The John Day Fossil beds, Clarno Unit is located in east-central Oregon. Located within the John Day River basin, it is managed by the National Park Service. The park in known for it's well-preserved layers of fossil plants and mammals that lived here in the region between the late Eocene, about 45 million years ago, and the late Miocene, about 5 million years ago. This unit is one of 3 separate units that also include Sheep Rock, and the Painted hills.
Of coarse there was a trail to travel, so we did. It took us a long a history lesson of the area. It was once lush enough to be a rain forest.
The hike lead us to this area of the fossil beds that had eroded away over time and created this skylight. It was amazing!
Along the walk there are a lot of signs telling about what you can see and how it was formed. Often by the sign was an opportunity to see fossils, like this leaf imprint below.
This picture below shows a nice view of the skylight from a distance.
Really interesting rock formations!
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