Every year the National Park Service picks a park for National Fossil Day. For 2025, it’s the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (JODA). There are many ways to celebrate the day… see this link.

Today, the badlands, sagebrush steppe, and riparian habitats of the John Day River Basin of eastern and central Oregon support diverse systems of plants and animals. Beneath the surfaces, the rocks and deposits include evidence of many millions of years of living things that came before, shaping those modern systems. There is an unparalleled record here telling the stories of how life in their environments has changed during the Cenozoic Era, from the Eocene Epoch to the late Miocene Epoch in northwestern United States. Paleontologists from many institutions have been delving into the rocks and fossils of the John Day Basin for more than 160 years to understand this history of life. In recognition of these fossil resources, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (JODA) was established on October 8, 1975 and is administered by the National Park Service. Today it encompasses 13,944 acres, divided among three units: Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno. The monument only preserves a fraction of the overall John Day fossil beds, requiring the NPS to partner with other federal, state, and tribal partners, and private landowners. An average of 210,000 visitors annually visits the lands of the monument for outdoor recreation and to learn about the 45 million years of fossil heritage preserved within the region. New discoveries are still being made here by National Park Service paleontologists and their colleagues. For the 2025 National Fossil Day Logo, we feature the 29-million-year-old Oligocene assemblage of the Turtle Cove Member of the John Day Formation, inspired by new and old discoveries made at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.