We spent the last few weeks of fall exploring the John Day River. With its headwaters near Baker City, the John Day flows unobstructed for 250 plus miles across the state, eventually spilling into the Columbia River, just east of Biggs.
Over the centuries the John Day River has carved open the land to expose ancient history.
Ironically, it’s namesake, an unlucky fur trapper, didn’t travel the river, but rather was robbed at its confluence with the Columbia.
The middle section winds through worldrenowned paleontology sites. The state has branded these routes “The Journey Through Time Scenic Byway”. Perfect for a daytrip.
Our day starts by heading north and east on US-26, about 25 miles past Mitchell, where the road meets up with the John Day River at OR 19.
From here, we follow the river north through the Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds . . . . with a mandatory stop at the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center.
We are on the John Day Hwy, headed north through the eastern section of the fossil beds. It quickly becomes apparent the Painted Hills aren’t the only uniquely colored earth mounds in Central Oregon. Along the length of this drive cliffwalls shine in hues of blue, green, and red.
At Kimberly, we turn west. For 20 miles the road follows the river, offering numerous public access points along the route.
At Service Creek, the river continues to the west, across mostly private land. We turn south on OR 207, skirting around the eastern edge of Sutton Mountain, to the east of the Painted Hills unit, dropping into the town of Mitchell. At this point we’re back on US-26 and headed home. The day has been spent exploring uniquely colored cliffs and stopping to enjoy rare public access to one of Oregon’s wild rivers.