Painted Hills

The hills are one of three units of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, and the stripes are ancient soil horizons stacked up over about thirty-five million years - each band a different climate. The red layers are laterite formed under warm wet conditions, the yellows and golds formed in drier periods, and the black is manganese from plant material. The colour visibly changes with moisture and light: the same hill reads differently after rain than in dry afternoon sun, which is why photographers time visits carefully. The fossil record here is exceptional for tracking the transition from subtropical forest to grassland in North America. Walking on the hills is prohibited entirely - the clay compacts and the scars last decades.

What you actually see

• Bands recording thirty-five million years - each a different climate.
• Red laterite from warm wet periods - and gold from dry ones.
• Colour changing with moisture - the hills read differently after rain.
• A key fossil sequence - forest to grassland in North America.

When to go

April to June and September to October; after rain for colour. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Walking on the hills is banned and footprints last for decades. Trails are short - this is a viewing site, not a hiking one. It is remote with no services in the monument. Summer heat is severe with no shade.

Nearby

The Sheep Rock and Clarno units are east; Mitchell is the nearest town.