various industries. It’s used in electronics and manufacturing to control static electricity and electromagnetic interference.

Despite being less colorful than other tourmalines, schorl’s practical applications make it an important and interesting variety.

Rubellite

Rubellite stands out with its vibrant pink to red colors. The most prized ones show a pure, saturated red without any brown or orange hints. This beautiful color comes from manganese in its makeup.

One cool thing about rubellite is its double refraction. It can look like it has two different colors when you view it from different angles.

Dravite

Dravite, or Brown Tourmaline, comes in shades from dark brown to light brown-yellow. It can look a bit like Smoky Quartz, with a semi-see-through quality.

Its crystals are often needle-like or prismatic, with points at both ends. This sets it apart from other tourmalines like the darker schorl or the colorful elbaite.

What makes dravite special is its rich sodium and magnesium content. This sets it apart from other tourmalines. It was first discovered in 1883 and named after the Drava River in Slovenia.

Indicolite

Indicolite is a rare and captivating blue to blue-green stone. It’s prized for its pure, bright blue color, which is considered the rarest within the tourmaline family. The hues can range from light blue-green to deep, rich blue, often with high clarity.

What sets Indicolite apart is its unique optical effects. It shows pleochroism, appearing to change color when viewed from different angles. Some specimens also display chatoyancy, creating a “cat’s eye” effect when cut in a certain way.

Indicolite is sometimes called “Brazilian sapphire” due to its resemblance to the precious gem. However, they’re different minerals.

The increasing demand for blue tourmalines has made indicolite highly sought-after in the gemstone market, appreciated for its beauty and rarity.

Watermelon Tourmaline

Watermelon tourmaline is truly one-of-a-kind. It looks just like a slice of watermelon, with a pink or red center and a green outer layer. This unique look happens because different elements join the crystal at different times as it grows.

These crystals often form in a rounded triangle shape. They’re see-through to somewhat clear and have a glass-like shine. When cut into slices, they really do look like little watermelons!

Cat’s Eye Tourmaline

Cat’s eye tourmaline is known for its mesmerizing chatoyancy effect. This creates a bright band across the stone’s surface, resembling a cat’s eye.

This stone comes in various colors, from green to pink to brown, and is usually semi-translucent to opaque.

What makes this stone special is the perfect alignment of tiny, needle-like inclusions inside it. These scatter light in a unique way, creating that eye-catching effect. It’s quite different from other tourmalines that don’t have this feature.

Unlike other cat’s eye stones, Tourmaline offers a wider range of colors and is often more affordable.

Achroite

Achroite is a rare, colorless variety of tourmaline that looks like a drop of clear water turned to stone. It’s completely transparent, making it unique among tourmalines which usually have color. The name comes from Greek, meaning “without color.”

What’s special about achroite is that it doesn’t change color when viewed from different angles. It means the stone can be cut in many ways without losing its clarity.

Verdelite

Verdelite is known for its beautiful green color. It can range from light green to deep emerald.

One thing that makes verdelite special is that you can find big, clear crystals of it. This isn’t always easy with other gemstones.

People love using verdelite in jewelry because its rich color and interesting light effects make it a popular choice for all kinds of accessories. Each piece of verdelite is like a little piece of nature you can wear.

Paraíba Tourmaline

Paraíba Tourmaline is a rare gemstone that catches the eye with its vibrant neon blue or green color. It’s like no other tourmaline you’ve seen before. The intense glow comes from copper in the stone, making it stand out from its cousins.

This stone is one of the rarest. For every 10,000 diamonds mined, only one Paraíba tourmaline is found.

It was only discovered in the late 1980s, making it a newcomer in the gem world. But Paraíba tourmaline’s unique color and rarity quickly made it a favorite among gem lovers.

Its discovery caused quite a stir in the gem community. Even small stones can be valuable because of how rare and beautiful they are.

What Rough Tourmaline Looks Like

When you’re out looking for rough Tourmaline on your own it’s important to know what you’re looking for.  Here are some tips to help you recognize rough tourmaline.

Look for Color Variations

Tourmaline comes in many colors, like pink, green, blue, and even black. Some pieces have multiple colors, like watermelon tourmaline, which is pink and green.

If you see these color mixes, it’s likely tourmaline. Keep an eye out for vibrant shades.

Assess the Density and Weight

Rough tourmaline is relatively heavy for its size. If you pick up a piece and it feels denser than expected, it could be tourmaline. This weight can help you confirm your find.

Examine the Crystal Structure

Tourmaline features distinctive crystal shapes, ranging from slender and elongated to chunky forms. Look for triangular cross-sections and striations on the surface, which indicate its unique growth patterns.

Check for Transparency

Some rough tourmaline can be slightly transparent. If you hold it up to the light, you might see through it a bit. This transparency can be a good sign that you have tourmaline.

A Quick Request About Collecting

Tips on where to look

Once you get to the places we have listed below there are some things you should keep in mind when you’re searching:

Look for Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary rocks are great places to find tourmaline. These rocks form from layers of sand, mud, and minerals. Over time, minerals like tourmaline can get trapped.

Look in riverbeds or areas where sediment has built up. You might find small pieces or even larger crystals. 

Explore Mines

Mines are great spots to find tourmaline. Many mines across the U.S. extract various gemstones, including tourmaline.

Some mines even allow visitors to search for gems themselves. Always check if they have guided tours or special digging days.

Search in Gravel Pits

Gravel pits are often overlooked, but they can be treasure troves. These pits dig deep into the earth, exposing layers of rock.

Tourmaline can be found in the gravel. Just sift through the material carefully.

The types of Tourmaline can you find around the state

Oregon is home to two primary types of tourmaline: black tourmaline and verdelite.

Black tourmaline, often referred to as schorl, is the most common variety found in the state. It typically appears black or brownish-black and is rich in iron.

On the other hand, verdelite is the green variety of tourmaline, which gets its color from iron within its crystal structure.

Verdelite can range from light to dark green and is appreciated for its natural, earthy look, making it a popular choice among collectors and jewelry makers alike.

Some Great Places To Start

Here are some of the better places to start looking for tourmalines in Oregon:

Dixie Meadows

Located in the Malheur National Forest of northeastern Oregon, Dixie Meadows is a hidden gem for rockhounds. This historical mine site, located near Bates in Grant County, sits at the head of Ruby Creek, just north of the Dixie Creek Divide.

The area is a geological wonderland, boasting a complex mix of greenstone, meta-andesite, tuff, metadiorite, and serpentine formations.

The old mine workings, including adits and drifts, offer exciting exploration opportunities. Tourmaline is often found as a gangue mineral alongside ore deposits, typically associated with quartz, dolomite, and sericite.

The site’s rich mineral diversity also includes pyrrhotite, pyrite, sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite, making each visit a potential treasure hunt.

Golden Curry Occurrence

Golden Curry Occurrence is located in the Bohemia Mining District of Lane County. This historic mine, part of the rugged Cascade Mountains, offers a unique opportunity to unearth tourmaline.

The site’s rich geological history has created ideal conditions for mineral formation. Pegmatite veins run through the area, hosting a variety of crystals including the sought-after tourmaline.

What makes Golden Curry special is its diverse mineral makeup. Besides tourmaline, lucky hunters might stumble upon quartz, feldspar, and even traces of gold.

The mine’s history dates back to the late 1800s gold rush, adding a layer of intrigue to your hunt. The best spots for finding tourmaline are near old mine tailings and exposed rock faces.

Copper Mountain Group

The Copper Mountain Group sits on Cougar Ridge, west of the East Fork of Dixie Creek. It’s part of the Blue Mountain Section of Oregon’s Columbia Plateau. The area is famous for its rich mineral deposits, including the sought-after tourmaline.

What makes this spot special are its unique geological features. The mine boasts mineralized bodies that trend east to northeast, with granodiorite porphyry dikes cutting through the landscape.

The real treasure lies in the tourmaline-quartz-chalcopyrite replacement bodies within the greenstone rocks.

For tourmaline hunters, the replacement bodies in the greenstone are the prime targets. These areas are particularly mineral-rich, offering the best chances of finding this colorful gemstone.

Bornite Breccia Pipe

The Bornite breccia pipe is a special spot for rockhounds in Marion County, Oregon. It’s about 48 miles east of Salem, near Shady Grove Campground. You can get there using Forest Service 2007 Road.

This place is cool because it’s a big pipe-like structure that goes deep into the ground. It’s known for having lots of copper minerals and tourmaline. The pipe is about 450 feet wide and goes down about 1,200 feet.

What makes it great for finding tourmaline is the special rock mix called breccia. This breccia formed millions of years ago and has tourmaline and copper minerals in it. The best places to look are near the surface and along cracks in the rock.

When you’re there, check out the areas around the small creek and the bottom of the hill. These spots are good for finding tourmaline and other interesting rocks.

Frog Pond Mine

The Frog Pond Mine sits in Josephine County, Oregon. It’s part of the Althouse Creek Mining District. The mine’s geology is characterized by pegmatite veins, which are known to host a variety of minerals, including the prized tourmaline.

Visitors to Frog Pond Mine can explore the old workings and surrounding area, where tourmaline crystals have been found in various colors, including green, pink, and bi-color specimens.

The mine’s location near Althouse Creek adds to its appeal, as the creek itself has a rich history of gold mining dating back to the 1850s.

While searching for tourmaline, keep an eye out for other interesting minerals like quartz and mica, which are often found in association with pegmatites.

Places Tourmaline has been found by county

After discussing our top picks, we wanted to discuss the other places on our list. Below is a list of the additional locations where we have succeeded, along with a breakdown of each place by county.

County	Location
Grant	Copperopolis Mine
Grant	Standard Mine
Jackson	Sparks Mine
Lane	Mystery Vein Occurrence
Lane	Noonday Ridge Occurrence
Linn	Yellowbottom-Boulder Creek Area Occurrence
Marion	Mineral Harbor Group
Marion	North Santiam Copper Occurrence