• Lucky Strike Mine is a remote pay-to-dig thunderegg bed
• Make sure you have the proper direction before you go
Lucky Strike Mine is a remote fee-digging area in the Ochoco Mountain, 39 miles away from Prineville. This site was discovered and then claimed by a famous miner Leonard Kopinsky in the 1930s, and since remains popular among enthusiastic rockhounds.
The Lucky Strike mine provides a great opportunity to collect beautiful thunder eggs that are well-known for their various colors and styles. The internal cavities are composed of agate containing mosses, plumes, and banding. Some specimens might have hollows with multiple layers of agate including botryoidal agate or quartz crystal.
The digging hillside is located near the mine office and store. The pits are regularly scraped by a backhoe allowing visitors to find great specimens. Bring a rock hammer. If you do not have any tools, you might be able to rent them in the mine store.
Typically, the mine open from Memorial Day to the end of September, depending on weather conditions. You need to make a reservation if you plan to arrive Monday through Thursday.
Make sure you have the proper direction before you go. Do not rely on your smart phone or GPS navigator, it can show wrong routes. Forest roads to this remote part of the Ochoco National Forest are rough, narrow, and winding with sharp turns. So, a high-clearance 4WD vehicle is recommended. Trucks with long trailers should avoid these roads.
Lucky Strike Mine | Facts
Open: May to September: Mondays through Thursday - Reservation only; Friday through Sunday - 9am-4pm
Managed by: Private mine
Location: Ochoco National Forest
Rocks & Minerals: Thunder eggs
Tools: Rock hammer
Amenities: Rock shop, restroom
Distance from the parking: Short
Road access: A high-clearance 4WD vehicle is recommended
Fees: A per-pound fee and a per-group minimum
Accommodations: No camping available on the site; Primitive camping on public land in the Ochoco National Forest
Affordable vacation rentals for short and long term stay
Elevation: 5,500 ft (1,676 m)
Lucky Strike Mine is located:
- 39 miles northeast of Prineville
- 75 miles northeast of Bend
- 178 miles southeast of Portland.
Adventures Nearby
Directions to Lucky Strike Mine
From Prineville,
- Travel east for about 30 miles to Forest Road 27 between mileposts 49 and 50
- Turn left (northwest) onto FR 27 and go 1.3 miles to the intersection with FR 2730 - the Lucky Strike Mine sign is posted
- Bear right onto FR 2730 and drive 6.3 miles to the fork - the Lucky Strike Mine sign is posted
- Stay left and continue on FR 2730 another 3.3 miles to FR 200 - the Lucky Strike Mine sign is posted
- Keep left and travel 1.4 miles to the mine entrance on the right
- From the entrance follow 0.3 miles to the parking and mine office.
Phone: 541-362-1915
E-mail: 2016thundereggs@gmail.com
I am very disappointed in this place. My son has been wanting to go here for quite some time and I haven’t had the mo ey to be able to take him. I finally got together enough money to make the trip and surprised him by asking him thrusaday night if he was ready to go. We finished loading up the car Friday morning and we were on our way Friday by noon. I knew it would be closed when we got there so we took ojr time driving the 200 some miles from salem. It was so late when. We got there we drove into mitchel and slept in the car by the highway. We woke up by 9 am Saturday morning. Stopped at the bridge creek Cafe for breakfast and then headed up the mountain towards lucky strike mine.
We arrived at the mine by 11:30. Their hours were posted as 9-4 Friday to Sunday. But when we got to the gate it said Closed, but the gate was open so we ventured in, when we got to the building at the lucky strike mine we were told they were closed . No explanation. On why or when they would be open. The lady that was sitting there just shrugged her shoulders and waited for us to leave. We weren’t even allowed to get out of the car and look around or stretch our legs. We were all so disappointed with the whole situation that instead of finishing the rest the trip we had planned, we just drove back down the mountain and returned to Salem. We are now sitting back In salem instead of seeing everything else. It will take me another 5 years or more to be able to take my son on another trip like this. But I don’t think he would even go on another adventure. And he says he will never go back to the lucky strike mine. They ruined this memory for a of us.
This story makes me so mad! And not with Lucky Strike Mine, but with Ms. Buzkill here who is a rolemodel for her son & unfortunately, her actions are teaching him all the wrong lessons, such as; lack of personal responsibility, poor decision making & future planning, exhibits the “victim” mindset & doesnt show a positive attitude or acceptable coping skills for when life inevitably doesnt cooperate with your best-laid (or in this case), not-so-well-laid plans. If i was going on an important “once-in-a-lifetime” trip, i’d probably plan it out a bit better & at least make a 30 second phonecall 1st, but I also wouldn’t let the hiccup ruin the rest of my trip & I definitely wouldnt throw a fit, scrap the adventure, drive home with a poor attitude & all the while, continue to perpetuate a negative attitude & display just an overall disappointing behavior to your son, who’s subconsious is absorbing everything you do, which is setting him up to unfortunately grow up and continue to experience the same disappointing cycle of, life is rough, things never go my way, poor me, I’m always in a boohoo situation because rather than accepting responsibiliy for my life, I give all my power away so I can play victim & feel sorry for myself- THAT is the behavior you’re modeling to your son, which is EXACTLY what kind of life he will have ALSO unless you start showing him a better, more positive, uplifting & responsible way to exist. Honestly, rather than getting upset with me now, (like I know you are), you could take a minute to think about what i’ve said, choose to be grateful that someone cared enough to hold up a mirror for you so you could see how you come across & decide that rather than negativity & victimhood, from now on, you’re choosing to be uplifted with positivity & motivation but also humbled with gratitude for all that you’ve been gifted in this life, but are just now realizing that you havent been taking the time to appreciate & be uplifted by the thought of. Choose positivity & responsibility & watch EVERYTHING in life change for the better when you stop playing the victim. Your son’s future self & you will thank you (& maybe even me once the anger wears off). God bless you & I wish you nothing but a future filled with happiness, love, gratitude & hope!
Love, Beverly
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