Paul & Tara Visit the National Parks: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Visited: May 2021

Nearby towns: John Day, OR (Sheep Rock Unit); Fossil, OR (Clarno Unit)

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument encompasses three separate and distinct units in Central Oregon: (1) Painted Hills; (2) Sheep Rock; and (3) Clarno Units. We took a road trip with Tara's parents to visit all 3 units.

In our last post, we detailed our trip to the Painted Hills.

Read about that here: https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2022/08/john-day-fossil-beds-national-monument.html

This post will focus on our visits to both the Sheep Rock and Clarno Units. Way back in 2014, Tara and I visited the Sheep Rock Unit.

Read about that visit here: https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2019/02/john-day-fossil-beds-national-monument.html

All 3 units lie in the John Day River basin. The John Day River is a major tributary to the Columbia River. Lewis & Clark noted the river during their famous expedition as they traveled along the Columbia River in 1805, but they did not explore it. John Day, for whom the river is named, was a hunter and fur trapper. He and his partner, Ramsay Crooks, were exploring the confluence of the river in 1812 when they were robbed and stripped naked by a group of Native Americans. Once Day and Crooks finally reached the coast at Fort Astoria, their harrowing story became famous and the river was named after Day. Peter Skene Ogden, the famous explorer and fur trapper for the Hudson's Bay Company, explored the river upstream in 1829 and was the first non-native American to see Sheep Rock.

Our first stop was the Sheep Rock Unit. This unit serves as the headquarters for the National Monument. Sheep Rock is a prominent peak along the John Day River, it stands at an elevation of 3,360 ft.

Sheep Rock on the right

The narrow canyon of the John Day River near Sheep Rock is an impressive, scenic area. Make sure to stop by the James Cant Historic Ranch. James Cant began to ranch this area in 1910 and raised sheep. The Cant family sold the property to the National Park Service in 1975. The home serves as Park Headquarters and Museum. You can learn about ranching and farming life in this wild, remote area of Oregon.

Mascall Formation Overlook

Cant Ranch

the large barn

Tara and I do our version of "American Gothic" 😁

Also stop by the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center across the street from the Historic Ranch. Thomas Condon was a minister and amateur geologist who explored the area in 1865 and found many fossils near Sheep Rock. The fossils here date from 20-44 million years ago. No dinosaur fossils here, but there are lots of mammals (dogs, cats, oreodonts (a prehistoric hog), saber-tooth tigers, horses, camels, and rodents), and extinct plants.

There are a number of short hikes in the area. We did the (1) Flood of Fire Trail and the (2) Story in Stone Trail.

Tara and her parents

love the color of these rock formations

We then went to the Clarno Unit. It's about a 1.5-hour drive from Sheep Rock. Take the short Trail of the Fossils to see the impressive Palisades and the Clarno Arch.

The Palisades

fossilized plants/leaves in the rocks along the trail

Clarno Arch

close up to the Clarno Arch

Oregon countryside

We then stayed the night in the small town of Fossil, OR (pop: 438). We stayed at a pleasant bed and breakfast. Fossil serves as the county seat of Wheeler County (pop: 1,451), Oregon's least populous county. It has a beautiful courthouse.