Prineville Rockhound Pow Wow: 80 Years of Discovery
A Central Oregon Tradition Connecting People, Rocks and the Land
A Landmark Built From the Land and Stories of the Community
Prineville Rockhound Pow Wow: Where Discovery Begins
For 80 years, the Prineville Rockhound Pow Wow has brought people together around a shared fascination with rocks, minerals, fossils, thundereggs and the geology of Central Oregon.
But the Pow Wow doesn’t have to be the end of the discovery. For many, it can be the beginning. The mountains and high desert surrounding Prineville offer opportunities to get outside, explore designated rockhounding areas and spend a day searching for treasures of your own.
Bring a friend. Take a drive. Follow a new route. The next discovery may be waiting somewhere beyond the Pow Wow.
Prineville Rockhound Pow Wow Show
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Prineville Rockhound Pow Wow Show
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The Pow Wow Can Be Just the Beginning
For 80 years, the Prineville Rockhound Pow Wow has given people a reason to stop and discover the fascinating world beneath their feet. You’ll find rocks, minerals, fossils, thundereggs, jewelry and people who know a whole lot about them.
But there’s another opportunity waiting beyond the event. Go looking.
The mountains and high desert surrounding Prineville offer countless opportunities for rockhounding, including designated areas where you can spend a day searching for something you won’t find sitting on a display table. Bring a friend. Bring the family. Take a drive. Learn something new.
And see where the road—or maybe the trail—takes you. Because that’s one of the wonderful things about discovery. One discovery can create curiosity for another. The Pow Wow may introduce you to rockhounding.
But your first trip into the mountains might introduce you to something much bigger: a new place, a new experience, and a pathway you didn’t know was there.
Continue Your Historical PATHWAY
Scan a Historical PATHWAY marker at select locations, to watch a short video, hear the full story, explore historic photos, and continue discovering Prineville’s remarkable history.
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Thank you to our Alliance Host
The Extended Historical Story
A Tradition That Can Lead Beyond the Event
There is something special about a community event that doesn’t have to end when the event does. For 80 years, the Prineville Rockhound Pow Wow has introduced people to the fascinating world of rocks, minerals, fossils, thundereggs and the geology of Central Oregon. You can walk among the displays. Talk with collectors. Learn about specimens. See what others have discovered. And maybe you’ll find something that catches your eye and makes you wonder: “I wonder where I could find one of these myself?”
That’s where the pathway can begin.
The Prineville area is surrounded by mountains and high desert landscapes that have long attracted people interested in rockhounding. There are designated areas where people can head out for a day of searching, exploring and learning about the landscape.
You don’t necessarily need to make it complicated. Grab a friend. Plan a day. Take the vehicle out of town. Follow a road you’ve never followed before. And start looking. You may find a thunderegg. You may find an agate or another interesting specimen. You may find nothing more than a beautiful place to sit and eat lunch. And that’s okay. Because sometimes the thing you discover isn’t the thing you went looking for. That’s what makes exploration so much fun.
The Pow Wow creates an opportunity for people to become aware of something they might not otherwise have considered. That awareness can create curiosity. Curiosity can create movement. Movement can create discovery. And discovery can create another pathway. Perhaps you’ll find a place you want to return to. Perhaps you’ll learn a new route. Perhaps you’ll introduce a friend to rockhounding. Perhaps a family outing becomes a tradition. Or perhaps you simply discover another piece of the landscape that makes Central Oregon feel a little more like your own.
That’s why the Prineville Rockhound Pow Wow can be more than an annual event. It can be the beginning of a pathway that continues long after the displays are packed away. And maybe that’s the real invitation: Don’t just come see what other people have found. Go discover something of your own.