The Painted Hills, Oregon, USA 11 Oct 2023

Featured here is the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, specifically the mesmerising Painted Hills. Layers of vividly coloured clay-rich soils make for a captivating landscape. These hills contain a record of changing climates and ecosystems that spans millions of years. Here, visitors can explore a museum that displays fossils of plants and animals that thrived long ago. One can get a glimpse of fossils of opossums, oreodonts, sabre-toothed tigers and turtles by visiting the Clarno unit of the monument. These remnants serve as a reminder of the dynamic and fascinating history our planet holds.

© Ben Herndon/Tandem Stills + Motion

palette

Today in History

Magnificent moss, magnified
11 Oct 2024Grasmere, Lake District, Cumbria, England
11 Oct 2025World Migratory Bird Day

More Desktop Wallpapers:

23 Nov 2024Fibonacci Day
11 Jun 2024Gemsboks in the savannah, Botswana
11 Feb 2026Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, California, USA
4 Mar 2024Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
17 Nov 2023Meon Hill, Gloucestershire
Stop and smell the Sakura
21 Jun 2025Summer solstice
Where the rainbow ends
10 Apr 2025Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Wales
A grand view
In the foothills of Snowdon
Nature at its colourful best
17 Jan 2024Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
17 Mar 2025Happy St Patricks Day!
14 Feb 2024Valentines Day
2 Apr 2025Sandstone formations in the badlands near Caineville, Utah, United States
15 Sep 2024Stockholm Public Library, Sweden
Sep 2, 2023National Hummingbird Day
6 Mar 2025Bighorn sheep in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, United States
Regal Radiance
28 Apr 2026Spectacled bear resting in tree, Ecuador
5 Jun 2024World Environment Day
Whos snoozing?
24 Jan 2025Thorrablot: The Icelandic midwinter festival
15 Sep 2025Point Reyes National Seashore, California, United States
10 Mar 2024Mothering Sunday
Her legend and mystery endure
A glimpse of the grandest of canyons
19 Aug 2024Huntington Beach Pier, California, USA
3 Jul 2024World Meerkat Day