John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
world-class fossil sequences distributed among Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno defines the visit to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.
Artwork inspired by Rick Bartow
world-class fossil sequences distributed among Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno defines the visit to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Use the Thomas Condon center to connect fossils with changing climates and ecosystems.
Treat the three units as separate journeys and never collect fossils or leave trails. Compare exposed strata with the organisms and environments reconstructed indoors.
- Setting
- Kimberly, Oregon
- Admission
- Free admission
- Allow
- At least half a day
Quick guide
- Choose deliberately
- Give one unit enough time to read its climate sequence
- Link case to landscape
- Connect Thomas Condon specimens with exposed strata
Read climate change across three fossil units
- Choose one monument unit
- Treat Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno as separate drives, then give the selected John Day Fossil Beds unit enough time to read its sequence.
- Begin with dated specimens
- Use the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center to connect fossils, volcanic ash layers, and changing climates across millions of years.
- Return the evidence to the ground
- Compare museum reconstructions with exposed strata at Sheep Rock, Painted Hills color bands, or Clarno’s fossil-bearing formations.
- Protect the scientific record
- Stay on signed trails and leave every fossil and rock fragment in place; collecting destroys both context and research value.
Good to know
Treat the three units as separate journeys and never collect fossils or leave trails. Download the selected unit’s map before entering the basin, where long distances and weak service punish an improvised change of plans.
Notice these
- world-class fossil sequences distributed among Sheep Rock
- the Thomas Condon center connects specimens to changing climates
- Keep one ecological question active while moving between viewpoints.