Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

For nearly half a century, the Richardson family has been a rock for central Oregon.



Their Richardson's Rock Ranch has long been one of Oregon's best roadside attractions, just off U.S. 97 in the remote high desert north of Madras. The ranch has been known for its extensive rock shop and big deposits of thundereggs, drawing throngs of visitors every year.



But in 2019, as the ranch celebrated its 45th anniversary, the Richardsons were forced to make some difficult changes.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A cut, unpolished thunderegg from the deposits on the Richardsons' ranch.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The extensive rock shop at Richardson's Rock Ranch remains a big draw.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Ammonite fossils for sale inside the Richardson's Rock Ranch rock shop.

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One of the biggest draws at the ranch has been the Priday Agate Beds, deposits of gorgeous thundereggs and other stones, where the Richardsons allowed visitors to dig for a small price.



This fall, the family decided to close those beds to the public, ending what had become a cherished family tradition in central Oregon.



"We had to shut them down for a lot of reasons," said Bonnie Richardson, who runs the ranch with her husband, owner John Richardson. "The digging outgrew us as a family business, I think it's fair to say."



The story is familiar among roadside attractions in Oregon: A family business, handed down through generations, can last only as long as the younger generations are interested. The Richardsons' kids didn't want to run a rock ranch, so that left just John and Bonnie to manage the place.



They've hired help over the years and still plan to hire seasonal employees in the summer, but managing a daily rock mining operation was too much for two people to handle, Bonnie Richardson said.



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That still leaves the rock shop, which is enough of an attraction in its own right. There's perhaps no better place in Oregon to buy rocks – from cut and polished thundereggs to huge chunks of petrified wood.



"The rock shop certainly is as famous as the digging. We have rock here you would not believe," Bonnie said.



Tables and shelves inside the spacious shop are filled with glittering geodes and ancient fossils, shining spheres made of rose quartz and amethyst, rocks turned into everything from small boxes to lamps.



Outside, visitors can't miss the piles upon piles of rough rock from all over the world. There, serious rockhounds can pick out huge pieces of lavender quartz from Madagascar, tiger's eye from Africa, petrified wood from Oregon and all over the world.



Filling big plastic buckets near the rock shop entrance are raw thundereggs from the ranch's backyard, dug from the beds that are now closed to the public.



The ranch received some criticism after closing the beds, Bonnie Richardson said, though they also got a lot of support from local rock clubs and longtime customers. The more grating feedback was from people who insisted they had a right to continue digging.



"A lot of people don't understand that this is a private ranch. It's our home, not only a business but our home," Bonnie Richardson said. "We're just not a state park."

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Piles of rough rock for sale sit outside at Richardson's Rock Ranch.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A massive geode sits front and center inside the Richardson's Rock Ranch museum.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Peacocks line the tables in front of Rochardson's Rock Ranch.

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The Priday Agate Beds were discovered in 1928 by the Priday family, who owned the land at the time. The Kennedy family owned a ranch on adjacent land which eventually passed into the hands of daughter Norma and son-in-law Johnnie Richardson. In 1974, the couple opened a rock shop next to their house, operating it with their son, John.



In 1976, the Richardsons purchased the Priday Agate Beds, expanding their business into public digging. Richardson's Rock Ranch tried expanding their attraction over the decades, adding camping, horseback riding and water sports. But ultimately it was rocks that kept bringing people back.



The Richardsons aren't sure what the future holds for their roadside attraction. Bonnie, 63, and John, 66, aren't ready to retire, but they have scaled things back in order to take better care of themselves.



For 45 years, the rock shop stayed open every day of the year, never missing a day in all that time. But starting in November, the Richardsons decided to close the shop two days every week in the off-season, giving themselves some much-needed rest, Bonnie Richardson said.



By closing the agate beds and taking time off, the couple has ushered in a new era for Richardson's Rock Ranch. It will likely make things less busy on their patch of land in the desert, but that doesn't mean the attraction is anywhere close to shutting down for good.



"We're just trying to move forward with what my in-laws started. Johnnie and Norma put their hearts and souls into this," Bonnie Richardson said. "You never know what the future will bring, you just don't."



--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB

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