A Hike Through Eastern Oregon's History At John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
As if hiking through the eastern Oregon, desert landscape isn't scenic enough, the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument – made up of three units – allow visitors to trek through colorful rock formations while witnesses 40 million years of history. Preserving a record of plant and animal evolution, changing climate and past ecosystems that span over 40 million years, visitors can not only view fossils excavated from the very fossil beds they are walking through but witness scientists from around the world working in the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center's research facility.
Separated by about 50 to 60 miles, the Painted Hills, Sheep Rock and Clarno Unit all offer a unique, scenic hiking experience surrounded by colorful hues of clay, layers of America's natural history. Sheep Rock Unit offers multiple exposures of the Turtle Cove strata, a blue-green rock layer that represents millions of years of volcanic ash accumulation. The Painted Hills, located just off of Highway 26 outside the town of Mitchell, are made up of yellow, gold, black and red clay, surrounded by yellow and purple wildflowers around the hills in the spring. The Clarno Unit, located 18 miles west of the town of Fossil, is home to The Palisades, made up of over 44 million years of volcanic mudflows, which have preserved a large variety of plants and animals that inhabited a near-tropical forest in the now desert landscape.
“What makes us really important is that we are a record of climate change and the impact it had on the animals and plants that used to live here, as they adapted to a changing climate over an immense period of time,” said Interpretive Park Ranger Michelle Ordway. “It gives you a greater appreciation for life on earth and the changes that occurred through time. At one point in time this was a tropical rainforest and we were right next door to the coast.”
To Ordway, seeing 40 millions years of climate change in the fossil beds is humbling and exciting. “Our world is very dynamic and it changes all of the time,” she said. “It's an opportunity to look back into the past. You begin to understand some of the geologic processes and natural processes that make up our world. This area went from over 100 inches of rainfall a year to about ten inches at most.”
Throughout the 40 millions of year of climate change are fossils representing the Cenozoic Era, the age of the mammals. The Thomas Condon Paleontology Center is home to over 500 fossil displays gathered from the three units that make up the John Day Fossil Bed National Monument. For guests, it's a great opportunity to witness the animals that once walked right where they were just hiking and see plants that were once growing right where they just stepped a few moments earlier.
A huge contrast to the dry, desert landscape that now surrounds the beds, central Oregon was once wet and semitropical forty four million years ago. There was a very diverse ecosystem, a large variety of trees and fruits and beasts that are only vaguely recognizable today, including the orohippus, a three-toed horse the size of a large dog, and a ten foot long crocodile with long legs that hunted mammals in the area, the pristichampsus.
“Within the depths of the Clarno strata is a 40 million year old point bar, formed by the buildup of silt, sand, clay and gravel traveling around the bend of an ancient stream,” said Ordway. The seasonal flooding washed away a large amount of dead animals and plants to the point par, which “preserved a record of a diverse forest.” A carnivore the size of a bear known as the hemipsalodon grandis fed on slower herbivores. The orohippus' next evolution, the epihippus gracilis, was also present.
The vast majority of the museum specimens come from the 29 million year old Turtle Cove Beds. The climate was cool and dry, the landscape full of hardwood forests, which would often be covered in ash from nearby volcanoes. Three-toed horses, beavers and the sheep-like oreodonts were stalked by bear-dogs, cat-like animals and a giant pig-like creature.
“One of our most popular fossils is of the entelodont,” said Ordway. “It's also called the Terminator Pig or the Hell Pig. This would have been a giant scavenger animal that is bigger than a buffalo. It could run really fast and had really long legs. It's huge. It's got an incredible array of teeth. It ate everything.”
While the fossils themselves are not visible while on a hike through the fossil beds some hikers get to witness history in the making while out on their hikes. Sometimes scientists and archeologists can be seen in the distance of the rugged, steep canyons, uncovering more fossils. In the past five years there have been 25 new animals and plants discovered at John Day that were once unknown species.
“I volunteer when I can. I really enjoy doing the field work,” said Ordway, who sometimes takes part in the digs. “I've been part of removing several plaster jackets from the field, that white plaster that you cover the fossil and rock with in order to protect it when moving it into the research lab. It's pretty exciting to be a part of.”
Ancient plants grew and animals passed through right where visitors step, the once tropical landscape now a desert where archeologists from all over the world come to dig up the past and discover species that were never thought to exist. For hikers looking for more than just a beautiful backdrop, the John Day Fossil Bed offers a one of a kind experience: The ability to witness history and the future all in one place.
Olivia Richman
A graduate of East Connecticut State University in Journalism, Olivia has written for Stonebridge Press & Antiques Marketplace among others. She enjoys writing, running and video games.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Pheasant Ridge RV Resort, where you will experience the scenic beauty and conveniences of a first-rate RV facility situated on a 45 acre wooded site that overlooks the picturesque Willamette Valley.