Painted Hills (Oregon)

Leaving Smith Rock State Park, we made our way to the town of Mitchell, after a little less than two hours away. Just a few kilometers north of Mitchell is one of the most impressive places I’ve ever been to: the Painted Hills. Not too far from Terrebonne, we stopped by the Ochoco Wayside State Park to enjoy a nice lookout view of Prineville, surrounded by stunning flat plateaus.

I remember looking up the Painted Hills on Google when I was planning the trip. All I needed to convinced me was not only a picture, but also this description: “When you travel to the Painted Hills, you can see millions of years of history revealed in the layers of mountains of earth, one color at a time.” (Source: Travel Oregon) Quite convincing, eh?

The temperature was still in the high 30’s (Celcius) and the sun was really hot. We walked the trail that leads to the best view of the Painted Hills. At first, it was hard to conceive what we were looking at. It was almost surreal, like someone had Photoshopped the landscape!

Each colored layer represents a different geological era, the oldest dating back millions of years ago. This entire place is phenomenal and is, in my opinion, a must-see place in the Pacific Northwest. There is not much to say about this view because in this case, pictures are worth a thousand words!

Back in the car, the air conditioning never felt so good. And we badly needed it, because the next leg of our road trip was a long one. The goal was to reach the Wallowa Mountains but we knew the six-hour drive leading to them would have to be cut into two segments. We decided to drive as far as we could, ending our day in the small city of La Grande after a little more than five hours on the road. Our only requirement for the night was to be able to find a Wal-Mart to get all the supplies we needed for our multi-day trip in the Wallowas.