Painted Hills - one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon.

Painted Hills, Oregon. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We visited this wonderful place in summer,  2016. It is one of the three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, located in Wheeler County, Oregon. It is located 9 miles northwest of Mitchell, Oregon. The Painted Hills are listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon.

It is a 4-hour drive from Portland to the Painted Hills. We first drove along the beautiful Columbia Gorge, by I- 84. Then, changed to state road 206.  On the way to the final destination, we also saw endless farm land. Passed through quite a few small historic towns. Then, we entered the fossil world. The very sharp rocks and hills are attractively distinctive. We took breaks. Wondered around the road sides and took pictures.

We were able to hike to the top of a side mountain. One can see the roads and cars. You have to hike the trails. There are quite a few trails. Very colorful overlook of the Hills. Awesome views for anywhere in the park. A summer sunny day with blue sky!

This is the side of the road that enters the Hills place. Stopped. Came out. Checked around.

What I learned - Painted Hills is named after the colorful layers of its hills corresponding to various geological eras, formed when the area was an ancient river floodplain. We can see the bottom of Hills.

Where are all the colors from? The black soil is lignite that was vegetative matter that grew along the floodplain. The grey coloring is mudstone, siltstone, and shale. The red coloring is laterite soil that formed by floodplain deposits when the area was warm and humid.

I read that an abundance of fossil remains of early horses, camels, and rhinoceroses in the Painted Hills unit makes the area particularly important to vertebrate paleontologists. A unique site for us ordinary folks. Surreal. Nowhere else like it!

When we got closer to the hills, we were impressed with the richness of the colors. The surface of the soils and hills are very fine and steady.

How the time has made the land looking so different? We have never seen this type of land before. It is also amazing that, outside of the Hill area, nearby landscape are covered with trees and bushes, and their colors are nothing but ordinary.