Painted Hills John Day Fossil Beds Oregon Magnet

Ancient formations housing the fossils of long extinct animals and plants surround the area of John Day, Oregon. In one of the most beautiful of the National Monuments, the Painted Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Beds celebrates the gorgeous colors that have been exposed by erosion and time, colors created by the layering of volcanic eruption after eruption, each covering the plant and animal life growing at the time. With each layering event, a new environment grew up from the ash - tropical, forest, savannah and finally the scrub brush we can see today - each of these environments produced different levels of metals and other matter that in time oxidized to create the gorgeous bands of colors we see today.