Rockhounding on the Shores

Last week I went to Diggin Dogs Mining and Jewelry to get some of my rocks identified. Doug and Lija Pittman were so sweet and helpful. Their shop is located at 2523 Simpson Avenue in Aberdeen.

I love collecting rocks. I’ve been a rockhound since around age 10, although I did not “collect” until about 10 years ago. My husband and I retired to Ocean Shores in June of 2022, and my obsession with picking up rocks on the seashore began. Prior to retirement I only had around 50 rocks and crystals. Now … well I couldn’t even begin to count them … lol.

Click picture to view their story & pictures

Lija told me she occasionally will talk on 94.7 Local Matters about their collection and the beautiful gemstones for sale in their shop. They own Oregon Sunstone Mine, digging and collecting to have an abundance of sunstones, which are amazing.

An Oregon Sunstone is a unique and beautiful gemstone found primarily in the southeastern part of Oregon. It’s a type of feldspar, specifically labradorite or oligoclase, and it stands out because of its natural copper inclusions, which can give it a glowing, shimmery effect known as schiller or aventurescence.

The intro on their Facebook page says: “We have a beautiful rare collection of minerals and specimens from around the world spanning approximately 60+ years. Add to that one-of-a-kind in-house created jewelry and two friendly folks who love to talk about rocks! Come on by and say hi!”

The Pittmans will have a booth at the rock show at the Elma fairgrounds the last weekend in April.

What can be found on the shores of Ocean Shores?

Quartz

The white rocks are abundant and one of my favorites.

White quartz forms naturally over millions of years, deep within the Earth’s crust. It’s a crystalline form of silicon dioxide (SiO₂), and its white or milky appearance comes from tiny gas or liquid inclusions trapped during formation.

Here’s how white quartz is made in nature:

1. Silica-Rich Solutions

Quartz begins as a hot, silica-rich fluid deep underground, often produced by cooling magma or hydrothermal activity (hot water moving through rocks).

2. Crystal Growth in Voids

As the solution cools, quartz crystals start to form in cracks, cavities, or veins in surrounding rocks—especially in granite and other igneous rocks.

3. Milky or White Appearance

What makes it white is:

Microscopic gas or fluid bubbles get trapped inside the crystal structure as it cools.
These inclusions scatter light, giving the quartz a cloudy or milky look rather than being transparent or clear.

4. Solidification Over Time

Over thousands to millions of years, the quartz becomes fully solid and durable, often embedded in rock or found as loose pieces in riverbeds or shorelines.

Mermaid Tears (Sparkly Quartz)

These quartz stones sparkle in the sun due to crystal faces or tiny inclusions. They are little gifts from the sea.

Druzy

Druzy is most often made of quartz. In fact, when people say “druzy,” they’re usually referring to a sparkling layer of tiny quartz crystals that formed on the surface of another stone.

Quartz is one of the most abundant minerals on Earth. When mineral-rich water seeps into cracks or cavities in a rock, quartz (SiO₂) is often the mineral that slowly crystallizes out.

When these crystals are super tiny and tightly packed, you get that magical, glittering druzy coating!

Jaspar

How Is Jasper Formed?

1. It Starts with Silica-Rich Sediment

Jasper is a variety of chalcedony, which is a microcrystalline form of quartz (SiO₂).
It forms when silica-rich fluids (from volcanic ash or sediment) seep into cracks and voids in rock—especially in volcanic areas.

2. Slow Solidification

Over time, this silica-rich “soup” hardens as the water evaporates or cools, leaving behind solid microcrystalline quartz.

3. Impurities Give It Color and Pattern

What makes jasper different from clear or white quartz is the presence of mineral impurities:
- Iron oxides = reds, browns
- Manganese = blacks, purples
- Clay, ash, or organic material = yellows, greens, even blues
These inclusions and their layering create jasper’s distinctive patterns: bands, orbs, swirls, and even scenic-looking textures (like picture jasper!).

4. Pressure + Time = Stone

Over millions of years, heat, pressure, and tectonic movement continue to compress and harden the material, transforming it into solid jasper.

Jasper’s Look & Feel

Opaque (unlike some forms of chalcedony like agate, which are more translucent).
Smooth and dense, takes a beautiful polish.
Often comes in rich earthy tones: red, yellow, green, brown, and sometimes black, blue, or multicolored.

Fun Jasper Types to Watch For

Red Jasper – Deep rusty red, sometimes with black veins
Picture Jasper – Looks like landscapes or wood grain
Green Jasper – Earthy green, often speckled or streaked
Brecciated Jasper – Broken pieces fused together in a mosaic
Ocean Jasper – Orb-like patterns (rare on beaches but super cool)

Agates

My love for agates will never end. I have a friend who, I swear, whose soul calls out agates ash she has found so many beautiful specimens. Here’s one she just found about two weeks ago just North of the Jetty. It’s just about the size of her palm.

Agates are like nature’s little masterpieces! Each one is totally unique, and they’re some of the most fun and rewarding stones to find when you’re out exploring the beach or riverbeds.

Agate is a variety of chalcedony, which is a microcrystalline form of quartz (SiO₂)—just like jasper and sparkling quartz. But agates are known for their translucent beauty, color bands, and swirly patterns that look like artwork inside a stone.

How Agates Form

Start with a Bubble
Agates often form in gas bubbles inside cooling volcanic rock (like basalt). These bubbles are empty at first—little pockets waiting to be filled.
Silica-Rich Water Seeps In
Over time, silica-laden water flows into the cavities. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind tiny quartz crystals.
Layer by Layer
This process repeats over thousands to millions of years, building up layer after layer of minerals—each one creating a new band of color or texture.
Final Result
The cavity eventually fills, or sometimes stays partially hollow (hello, geode!), and becomes a solid agate with mesmerizing patterns.

What Makes Agates So Beautiful?

Color Bands – Caused by trace minerals (iron, manganese, copper, etc.)
Translucency – Unlike jasper, light can shine through parts of an agate
Variety – Swirls, orbs, mossy or feathery textures… every agate is one-of-a-kind!

Agate ID Tips

Waxy or smooth surface
Translucent (hold up to the sun!)
Banded or swirled colors – white, gray, red, orange, yellow, even blue
Hard – won’t scratch easily (Mohs 6.5–7)

Jade

Finding jade on the shores of Ocean Shores, WA is rare—but not impossible! While Ocean Shores is better known for agates, jasper, petrified wood, and sometimes carnelian, there have been occasional reports of people finding nephrite jade (one of the two types of jade) along the Washington coast, especially in areas where glacial deposits or river-washed stones reach the shoreline.

Here’s what to know if you’re hoping to spot jade:

What Jade Looks Like (especially nephrite jade):

Typically a deep green to olive or gray-green.
Can also appear brownish or blackish when weathered or dirty.
Has a smooth, waxy feel when wet or polished.
Very dense and tough—heavier than it looks.

Basalt

One of the most important building blocks of the Earth’s crust. You’ve probably walked over tons of it without realizing how cool it is!

Basalt is a dark, fine-grained volcanic rock that forms when lava cools quickly at or near the Earth’s surface. It’s the most common volcanic rock on Earth—and it makes up much of the ocean floor, volcanic islands, and even parts of beachy places like Ocean Shores.

How Basalt Is Formed

Volcano Eruption!
Lava rich in magnesium and iron (but low in silica) erupts onto the surface.
Rapid Cooling
When this lava hits air or water, it cools quickly, not giving large crystals time to form—so the rock stays fine-grained or even glassy.
Solid Rock
The result is basalt: dense, dark gray to black, and sometimes even greenish or reddish depending on minerals present.

What Makes It Cool?

Color: Usually black, charcoal gray, or dark green.
Texture: Fine-grained, but may have small crystals or bubbles (called vesicles) from trapped gas.
Toughness: Super hard and durable—it was used in ancient tools and building blocks!
Natural Art: Over time, basalt gets weathered into cool shapes—pillars, columns, even wave-polished beach stones.

Wishing Rocks

A wishing rock is a special kind of rock that’s believed to bring good luck or grant a wish to the person who finds it. The most common version is a rock with a single, unbroken line—usually white—that goes all the way around it.

Here are a few fun traditions and meanings tied to wishing rocks:

Make a Wish: When you find one, you can make a wish while holding it. Some people say your wish will come true if you keep the rock or throw it back into the sea.
Gift of Good Fortune: Giving a wishing rock to someone else is considered a gesture of love, luck, or hope for their dreams to come true.
Spiritual Meaning: They’re sometimes seen as symbols of unity, journeys, or a reminder that beauty can be found in imperfection.

Wishing rocks are formed through a natural geological process over millions of years. The magical-looking white line around them is typically a quartz or calcite vein that formed inside the host rock. Here’s how it happens:

1. Cracks in the Rock

Over time, pressure, temperature changes, or tectonic activity can cause a rock to crack or fracture.

2. Minerals Fill the Cracks

Water carrying dissolved minerals like quartz, calcite, or feldspar seeps into those cracks. When the water evaporates or cools, the minerals are left behind, crystallizing in the crack and forming a vein.

3. Time and Pressure

As time goes on, the host rock and the mineral vein become tightly fused together. The result is a solid rock with a contrasting line—the signature “stripe” that wraps all the way around.

4. Nature’s Sculpting

Eventually, natural forces like wind, waves, and tumbling in rivers smooth the rock into a rounded shape. When it ends up on a beach or riverbed, that stripe stands out—and someone like you might spot it and smile.

The typical host rocks for wishing rocks are often igneous or sedimentary rocks. Here are the most common ones:

1. Basalt

Description: Basalt is a volcanic rock that forms from the cooling of lava. It’s dark in color, often black or dark gray.
Why it works: The cracks in basalt can easily fill with minerals like quartz or calcite, forming the white or lighter-colored veins.

2. Limestone

Description: Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed mostly of calcite (calcium carbonate). It’s usually light gray or cream-colored.
Why it works: Limestones often have natural fractures that can fill with minerals, and the contrasting vein formations stand out.

3. Sandstone

Description: Sandstone is a sedimentary rock made of compacted sand particles. It can come in a range of colors, from tan to red or even purple.
Why it works: Sandstone’s fractures can also trap minerals, leading to the formation of veins.

4. Granite

Description: Granite is a coarse-grained, igneous rock often made up of quartz, feldspar, and mica. It can be speckled with different colors.
Why it works: The cracks in granite provide a path for mineral-rich water to flow through, leaving behind visible veins.

Black Jade

Black jade is a dark variety of jade, one of two types:

Nephrite (a calcium magnesium silicate)
Jadeite (a sodium aluminum silicate)

Both can appear black, but true black jade is usually nephrite (more common and slightly softer), although black jadeite exists and is rarer.

The deep black color comes from tiny inclusions of iron, graphite, or other dark minerals inside the jade. These inclusions absorb light, giving black jade its rich, opaque appearance.

Sometimes it’s not pitch black—there might be subtle green, brown, or gray undertones visible under bright light or when it’s polished.

What is black jade in feng shui?

Black jade is a type of semi-precious stone that is found in various parts of the world. It is said that black jade can improve one’s health and bring good luck. It is also considered to be a protective stone, and can be used for spell casting.

Black jade, specifically nephrite, found in Ocean Shores, Washington, is believed to have been transported to the area by Pleistocene glaciers flowing south from British Columbia, with the jade being part of the sediment they carried.

However, most jade come from mines more to the northeast areas of Washington and Alaska.

Carnelians

Carnelian is a variety of quartz, or more specifically, a reddish-orange variety of chalcedony. It’s cryptocrystalline, meaning its crystals are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Carnelian is generally translucent, although some stones may only be translucent around the edges.

It’s a fascinating combination of chemistry, time, and environmental factors that creates this beautiful, energetic stone!

The rich red to orange color of carnelian comes from iron oxide (rust) present within the crystal. The iron oxidizes during the formation process, giving carnelian its distinctive warm hues. Depending on how much iron is present, the color can range from pale orange to deep red.

Petrified Wood

Petrified wood is fossilized wood—trees that lived millions of years ago and have turned to stone through a process called permineralization.

🧬 How It Forms:

A tree dies and is buried quickly by sediment (like ash, mud, or sand).
Over time, water rich in minerals (like silica, calcite, or iron) seeps into the wood.
The organic material slowly breaks down, and the minerals replace it, cell by cell.
The result is a rock-hard fossil that looks like wood—sometimes even preserving rings, bark textures, and grain!

It can take millions of years to fully petrify.

You can find petrified wood along the coast—especially in places where ancient forests or river systems once existed.

In areas like Ocean Shores, pieces may wash in from inland rivers or eroded bluffs. While less common than agates or jasper, they do show up!

How to Identify Petrified Wood

✅ Wood Grain – Look for natural wood textures: rings, striations, or bark patterns
✅ Heavy – Heavier than regular wood (because it’s stone now!)
✅ Colorful – Can be tan, brown, red, black, greenish, or multicolored due to minerals
✅ Hard – Doesn’t scratch easily (Mohs hardness 6.5–7 for quartz-based wood)

Coal

Coal may not be a stone, but can occasionally be found on the seashore of Ocean Shores, Washington. These coal pieces are typically remnants from historical shipwrecks and maritime activities rather than natural coal deposits. Coastal Interpretive Center

While the S.S. Catala is the most renowned shipwreck near Ocean Shores associated with coal washing ashore, other vessels have contributed to coal deposits in the area:

1. S.S. Ferndale

Incident: The S.S. Ferndale was a cargo ship that wrecked near Ocean Shores.
Cargo: Carried coal, remnants of which have been found along the beaches.
Artifacts: The Coastal Interpretive Center in Ocean Shores displays coal from the Ferndale, highlighting its historical significance.

2. S.S. Janet Carruthers

Incident: This vessel also met its demise near Ocean Shores.
Cargo: Primarily transported wood; however, maritime activities of the era often involved coal-powered ships, potentially contributing to coal fragments found onshore.
Artifacts: Wood from the Janet Carruthers is exhibited at the Coastal Interpretive Center.

Additionally, numerous other shipwrecks have occurred along the Washington coast, with vessels like the S.S. Tamara running aground near Ocean Shores. While not all carried coal, the cumulative effect of maritime accidents over the decades has contributed to various materials, including coal, washing ashore.

Rockhounding, or collecting rocks and minerals, can be a rewarding activity on the Washington coast, especially during winter and spring when erosion exposes gravel beds and previously buried treasures like agates, jasper, and petrified wood. Although Damon Point in Ocean Shores, WA, has been a go-to spot for decades, it is now closed due to erosion. There are other places in Ocean Shores to collect rocks.

Tonquin Avenue: At the end of Tonquin is a parking area, but you need a Discover Pass. There is also parking up the street near Oyhut Bay Development. Once you get to the entrance of the wildlife area, you can go through the wooded area at the East of the Aeronautical building to get to the shoreline.
North Jetty: The waves crash dramatically over the rocks here, and occasionally, the ocean throws a log up and over the jetty. So, be very careful in this area. Also, watch for sneaker waves as they can knock you over and drag you under. The positive side is that agates can be found in this spot. My friend, Angela, has found many big ones; she is like a magnet to these precious stones. There is plenty of parking and even a few porta-potties.
Marine View Drive: This seems to be a secret access point, as we rarely run into people here. The parking area is small and the walk through the dunes is easily traveled.
Butterclam Street: This is also considered an “off leash dog beach”. The walk from the parking area at the end of this street is better then at the end of Marine View Drive and walk is mostly flat.
Taurus Blvd: Car accessible but no parking on the “street”. Personally, I would never drive my car on the beach. You take the chance of the ocean swallowing your car and if it doesn’t then you will at the very least get sand on your undercarriage. There are other entrances for drive-on areas in Ocean Shores.
Ocean Lake Way: I have not yet tried this portion of the beach, but it looks like one of the “drive on the beach” streets.
Pacific Blvd: Once on the beach, be cautious of all the trees and logs that have washed ashore. Also be cautious of people walking along the shoreline.
Chance a la Mer: This street is one of the main streets in Ocean Shores. The High Dunes Trail also starts here which is a wonderful walk through the dunes. This entrance, along with the SR115 entrance, has public bathrooms (maintained by the State of Washington, not the City of Ocean Shores).
SR115: Technically outside of Ocean Shores but a great place to see the Ocean and sunsets. There is a great big parking area here, along with public restrooms. Besides rockhounding from this section of beach, you can also rent horses from the Honey Pearl Ranch.