Trail of the Fossils(0.25 mile)Self-guided nature trail. Watch your footing on this trail of loose rocks. Here over 45 million years ago mudflows, now turned to rock, inundated a subtropical forest. Subsequent erosion has exposed evidence of this past environment which is clearly visible along the trail. Clarno Arch(0.25 mile)This steep, slippery and rocky trail takes you near petrified logs and limb casts. At the end of the trail is the Clarno Arch, an unusual, but small, erosional feature.
View from the top of the Arch Trail
- Carroll Rim
(1.5 miles)- Moderately strenuous. The Carroll Rim trailhead is near the road junction to the Painted Hills overlook. This trail leads to the top of Carroll Rim and offers a spectacular view of the Painted Hills and nearby Sutton Mountain. The weather-resistant rock forming the cliffs along the trail is ignimbrite, a layer of welded volcanic ash.
- Painted Hills Overlook
(0.5 mile)- Easy. Park your car at the overlook and walk along this easy path for a colorful view of the Painted Hills. The layers of claystone have been exposed and sculpted by water erosion.
View from the Painted Hills Overlook trail
Painted Cove
(0.25 mile)
- Self-guided nature trail. This loop trail offers a close-up view of the colorful Painted Hills soil. A trail guide is available at the trailhead.
View of the Painted Cove trail
Leaf Hill
(0.25 mile)
- Easy. This loop trail circles a hill in which remains from a 30 million-year-old hardwood forest are preserved. Fossil leaf exhibits are along the trail.
View of the Leaf Hill trail
Sheep Rock Unit
Trails at Foree Picnic Area
- Flood of Fire
(0.25 mile)- Gently ascending. This trail crosses a ridge to a viewpoint overlooking the John Day River Valley and the surrounding basalt cliffs.
- Story in Stone
(0.25 mile)- Easy. This trail, featuring touchable exhibits, skirts a basin of blue-green claystone of the John Day Formation. The formation contains fossils of mammals which lived here 25 to 30 million years ago. This trail is traversable by wheelchair with moderate difficulty.
View of the beginning of the Story in Stone Trail
Trails at Blue Basin
Island in Time
(1 mile) Self-guided nature trail. This gently ascending trail leads to an amphitheater carved out of the blue-green John Day Formation. The volcanic ash, now turned to claystone, yields a rich variety of vertebrate fossils. Interpretive signs and fossil replicas are included along the trail.
- Blue Basin Overlook
(3 mile)- Strenuous, 600 ft. elevation gain. A strenuous, but rewarding, loop trail brings you to a spectacular vista overlooking the John Day River Valley. It is dusty in places and may be impassable in wet weather.
- Help protect the natural resources by staying on the trails. Removal or disturbance of any natural feature in the monument is prohibited.
- When hiking in summer, remember to bring water, a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Rattlesnakes, though uncommon, are sometimes seen along the trails. Give them plenty of room.
- Have a great hike!
