In a remote region 75 miles east of Bend, Oregon you can travel back in time millions of years…by visiting the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. "AS YOU CAN SEE WE HAVE VERY COLORFUL GREEN, PINK AND WHITE LAYERS OF ROCK HERE AND THESE ARE THE MORE RECENT EXPOSURES. SO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 29 TO 20 MILLION YEARS OF EARTH HISTORY HERE. (edit) THE PAINTED HILLS UNIT OF THE MONUMENT IS PROBABLY THE MOST SCENIC, IT CERTANILY SHOWS UP IN THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY PROFESSIONAL PHOTGRAPHERS." Lisa Vella, Intepertive Park Ranger

To get a better understanding of what you are seeing wherever you wander, be sure to check out the Sheep Creek Unit of the monument. At the centers interpretive museum you enter a place that will take you on a 55 million year walk through time. The vast collection of fossils on display were put together mostly by staff Paleontologists who actively work and study on site.

HERE IS MORE THAN 50 MILLION YEARS OF GEOLOGIC TIME PRESERVED HERE STRETCHING FROM BETWEEN WHEN THE DINOSAURS BECAME EXTINCT UP UNTIL THE ICE AGE OF THE MAMMOTH AND MASTADONS. That treasure trove of information is locked in the fossil record found at John Day Fossil Bed National Monument. Paleontologists continue to work in the field throughout all of the units so they can learn more about our past. In turn their work may yield clues to our planets future.