Summary at a glance
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is listed as National Monument in OR in the checked-in NPS identity snapshot. Large rhino-like brontotheres roam a semitropical forest. Dog-sized, three-toed horses dart between the trees. The cat-like nimravid and bear dogs stalk their prey. The climate cools and forests alter to dryer grasslands. Saber tooth cats and camels get replaced by mountain lions and deer. Paleontologists learn more about the ancient animals and environment with every new fossil they discover. Official NPS page Data snapshot: October 27, 2026: https://www.nps.gov/joda/index.htm.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is listed as a National Monument in the checked-in NPS identity snapshot. 5 source cards on this page. Data snapshot: October 27, 2026. Listed month windows: July, May, and June.
Month-by-month
Month windows on this page: July, May, and June listed as the primary window; July, August, and June listed as peak months; April, May, and October listed as lower-crowd months.
Primary Window
Listed primary window: July, May, and June.
Peak months
Listed peak months: July, August, and June.
Lower-crowd months
Listed lower-crowd months: April, May, and October.
Getting there
Use the closest major airport and a regional drive plan for John Day Fossil Beds.
John Day Fossil Beds encompasses 14,000 acres in three geographically separated units in Oregon: Sheep Rock Unit, Painted Hills Unit, and Clarno Unit. The Sheep Rock Unit is located between the towns of Dayville and Kimberly. The Painted Hills Unit is located 9 miles northwest of of the town of Mitchell. The Clarno Unit is located on Highway 218 twenty miles west of the town of Fossil.
SERPRadio origin links provide flight-research entry points without replacing local route planning.
Clock, compare, and listen
Season and now
Twelve-month planning is modeled from the published seasonal profile. The current hand stays unavailable until sourced alerts, hours, events, roads, and weather are fresh.
- Current hand
- Not available
Three listening lanes
Official NPS audio: Not provided for this snapshot.
Synthetic browser audio, never a field recording or live observation.
Jamcorder: Shared station.
| Month | Visitability | Crowd pressure |
|---|---|---|
| January | 47 | 18 |
| February | 50 | 18 |
| March | 54 | 24 |
| April | 58 | 36 |
| May | 59 | 54 |
| June | 59 | 76 |
| July | 60 | 90 |
| August | 59 | 88 |
| September | 58 | 70 |
| October | 57 | 40 |
| November | 53 | 24 |
| December | 49 | 18 |
The cue is a browser-generated composition, not a field recording. How NPS Sounds modeled audio works.
Methodology
This page uses the checked-in NPS identity snapshot for John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, the 5 source cards below, and the figures listed above. Data snapshot: October 27, 2026. Read the NPS Sounds methodology and about NPS Sounds for how pages are assembled.
- Data snapshot: October 27, 2026
- Source cards: 5
Data Behind This Reading
Source provenance
NPS identity
highJohn Day Fossil Beds National Monument is identified as National Monument with NPS code joda.
SourceNPS operations and access
highOfficial NPS page for John Day Fossil Beds, Data snapshot: October 27, 2026: https://www.nps.gov/joda/index.htm.
SourceWeather signal
mediumJohn Day Fossil Beds coordinates 44.62566508, -119.8811491 map to the NWS points URL. Data snapshot: October 27, 2026.
SourceActivities and visit modes
mediumJohn Day Fossil Beds NPS snapshot lists activities including Hiking, Front-Country Hiking, Junior Ranger Program, and Park Film.
SourceHow this page is assembled
highplace page source cards come from the data snapshot October 27, 2026.
Source