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John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Looking toward the Palisades in the Clarno Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

A view of the ancient remnants of the lahars known as the Palisades in the Clarno Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Located 18 miles west of the small eastern Oregon town of Fossil, the Palisades of the Clarno Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument look like petrified castle battlements but are actually remnants of lahars (volcanic ash and mudflows) that sailed down the flanks of an ancient volcano, mowing down any plant or mammal in the way..

Rebecca Latson
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A late-afternoon view of the Painted Hills Unit, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

A dark, overcast sky and late afternoon sun shining on saturated red-maroon and yellow-green layered hills in the Painted Hills Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

The colorful layers of strata in these painted hills tell of ancient climate changes. The red-maroon soils represent a wet climate that caused the iron minerals in the soil to oxidize, while the yellow-green soils represent a much drier climate with little-to-no iron oxidation. These differences in climate also created different ecosystems millions of years ago in what is now the state of Oregon.

Rebecca Latson
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Hooved Creatures Used To Eat Meat? Fossil Discovered At John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Says Yes

When someone asks you to imagine a mammal with hooves, what pops into your mind? An antelope? A horse? Perhaps a bison? For most of us, we imagine a vegetarian creature, grazing on the grasslands of America. In a startling new discovery, the first known mesonychid (meat-eating hooved mammal) from the Pacific Northwest has been found within the Clarno Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Proposes New Ranger Station

For visitors and workers at the Clarno Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, the closest thing to a ranger station is a 76-square-foot structure that also serves as a water treatment facility. The Oregon park hopes to change that with a proposal to construct a new building with an attached garage and fenced yard.

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Adds A Missing Link To The National Park System

A window into the last Ice Age in the present-day desert outside of Las Vegas brings a missing link into the National Park System along with a small, but enticing, possibility that fossilized human remains are buried next to those of ancient bison, camels, and even lions.

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