Oregon Geology

This week brought the Fall Equinox, officially ushering in the season. Before the first snow and at the end of tourist season, we plan trips over roads that will soon become impassable. Rockhounding trips get back on the schedule, as the days cool down. This week we headed to Painted Hills.

US 26 West out of Prineville over Ochoco pass takes you through a beautiful pine forest. On the Mitchell side of that pass, high desert sage and juniper plateaus are cut into canyons by the John Day River.

Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument sits just west of Mitchell. The national monument is actually represented by three units each with a visitor center. These points of interest are situated 60 land miles apart. This rather large triangular section in the middle of Oregon is bristling with geological marvels and fossils are only part of that.

There are places we revisit seasonally and its been well over a year since we traveled to the Painted Hills. JQ is getting good at capturing High Desert landscapes with her camera, but there are places you need to visit in person to really appreciate them. This region of Oregon is one of them.

Rounded hills made of red, green and yellow layers sparked our interest in this unique landscape. Depending on the time of year or even the time of day, there  are different tones to each layer. All of the monument units offer prospective on the ancient inhabitants of this once tropical forest land.