Nearly 100 miles of highway separate the three parts of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Stop at each to take some short hikes. Collecting fossils is banned in the national monument, but allowed in the town of Fossil.

For the first recommended hike,  . . .

Five trails explore the Painted Hills . . .

…  The rock began as a volcanic mud flow 45-50 million years ago.  The strata are riddled with leaf fossils from a subtropical forest inundated by the eruption.   . . .

This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes: Eastern Oregon