Road Trippin’ Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon

It is a landscape that ensnares artists, photographers and videographers.

Rolling, sweeping, swooping, bulbous bands of ancient land coated in time’s decay replete with red, orange, yellow, white, black, green and tan. With each second of every day, as sunlight changes, so to do the hues and shadows of Oregon’s Painted Hills, part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Step back in time to a place where there are 30-39 million-year-old leaf fossils and landscapes carved by volcanic activity and erosion – all bathed in brilliant colours.

Located nine miles northwest of Mitchell, off Oregon State Highway 26, the Painted Hills, considered one of Oregon’s seven wonders, features a network of mostly short trails allowing one to skirt a number of colourful formations, each explained by trail-side interpretive panels.

We recommend taking a day to fully appreciate the changing light and how the views change with it but a quick look is also worth it.

The Painted Hills is about a two-hour drive (87 miles) from Bend, the largest nearby community. It is about a nine-hour drive (500 miles) from Cranbrook to the Painted Hills.

Photos by Carrie Schafer and Ian Cobb

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