Geography
The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument consists of three widely separated units—Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno—in the John Day River basin of east-central Oregon. Located in rugged terrain in the counties of Wheeler and Grant, the park units are characterized by hills, deep ravines, and eroded fossil-bearing rock formations. To the west lies the Cascade Range, to the south the Ochoco Mountains, and to the east the Blue Mountains. Elevations within the 13,944-acre (5,643 ha) park range from 2,000 to 4,500 feet (610 to 1,400 m).
The Clarno Unit, the westernmost of the three units, consists of 1,969 acres (797 ha) located 18 miles (29 km) west of Fossil along Oregon Route 218. The Painted Hills Unit, which lies about halfway between the other two, covers 3,132 acres (1,267 ha). It is situated about 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Mitchell along Burnt Ranch Road, which intersects U.S. Route 26 west of Mitchell. These two units are entirely within Wheeler County. The remaining 8,843 acres (3,579 ha) of the park, the Sheep Rock Unit, are located along Oregon Route 19 and the John Day River upstream of the unincorporated community of Kimberly. This unit is mostly in Grant County, although a small part extends into Wheeler County. The Sheep Rock Unit is further subdivided into the Mascall Formation Overlook, Picture Gorge, the James Cant Ranch Historic District, Cathedral Rock, Blue Basin, and the Foree Area. Some of these are separated from one another by farms, ranches, and other parcels of land that are not part of the park.
The park headquarters and main visitor center, both in the Sheep Rock Unit, are 122 miles (196 km) northeast of Bend and 240 miles (390 km) southeast of Portland by highway. The shortest highway distances from unit to unit within the park are Sheep Rock to Painted Hills, 45 miles (72 km); Painted Hills to Clarno, 75 miles (121 km), and Clarno to Sheep Rock, 81 miles (130 km).
The John Day River, a tributary of the Columbia River, flows generally north between the Mascall Formation Overlook and Kimberly, generally west from Kimberly to downstream of the unincorporated community of Twickenham, and generally north thereafter. Rock Creek enters the river at the north end of Picture Gorge. Bridge Creek passes through Mitchell, then north along the eastern edge of the Painted Hills Unit to meet the John Day downstream of Twickenham. Intermittent streams in the Clarno Unit empty into Pine Creek, which flows just beyond the south edge of the unit and enters the John Day upstream of the unincorporated community of Clarno.
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