Continuing from my previous post after sharing the plans of how to get to the area plus a stop in ghost town Shaniko, today I continue on with our experience and tips for visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Park. Then my next post will cover visiting the famous Painted Hills, one of the seven wonders of Oregon.
There is no park pass or fee needed to visit any of the units. The colors of the units look best in the afternoon light, leaving you time to drive or sleep in if staying nearby before your visit. While it is possible to see all three in one day, you will need to account for one to two hours of drive time between each unit (not counting getting to the area first), and you won’t be able to enjoy all the trails so per my advice overnight at least 1 night preferably 2 nights nearby. That said both of these two units are ok to see earlier in the day to save the afternoon to sunset time for the Painted Hills for the biggest return on display and range of colors there. If you encounter rain, I would prioritize visiting in this order Painted Hills, Sheep Rock, then Clarno Unit.
Clarno Unit
The Clarno Unit is one of the three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Park along with the Sheep Rock Unit and the Painted Hills. It is the smallest of the three units and IMHO I would rank it #3 in terms of beauty of the three, though part of it might is that Painted Hills and Sheep Rock offer more uniqueness. It’s the fastest to visit with three trails, and may be conveniently already on the way if coming from Portland.
The Clarno Unit is famous for its plant fossils and the Palisades. Located 1.5 hr north of the Painted Hills, it’s a little over 30 minutes from Shaniko so if you’re taking the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway from Portland, you could easily stop by on your way towards Mitchell and the Painted Hills.
In an area where you probably have been driving through valleys between gently rounded green hillsides, you will then come across these tall walls and towers of reddish orange, pink, white layers of rock. These are remnants from when this area was once a lush jungle 40-54 million years ago, and these cliffs were formed from volcanic mudslides or lahar, happening over and over building the layers you see today. 
Among the layers and along the trailside you can find plant fossils including leaves, sticks, and petrified logs. No, no dinosaur fossils so reel in expectations accordingly. But the area is incredibly fossil rich – paleontologists have been making discoverers and categorizing hundreds of fossils a year since the 1860s! Seeing the strata of the remnants of millions of years is fascinating to look at.
The three trails here connect to each other. The Geologic Time Trail and Trail of Fossils and Clarno Arch Trail all together combine into a 1.3 mi out/back trek starting from the main parking lot that has a picnic area and restrooms. There is no visitors center. This main parking lot starts you off with the relatively flat 1/4 mile Geologic Time Trail that connects you to the Trail of Fossils. Signs along the Geologic Time Trail note events of the last 50 million years and how each foot of trail represents 37,000 years. You will need to take this same trail back for total out and back 1/2 mile.
The Trail of Fossils is a 1/4 mile loop where you can readily see fossils in the rocks as you walk through a boulder field. Depending on whether you go right uphill and counterclockwise on the loop first (completing 2/3 of it) or left clockwise (for 1/3 of the loop) you can branch off at a second more limited parking by the Palisades Trailhead 1/4 mile west of the picnic area, as shown here. 
At the Palisades Trailhead you can then proceed on Clarno Arch Trail then continues on 1/4 mile upwards 200 feet towards the top of a section of palisades, including a few narrow sections of steps so some may consider this portion moderate instead of easy like the other two trails. This trail is leading you up towards at the end of the path a view to look up at an arch connecting a couple palisade towers that continue to erode and may not stay an arch for long. Then you’ll turn around and revisit the last 1/4 mile for total 1/2 mile trek out and back. You can see a remnant where there probably was another arch before – along with interesting layers of ridges of different poolings over different times.
You can likely cover a visit here in a few hours here if you do all three trails, or just an hour if you just do the Clarno Arch Trail from the second parking lot that allows you to skip the other two trails. You will miss out on seeing the fossils though, and almost all the explanatory signage is on those two other trails. We only saw a handful on the Clarno Arch Trail.
Consider after Clarno whether you want to try excavating for your own fossils! You can swing up to the town of Fossil to do your own fossil digging at the only legal fossil dig site in Oregon behind Wheeler High school (great overview here at YesDirt!).
Sheep Rock Unit and the Blue Basin
Blue Basin is located in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Sheep Rock Unit. The unit was named after the hundreds of wild bighorn sheep that used to live on the rocks, while the Blue Basin, as the name suggest, offers blueish-green hued canyons.
The Sheep Rock Unit is also the home to the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center and the Cant Ranch Museum (still closed because of the pandemic when we were there). There is no admission charge and at the Paleontology Center you can visit a fossil gallery, see a short film detailing the geologic have history, and visit a gift shop. This is the main and only visitor center for the John Day Fossil Beds Monument National Park. You can learn how the John Day Fossil Beds are the best fossil records in the world from the Age of Mammals and Flowering Plants 40-65 million years ago, not found this complete elsewhere in the world. If you are collecting passport stamps you can find them here.
The drive here is incredibly beautiful as you weave through gorges with towering layers of of rock walls and cliffs of different formations angling upwards to the blue skies. There are eight trails and scenic views at Sheep Rock Unit, offering the most trails of the three units. The two most famous trails are the Island In Time trail leading into the valley into the heart of the gulches, and then the Blue Basin Overlook trail for views above the canyon and the John Day River valley, circling the whole basin. Both of these trails share the same parking lot where there is also a restroom available, and share an initial start of the trail through some grassland.
For the shorter easiest hike at Blue Basin do the Island in Time Trail trail. Out and back it is just over a mile and a half round trip and 200 foot elevation, and it takes you right into the canyon. The gravel out and back trail is good for all skill levels but may be a bit harder for some dogs as there are a series of metal grated bridges.
You will encounter fossil replicas along the trail- here you found among the blue-green claystone a tortoise fossil shell of Stylemys that shows a large fracture on the shell’s underside (perhaps cause of death?); Oreodonts that were sheep-pig-camel-like animals; and found among the park were also cat-like animal fossils, Nimravids .
The grey, blue, and/or seafoam colors depending on the light comes from volcanic ash from eruptions around 29 million years ago. Now it has turned into clay stone with colors from chemical weathering of a mineral called celadonite as water carved through these blue valleys and gulches over millions of years. It’s surreal to compare this area with the other units with its totally different landscape and a totally different color palette, the blue tinge contrasting with yellow green grasses within and around the ravine, and red hills you can see in the slight distance. 
It’s a short little mostly flat hike with a huge reward at the end.
Blue Basin Overlook Trail is a 3.25 mile loop ascending 800 feet to look down into the basin and see a panoramic view. Traverse this clockwise for less steep of a climb with less boardwalk switchbacks. But other trail sources say go counter clockwise at least halfway for the best vista views of the trail. You decide, easier but longer anticipation for the grand vistas or harder with faster payoff.
When you leave the parking area for Blue Basin you can either drive a few more miles west (right) past passing a prominent, multi-layered cliff face (Cathedral Rock – shown in the first photo below), which causes the John Day River to bend by 180°. Shortly after this is another section of the national monument, the Foree Area. This is an alternative to the Blue Basin or short addition with additional blue green hills and two short trails.
Flood of Fire Trail is a 0.4 mi RT out/back steady climb up a ridge created by lava floods to a viewpoint overlooking the John Day River Valley and a colorful rock formation similar to Cathedral Rock. This trail can easily combine with the nearby Story in Stone Trail loop for an additional 0.3mi mile. The Story in Stone trail is level and partially paved so is also wheelchair and stroller accessible (Flood and Fire Trail is not) for a view of a small basin of blue-green. A restroom is available here before the trail starts.
Some final tips for your travel, whether you visit these two units and or the Painted Hills, which I will cover in the next post. Make sure to set your phone map to the locations you want when you have service and not close out the map so you can still navigate. Just in case, make sure to also screenshot the directions or print them before your trip. Gas and towns are few and far between so refill when you can. Dogs must be leashed and drones are not permitted in any of the monuments.
The high desert country can be chilly early in the morning or after sunset in spring and in the fall so wear layers – in winter you may even see snow dustings. In the summer months the temperatures can get up to 100 with little shade so bring your sunscreen and hat. Of course always carry snacks and water on hikes. Stay on the trails and be conscious that you may encounter rattlesnakes (although we never did).
Painted Hills Trip March 2022 Posts
- Planning a trip to the Painted Hills
- Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Park (this post)
- Visiting the Painted Hills
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