Short hikes reveal fascinating John Day Fossil Beds.

Byline: Oregon trails by William Sullivan For The Register-Guard

WHERE TO GO on a free weekend? With summer knocking at the door, I'm suffering from cabin fever. My wife, Janell, is suffering from allergies.

The trails of the high Cascades are still buried in snow, and lower trails near Eugene are awash in grass pollen. So we're heading for the sunnier skies and clearer air east of the mountains, where both of us can breathe deeply.

A good goal on the dry side of the mountains is the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, four hours east of Eugene.

The area's fossils and colorful "painted hills" resulted from the creation of the Cascades. When the ancestral volcanoes of that range roared to life 33 million years ago, they dumped thousands of feet of ash on the John Day area.

The ash settled in vast lakes and compacted into yellow claystone. Countless plants and animals that had been trapped in the ash turned to fossils. Trace minerals tinted the claystone with colorful stripes - red from oxidized iron and black from manganese.

At the same time, the new Cascade Range gradually choked off rainfall, turning the area from a forest to a high desert.

Today, more than 50 miles of highway separate the three parts of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Each area has a different story to tell, and the best way to learn the story is by taking some short hikes. Plan a two- or three-day trip so you'll have time to explore.

Start by driving Highway 126 east through Sisters, Redmond and Prineville. Four miles before Mitchell (between mileposts 62 and 63 on Highway 26), turn left on paved Burnt Ranch Road at a sign for the Painted Hills. After 6 miles, turn left on Bear Creek Road for 1.2 miles, mostly on gravel, and then turn left 0.2 mile to the Painted Hills Overlook parking area.

Four trails explore the Painted Hills. The soil is so soft that footprints last for years, so please stay on designated paths.

If you're short on time, stroll out the 0.3-mile path to the Painted Hills Overlook and then drive another 1.2 miles to the Painted Cove Trail, a 0.2-mile loop with a boardwalk that crosses the colorful claystone.

If you have more time, don't miss the 0.8-mile climb to a viewpoint atop Carroll Rim's lava rimrock.

The fourth path, the 0.2-mile Leaf Hill Loop, circles a 30-foot hill where early scientists collected thousands of fossils. For visitors, however, collecting fossils or rocks of any kind is forbidden.

After exploring the Painted Hills, you'll probably be about ready to look for a place to spend the night. But there are no overnight accommodations in the national monument itself. The nearest public campground is the Bureau of Land Management recreation area along the John Day River at Service Creek, where you can expect to pay about $5 for a relatively barren, shadeless campsite.

A better choice is to drive 4 miles on Highway 26 to Mitchell, a quaint sagebrush hamlet with a population of 180. The cheapest sleep here is in Mitchell's city park, where grassy campsites with water are completely free. Or book a room at Mitchell's historic Oregon Hotel (541-462-3027).

Built in 1912, the classic hostelry has been renovated with period antiques. A night here ranges from a mere $12.50 for a bunk to $55 for a four-bed suite. A modest breakfast is included for free.

To find the next area of the national monument from Mitchell, drive Highway 26 east for 34 miles. When you reach the layered lava canyon of Picture Gorge, turn left on Highway 19. After 2.2 miles, stop to see the displays at the national monument's visitor center, in a historic farmhouse at Sheep Rock.

Then drive north 3.2 miles on Highway 19 to the Blue Basin trailhead parking lot, between mileposts 118 and 119.

If you're pressed for time, head to the right on the Island in Time Trail, which ambles 0.6 mile up a green creekbed to trail's end in an eerie badlands canyon of fluted green volcanic ash. Exhibits by the trail display replicas of tortoise and saber-tooth-cat-like fossils discovered in the eroding ash.

If you have more time, however, start your hike from the Blue Basin parking lot by keeping left on the Blue Basin Overlook Trail. This 3.2-mile loop path climbs, steeply at times, around the scenic canyon's rim to a viewpoint bench. Then it descends in 21 switchbacks to the Island in Time Trail.

To drive to the third and final area of the national monument, take Highway 19 north 59 miles to the city of Fossil. If you'd like to dig for fossils, stop at the high school here. The workers who bulldozed the school's football field exposed a hillside of shale full of leaf fossils. Visitors are allowed to take samples.

Then drive west of Fossil on Highway 218 for 19 miles to the Clarno unit of the national monument. Three miles before the John Day River bridge, park at a picnic area on the right. The picnic area has restrooms and water, but not much shade.

From the picnic area, you can walk a half-mile path alongside the highway (or you can drive half a mile) to a smaller, unmarked parking pullout where two interpretive trails begin.

First, look for the trail brochures hidden on the back of a message board. Then head to the right on the Trail of the Fossils, a 0.2-mile loop lined with boulders that fell from the rimrock far above. The rock began as a volcano's mudflow 44 million years ago. The boulders are riddled with interesting leaf and branch fossils from a subtropical forest inundated by the eruption.

The other short trail climbs uphill to the left from the message board for 0.2 mile to the rimrock itself, where water erosion has carved a tall hollow into the cliff, topped with a dainty, 10-foot arch. At this desert viewpoint, crickets chirp, crows squawk and peregrine falcons swoop past, hunting cliff swallows.

Breathing deep the clear, crisp air of the desert along the John Day River, it's easy to shake the long winter's cabin fever - and forget about spring's allergies for a while as well.

William Sullivan is the author of numerous books about Oregon.. Contact him at www.oregonhiking. com.

CAPTION(S):

Above: The Clarno unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument includes trails along a rimrock that began as a volcanic mudflow 44 million years ago. Left: The painted hills of the fossil beds are a result of compacted volcanic ash and mineral deposits. WILLIAM SULLIVAN If you'd like to dig for fossils, stop at the high school in the town of Fossil. The workers who bulldozed the school's football field exposed a hillside of shale full of leaf fossils.