The best picture jaspers in the world come from the Oregon-Idaho border.

Jasper is a member of the chalcedony family.Chalcedony, pronounced kal sid nee, is any form of microcrystalline quartz. “ Jasper” usually refers to an opaque stone, with a solid color or an irregular display of colors caused by various mineral impurities.

“ Porcelain jasper” is a very nice, high grade, fine grained jasper.It takes an excellent polish and has fewer natural fractures than other jaspers.

“Scenic or picture jaspers” are known for their depictions of mountains or desert scenery, with or without the blue sky.

The volcanic activity in the high desert of eastern Oregon and western Idaho area created rhyolite deposits.Gas bubbles, cavities, and shrinkage cracks that formed as the rhyolite cooled and hardened provided the perfect environment to capture silica rich waters and sediments that then formed into jaspers with multi colored bands and waves, and inclusions such as dendrites.

Most of the jaspers found in this area are named for their locations.Though many of them are similar in color or appearance, each rock deposit has its own distinctive coloration and look, and true collectors can always tell which deposit the rock material came from.

Owyhee Jasper actually comes from several close together finds and can vary slightly from each.It is known for its rich brown and blue landscapes and is usually very scenic with rolling hills. It also has some beautiful and rare yellows and reds.

Biggs Jasper has darker, more complex patterns.It is also very scenic and has lots of waves or hills and dendrite inclusions that look like bushes. Biggs Jasper sometimes has a wonderful but rare blue.

Bruneau Jasper has rich, warm, reddish brown orbs and swirls.

Willow Creek Jasper comes in a variety of softer or pastel colors from pale green to pink and is known for its billows, squiggly lines and orbs.

Deschutes Jasper is usually brown with some lighter, but mostly darker browns. Deschutes Jasper has a more detailed pattern with lots of splotches and abstract designs.

Succor Creek Jasper had sandy “desert” and blue sky scenes.Its lines are more straight or linear with not much wave.

Morrisonite Jasper is a lovely multi colored jasper, with shades of blue, green, cream and browns.It also has some rare oranges and yellows. Morrisonite is known for its orbs.

Carracite Jasper is very similar to Morrisonite, but usually darker in color and it has more swirls and abstract patterns such as “lightning bolts” or “spiderwebs”.

Rocky Butte Jasper is mostly brown with some blue, but is more abstract and not very interesting patterns.

Click on any of the jasper names to see what we currently have available for sale in our shop OakRocks in that lapidary rock material.If you don’t see what you want, feel free to contact us for availability!

Check out our sister site BarlowsGems for  jasper cabochons!

Thank you for your interest and Happy Hunting!