Hike #36: The Painted Hills
September 6, 2015
Mileage: ~3 roundtrip total
Elevation Gain: ~400ft

The rest of our Oregon road trip took us to Central Oregon and the Painted Hills. We stayed at The Cove Palisades State Park.

The next day we continued on to part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The Painted Hills are another of the Seven Wonders of Oregon and were totally stunning to visit.

Once at the site we did three short hikes. The first was the Carroll Rim Trail, which gave us incredible views of the main set of hills and of the land surrounding them.

The second was the Painted Cove Trail, and the third was the Red Scar Knoll trail, both of which were perfect little jaunts alongside the strikingly vibrant hills of red and yellow ochres. One thing that is so incredible about these features is how their saturation and hue changes based on the light and clouds at the time of viewing. The variations we spotted throughout the hikes were phenomenal.

Our drive back to Seattle led us along Highways 207, 19, and 206, all of which had remarkable scenery. I’d like to do the drive again when we’re less pressed for time – there are so many beautiful vistas and old buildings I wish I’d photographed!