Wander the West

John Day Fossil Beds - Oregon

	Thomas Condon Paleontology Center

2006

The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is one of the world’s most significant fossil beds with fossils spanning over 40 million years of Earth history. The monument is in three sections, the Painted Hills, Clarno, and Sheep Rock units, spread over 14,000 acres in north-central Oregon. I recently visited the Sheep Rock Unit and was pleased to find major improvements throughout the monument. In 2005, the new 7.5 million dollar Thomas Condon Paleontology Center opened, significantly improving on previous interpretive facilities. The monument also has new signs throughout, and the Blue Basin trail had been dramatically improved with many new bridges and interpretive displays.

The Blue Basin trailhead has two trails starting from the parking lot: the Blue Basin Overlook Trail, and the Island in Time Trail. The Overlook trail is a fairly rigorous three-mile trail that provides views of the Blue Basin and Turtle Cove. If you hike the Blue Basin trail, be sure you are wearing appropriate footwear and bring water. The Island in Time trail is an easy .6 mile trail that accesses the green claystone of Turtle Cove. This trail is much less strenuous than the Overlook trail and would be better suited for children.

There is much more to explore within the monument but I only had time to explore a few of the attractions at the Sheep Rock Unit. The other two units are approximately and hours drive from Sheep Rock so plan an all day trip if you want to see all three. The Painted Hills Unit is off of highway 26, a little over an hour east of Bend. The Sheep rock unit is about 2 hours east of Bend on 26. The Clarno unit is North of the other two on remote highway 218.

Click here for the John Day Fossil Beds photo gallery

- Aaron Walton