John Day Fossil Beds National Monument — Attraction in Prineville

The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is the highlight of the John Day area. Most notable, the Painted Hills makes up one unit of the overall 14,000 acres of semi-desert shrublands and colorful badlands of the John Day River Basin. The other units include Sheep Rock and Clarno. The area became a National Monument in 1975 and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Oregon. The Painted Hills is noted mostly for its colorful geology made of heavily eroded volcanic ash layers deposited during volatile and ancient times when the area was a river plain with a warm tropical climate. The hills receive their name from spectacular colors and banded striations that appear hand-painted with an artistic quality that seems almost unnatural and highly surreal. Over eons of time, the layers of ash formed and became embedded with different mineral compositions, which has led to the incredible bands of color we see today.

There is no finer location to witness an awe-inspiring landscape and countless painters and photographers visit the Painted Hills year-round. A couple of ways to capture a photograph that is a little different than the rest is during the springtime, where small clusters of yellow flowers dot the hills, and in early wintertime when there is a fresh dusting of white powder. Right after a rain or thunderstorm is the best time to view the hills as the dampness enriches the saturation of the reds, oranges, and yellows contrasted with black striations.

The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is well-known for its preserved layers of fossil plants and mammals that lived in the region ranging between the late Eocene, about 45 million years ago, and the late Miocene, about 5 million years ago. Fossils found in the John Day Strata include a wide variety of plants and more than 100 species of mammals, including dogs, cats, saber-toothed tigers, horses, camels, and rodents. The monument features a visitors attraction called the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center located at the Sheep Rock unit. It is the best place to see fossils at the monument. Visitors can watch scientists carefully working on fossils from behind a window. The center features interactive displays, including “touch tables” and microscopes, paintings, murals, and displays illustrating the various regions where the fossils were found and the variety of plant and animal fossils discovered within...

Open year round during daylight hours and managed by National Park Service. Established in 1975 with over 14,000 acres spread out in three different units; Sheep Rock, Painted Hills and Clarno. All located within drainage basin of the John Day River, a tributary of the Columbia River.

Sheep Rock is largest of the three units and located in Grant County, Oregon nearby towns of Kimberly and Dayville. Within the unit visitors will find Sheep Rock, Thomas Condon Paleontology Center, James Cant Ranch Historic District, the blue-green Turtle Cove beds and several hiking trails.

Thomas Condon Paleontology Center is National Monument's headquarters, visitor center and research facility. There visitors can view fossil exhibits and watch scientists at work studying fossils through a lab window. The research facility helps the public and scientific community better understand the paleontological resources of the John Day River Basin Area.

Across from paleontology center off Hwy 19, part of Journey through Time Scenic Byway, is the James Cant Ranch. An interpretive center allowing visitors to tour an early 20 century livestock ranch and it's buildings. The Cant Ranch is a great educational opportunity to learn about Eastern Oregon's ranching heritage and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Painted Hills and Clarno Units are both located in Wheeler County. Painted Hills is 9 miles northwest of Mitchell. Listed as one of Oregon's seven wonders, the colorful clay layers represent different geological time periods. A network of trails allow visitors to view different perspectives of one of the most photographed geologic formations in the National Monument.

Clarno Unit is 18 miles west of Fossil and is known for it's towering Clarno Palisades. Volcanic lahars, or mudflows that are the oldest geologic formations within the National Monument created by an ancient volcano. Visitors can also view fossilized plants hiking 1/4 mile...

I didn’t have a lot of expectations going in - I was looking for a quiet place for a long weekend drive from Seattle.

This place blew my mind! I love learning about geology and paleontology - well, general natural history. This felt like an open museum! Visit here and take your kiddos.

Can you imagine that at some point in history, millions of years ago, Central Oregon was a tropical forest?! And there were 3-toed horses? I never imagined the possibility! So, expect to learn a lot of cool things!

This National Monument has 3 units - Sheep Rock, Clarno and Painted Hills. I’d recommend that you visit them in that order even though they’re all miles apart. Start at the Thomas Condon Paleontology center(they open at 10 am) - checkout the many fossils and read up on their descriptions of the history. If you don’t want to read all those paragraphs, watch the documentary at the theater. It is a 20-minute video and very informative! On weekdays, you can watch scientists at work here as they handle fossils!! Then, proceed to the sheep ranch, Cathedral Rock(there wasn’t a place to pull over and stop the car here, so be prepared to slow down to appreciate this volcanic rock formation) and Foree. The Foree was gorgeous! The blue-green claystone was so pretty!!

Then proceed to the Clarno unit. There are trails from the parking lot. Check them out! There are many cards placed along the trail to explain the history. Walk to the end of the trail and then start reading the cards on your way back to the parking lot, for it to make more sense, if you’ve not visited the Paleontology center.

Finally, stop by the Painted Hills! 😍 These are so pretty! And sunset makes the layers clear as the sun hits these hills at the right angles for some nice photographs! I was told to visit here right after the rain lets up in the evenings for everything to pop!

Oregon is so gorgeous!! And John Day Fossil Bed is a must visit if you’re a geology and natural...