John Day Fossil Monument is a well known place for fossil enthusiast. It is well known to have fossils from about 50 million years ago. Fossils of various mammals and trees can be found at various sites within John Day Fossil Monument, but people cannot take fossils away of course. Due to John Day Fossil Monument being located on the East side of central Oregon and far from major cities, not many people visit this place.
Within John Day Fossil Monument, the largest visitor center is Thomas Condon Paleontology Center. It is about 2 hours East of Bend. Thomas Condon Paleontology Center has many mammal fossils on the display. It also has a small theatre showing the formation of John Day Fossil bed and shows the process of fossilization and how to clean the fossils.
After visiting Thomas Condo Paleontology Center, we drove West to Painted Hill. Painted Hill is the most popular attraction within John Day Fossil Monument. Painted Hill is popular due to its colourful formation on the hill. The hill seemed to have been brushed with red colour.
There are several short hiking trails around Painted Hill. The Leaf Hill Trail is where people can find fossils of tree leafs. These fossils were all over the place on the ground. But keep in mind that people should only look at it and put it back. People should never take the fossils home.
Overall, the visit to John Day Fossil Monument was an interesting experience that took us through time and understand what Oregon was like 50 million years ago. We recommend to at least visit this place once.
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