Visiting the Painted Hills

This is the last of my three posts about my mid-March 2022 trip to the John Day Fossil Monument National Park in eastern Oregon. Located about 4 hours east of Portland, this unique national park has 3 units, each which very different experiences. I covered some of the logistics of how to get here in my first post, and the second post covered the 2 units of the Clarno Unit with its Palisades and the Sheep Rock Unit with the Blue Basin. This last post is only on visiting the Painted Hills, the most famous unit of the 3 and listed as one of the seven wonders of Oregon.

The Painted Hills Unit is located about 9 miles northwest of the town of Mitchell, Oregon, which makes it the closest base to visiting the unit. The stripes of red, tan, orange, yellow, streaks and dashes of black, all are a testament to the geological past representing changes in sediments over this region over 33 millions of years.
Guide to Visiting the Painted Hills - view from Painted Hills Overlook Guide to Visiting the Painted Hills - view from Painted Hills Overlook

Plan part of your time visiting the Painted Hills as close to a golden hour (the 1-2 hours before sunset or after sunrise) as you can. The lighting between morning and late afternoon are different – I think in particular the early evening light is softer, so makes for great photos. Also, the main view you see at Painted Hills Overlook and Carroll Rim Trail are hills that you look east towards, so the sun will be behind the hills the first part of the day causing camera glare, and the colors of the valley between the hills in shadow at first. If you are visiting the Painted Hills after it rains, that’s a plus – the saturation of the clay soils will make the color of the hills intensify by sealing the surface to reflect light while also expanding the clay, and you will see more of the black manganese deposits streaks.Guide to Visiting the Painted Hills Guide to Visiting the Painted Hills - view from Painted Hills Overlook Guide to Visiting the Painted Hills - closer look at the soil colors at Painted Hills Overlook

Spring is a great time of year as the temperatures will be more moderate – during our visit we were around mid 50-70 degrees Fahrenheit. There are five trails available at the Painted Hills – each short, but still carry plenty of water. Some vault toilets are available by a picnic area. There is no entrance fee to enter any of the units of the John Day Fossil National Monument, but note that only the Sheep Rock Unit offers a visitor’s center. When you enter the Painted Hills area, you will be on gravel roads. You may encounter wildlife crossing ranging from deer to cows along the way so drive carefully around the curves as you approach the park.

Most popular trails at Painted Hills

Painted Cove Trail is where you’ll want to head to first to get that iconic photo of the boardwalk and red hills. This is a .25 mile roundtrip loop on a level boardwalk so very accessible. Besides the boardwalk, the whole point of the boardwalk is that it lets you walk very close to the soils to see the different colors up close – otherwise your view of the colors will be from a distance. Needless to stay, stay on the boardwalk and trails as your footprints can damage and leave lasting imprints for years and the soils are very sensitive. You have to drive past the Painted Hills Overlook to reach here, but I prefer visiting Painted Cove as a first stop because it gives you a closeup view before your vista and panoramic views. Sun placement also doesn’t matter as much here.
Guide to Visiting the Painted Hills - visiting the Painted Cove trail area gives you up close look at the colors of the soil making up the Painted Hills Guide to Visiting the Painted Hills - visiting the Painted Cove trail area gives you up close look at the colors of the soil making up the Painted Hills Guide to Visiting the Painted Hills - visiting the Painted Cove trail area gives you up close look at the colors of the soil making up the Painted Hills

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Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit

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.
Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - at Sheep Rock Unit, the Blue Basin is probably the most famous area, where you can find the two hikes of Blue Basin Overlook to look from above down into the canyon, and Island in Time which takes you walking straight into the heart of the the Blue Basin gorge

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.
Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit

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.
Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit

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.
Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit

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.
Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit Visiting the Clarno Unit and Sheep Rock Unit - these are the famous Palisades of the Clarno Unit

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Planning a Trip to the Painted Hills

One of the seven great wonders of Oregon as Travel Oregon promotes is the Painted Hills. Located 4 hours east of Portland, the Painted Hills are actually just one unit of three that comprise the John Day Fossil Beds National Park. Besides the Painted Hills Unit, you can also visit Sheep Rock Unit (the location of Blue Basin) or Clarno Unit (location of dramatic Palisades). We visited all three March 25-26 2022, and we’re happy to share our tips in planning a trip to the Painted Hills and other units. This post will focus on getting to the area, and future posts will cover visiting each of the park’s units.
Planning a Trip to the Painted Hills - visit all three units that comprise the John Day Fossil Beds National Park in Oregon like we did. From top to bottom, the Clarno Unit, Painted Hills,and Sheep Rock Unit Blue Basin

Timing Your Visit, and Planning the Drive

Because this area is in the high desert, the best times of year to visit this National Park is in spring and fall, when the weather isn’t as hot, and you don’t have to check the weather conditions of the winter passes which could require chains or have limited alternate routes when there are vehicle accidents or poor conditions. During our visit in end of March, we enjoyed temperatures in the comfortable 60s-70s during the day that cooled off to the 50s (Fahrenheit) in the evenings. Even though we went on hikes that had no shade, it was pleasant because of the cooperative weather. We enjoyed partly cloudy skies and sunshine, but even if you get some rain during your visit, it’s a treat because it will intensify the colors you see in the rocks and soils of the Fossil Beds units. There is no entrance fee to enter any of the units, but note that only the Sheep Rock Unit offers a visitor’s center. Each of the units is about an hour drive from each other.
Planning a Trip to the Painted Hills - visit all three units that comprise the John Day Fossil Beds National Park in Oregon like we did. Here's a look at the Painted Hills from the Carroll Rim Trail

If you are coming from Portland, there are several routes you can take to the area depending on what you would like to see. The fastest route is to take Highway 26 through Mt Hood Village and Government Camp, and Madras and Prineville to get to Mitchell. This is the fastest route and has the best access to food options, gas stations, and cell phone service. Taking this route will give you views of driving to and through Mt Hood. It wasn’t open yet in 2022, but this route also can take you pass by Kahneeta hot springs. I opted to take this route on the way back, versus to, the national park – take two different routes to and from to make a circle.

Another route you can take is I-84 through the Columbia River Gorge, giving yourself scenic views there past Multnomah Falls and Hood River and part of the Dalles, and then taking Highway 197 or 97 down. Going this way, you can make a stop by going on Highway 218 to visit Shaniko Ghost Town, and also the Clarno Unit on your way as your first unit of the John Day Fossil Beds. You can also choose to swing up to Fossil to do your own fossil digging at the only legal fossil dig site in Oregon behind a high school (great overview here at YesDirt!)Planning a Trip to the Painted Hills - visit all three units that comprise the John Day Fossil Beds National Park in Oregon like we did. We took a circle route from Portland to and from Mitchell which we used as our home base to the three units

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