SketchTravel in the Painted Hills, Oregon

Trip to the Painted Hills, Oregon

This road trip just happened to coincide with the recent heat wave, making it hard to take longer hikes. We visited the ghost town of Shaniko on our way to Bend, Oregon.

Next day we visited the Painted Hills, geological sites within the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Amazing otherworldly hills striped with rich colors – reds, yellows, blacks and grays. They were created from floodplain sediment deposits over millions of years. Then up the canyon past Sheep Rock, where the geological forms from erosion are spectacular.

In between these two areas we stopped in the tiny town of Mitchell for a cold IPA and lunch at a brewery there – a welcome break from the heat.

Smith Rock was just a point of interest on our drive home. But it turned out to be spectacular as well. Dramatic jagged rock cliffs with a river winding through the valley, and full of trails.

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