Ellen Mullens 1983 Oregon Geology field trip guide (attached) is fixated on

the pre-Tertiary terranes of northeast Oregon. We will step forward a bit in time and
look at various aspects of the younger Tertiary volcanic rocks and take the
opportunity to collect some rock and mineral specimens.
We will proceed south from the Baker City Park through downtown Baker City.
Road log begins at the last stop light. Proceed south on Highway 7/220 following
signs pointing to Sumpter and John Day.
First stop is at about mile 9. Turn off of highway into the wide parking area on
the left side of the Highway. Roadcut on right side of Highway is a tilted section of
middle Miocene olivine basalt flows that are a bit younger than the main sequence
of the Columbia River flood basalts. The lava flows are part of Ferns and
McClaughrys (2013) stage 4. We will be looking at massive opaline quartz seams in
paleoaquifer channels between the flows. Most of the opaline material is badly
fractured and opaque. If we are fortunate, we may find very small clots of precious
opal filling vesicles in less altered basalt.
At about mile 9.1, turn off of John Day Highway and proceed south, following
signs to Unity. This is Salisbury Junction, where some placer mining was done in the
early days. Outcrops along the road are mainly stage 3 rhyolites, part of the Dooley
Mountain volcanics. We now know for certain that Dooley Mountain is a middle
Miocene rhyolite volcanic center. Dooley is a somewhat small dome complex that
marks the northernmost rhyolite vent of the massive rhyolite field that can be
traced south through the Malheur Gorge and Leslie Gulch to the Mcermitt field in
northern Nevada. Many of the nested domes are marked by glassy margins that
have been mined for perlite. Parts of the Dooley Mountain complex has undergone
extensive hydrothermal alteration and are enriched in mercury, uranium, and (in
places) possibly gold.
Stop 2 is at about mile 15.5. Turn off into wide parking area on the right. An
extremely well preserved pyroclastic dike is exposed in the outcrops to the left of
the road. The dike provides an outstanding example of a rhyolite pyroclastic
eruption frozen in place.
Continue south around and around the corners on Highway 7 to top of Dooley
Mountain. Then continue south toward the Burnt River valley. Various colored
outcrops along the highway are various phases of rhyolite domes. Rust-colored
outcrops have been hydrothermally altered.
Stop 3 Pull off on left side of Highway at about mile 15 (watch for oncoming
traffic). Outcrops here include bands of perlite along a dome margin. This material is
generally low grade and best suited for horticultural uses.
Continue south on Highway 7 to the foot of Dooley Mountain, turning off to
the left at about mile 17.5, onto paved road, following signs to Bridgeport. Continue

east following the Burnt River towards the mouth of Clarks Creek. The road turns to
a well maintained gravel road.
Stop 4 (Lunch) At about mile 24, turn right onto the Clarks Creek road, cross
Burnt River and turn off onto road to left for lunch stop amongst the dredge and
placer tailings. While here, we will take an opportunity to look at an opaline fault
breccia in Miocene rhyolite.
Nephrite jade has been found in the placer tailings along Clarks Creek for a
distance of about 3 miles. All of the BLM ground is covered by active mining claims.
Much of the mined area is under control of the Hammond Ranch, who last year had
a large placer operation set up. Public collecting of jade here is limited to the
county right of way (60 ft wide). Continue up Clarks Creek about 2.6 miles to the old
townsite of Clarksville, passing the site pf last years mining operation. Turn around
at Clarksville and proceed back down Clarks Creek about 1.5 miles. Pull off onto side
of road for a wander along the right-of-way looking for nephrite. Perhaps someone
will get lucky.
Return to the Burnt River road (now about mile 29) and proceed downstream
to the east. This is the part of the route through the pre-Tertiary rocks that Ellen
Mullen Bishop was most interested in. Note the bench placers along the river. This is
the type section for the Burnt River Schist. At about mile 32.5, road passes the
mouth of Dark Canyon. Some large (2 inch + diameter) terminated quartz crystals
are reported to have been found in this area. Note, rattlesnakes are abundant, so
collectors need to be wary. Winter months are more enjoyable, with close
encounters with bighorn sheep nearly guaranteed.
Burnt River road crosses a fault and enters the Durkee valley. Fault trace to
the south is marked by faceted spurs and old travertine mounds. Turn right at about
mile 49.4 at stop sign and proceed south toward Durkee. Proceed 1.7 miles and
rejoin I-84, proceeding south back toward Boise. If time and morale permits, take
any of the 3 optional stops to look at mineral localities. Optional Stop 1 is the old
travertine deposit south of AshGro ve Cement. Stop 2 is a potaasium feldspar
locality south of the old cement facility at Lime. Stop 3 is a zeolite locality south of
the southbound weigh station on I-84.