NPS photo

Water is the lifeblood in the John Day watershed.

The rivers and streams of the John Day River Basin provide a ready water source for the thriving riparian plant communities found along the banks.

The various forks of the John Day River and its many tributaries all originate high up in the peaks and mountain valleys of the Blue Mountains. The mainstem of the John Day River flows west down the valley through ranches, farms and several communities and then turns north as it enters Picture Gorge and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. It is joined on the north end of the gorge by Rock Creek and then flows for nearly 8 miles through the various land units comprising the Sheep Rock Unit of the monument.

Scattered cottonwoods, tree willow, and alder provide shade and leaf matter for the nutrient cycles so vital to the health of the river. Sedges grow along the gravel bars and up the banks, with many grasses and shrub willow completing the herbaceous cover which protects the river banks.

Elk, deer and coyotes can be seen coming down to drink at the waters edge. Evidence of beaver and mink can be found along with occasional sightings of river otters, which were reintroduced to the river valley by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Choruses of frogs can be heard on a warm evening while bats swoop down to catch insects and to get a drink on the run.

Neotropical birds, swallows, geese and chukar nest along the shores and use the water as they rear their young. Bald eagles can be seen hunting for fish along the river corridor during the winter, while great blue heron, osprey and kingfishers feed from its water year-round.

Various aquatic insects and hatches of mayflies and their relatives are seen during the summer. As the snows melt in the mountains above, young salmon and steelhead smolts swim past on their way to the ocean while adults of each work their way up the river to the spawning beds to continue the cycle of life. Runoff and snowmelt from the Painted Hills Unit drains into Bridge Creek as it flows along the eastern boundary of the unit.

Though small, the perennial flow of the stream provides water to wildlife throughout the year. Russian olive have gained a foothold along the banks, but the monument is making a strong effort to remove these "invaders" and replace them with native cottonwoods and willows. Bridge Creek heads off to the northwest as it leaves the park and flows several miles before entering the John Day River.

The canyons and intermittent streams of the Clarno Unit flow southward into Pine Creek, which is just south of the units boundary. Indian Canyon can occasionally carry some heavy flows of water past the exposed petrified woods from millions of years ago. Within the boundaries of the unit there is a small inholding of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry called the Hancock Field Station. Here youth and school groups from all over Oregon come to gain hands-on experience with the natural sciences. Several of the groups travel around central Oregon to study at riverine and riparian sites. The lower portion of the John Day River below Clarno is famous for its rafting and smallmouth bass fishing.