1.Is there a fee to visit the monument?

Answer: No, there are no fees charged at the monument, but donations are always welcomed.

2. Is there cell phone service or a pay phone at the monument?

Answer: No, there is currently no cell phone service in the monument, and the closest pay phones are in the towns of Dayville, Mitchell, and Fossil.

3. Where can we dig for fossils?

Answer: Digging for fossils is not allowed within the monument, but fossil collecting is available to the public in the town of Fossil, behind the high School. For more information, check the Wheeler County web site. http://www.wheelercounty-oregon.com/fossils.html

4. Were all these fossils found here?

Answer: Yes! All fossils at the monument were found in the large area that makes up the John Day Fossil Beds.

4. What are they doing in the laboratory?

Answer: Since this is a working research center, the paleontologists are actively doing fossil science in the lab. We have three full-time NPS paleontologists on staff (Ted Fremd: head paleontology; Matt Smith: head preparator; and Regan Dunn: paleobotanist). In the lab, they are usually either making replicas, “cleaning up” fossils, or working on display pieces.

5. What is the green rock?

Answer: It is a tuff (df: a rock formed of compacted volcanic fragments, generally smaller than 4 mm. in diameter) that contains a mineral called celadonite (SELL-a-don-ite), a greenish rock that has a high iron content. Many of the layers are also tuff, just different colors (red, buff, and beige). This is because different volcanic eruptions, even from the same volcano, are always different. Each of the ash deposits have unique chemical compositions. 

6. Do you have any dinosaurs? Why not?

Answer: We do not have any dinosaurs because this part of the country was beneath the Pacific Ocean during the time of the dinosaurs. As the ocean receded over the course of millions of years, this became exposed land. The book In Search of Ancient Oregon gives a good overview of this, and it may help to read up on the dinosaur extinction (because it led to the rise of mammals)

7. Are you still doing digs? Where?

Answer: Yes. Our team of paleontologists frequently does field work. There are more than 750 fossil sites within the John Day basin. Within these sites scientists have found more than 2200 species of plants and animals, adding up to more than 35,000 specimens in the collections.

8. Is there any danger of rattlesnakes here?

Answer: We are in rattlesnake country. It is best to be cautious and stay on existing trails. There are many species of snake here, and most snakes you will see are not rattlers. If you see a snake, just back away slowly to let them know you mean no harm. 

9. Is there any place to camp around here?

Answer: There are no campsites within the monument, but there are many in surrounding national forestland and BLM land.Campground guide

10. Who was John Day?

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is named after the river and not the man. Still, how was the river named?

John Day was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, about 1770. It was said that John Day was well over six feet tall and an expert shot with a rifle. In 1810, at the age of 40,he joined an overland expedition to establish a fur trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River. The party became divided and widely separated. Experiencing hardships, John Day's group dwindled to two people.

He and Ramsey Crooks eventually reached the mouth of the Mah-hah River along the Columbia. There, a band of American Indians took everything they had, including their clothes. They were rescued and reached Astoria (Oregon) in 1812, where he settled nearby.

Due to this incident, people traveling along the Columbia River would point out the mouth of the river where John Day was robbed. By the 1850's, the Mah-hah River was referred to and renamed the John Day River.

If you name the mouth of a river, you name every stretch of it upstream. It appears John Day never came within 100 miles of Sheep Rock.