John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

• Where: 32651 Highway 19, 8 miles west of Dayville

• Dates: Year-round

• Hours: Winter, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; summer, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily except federal holidays between Thanksgiving and Presidents Day

• Admission: Free

• Phone: 541-987-2333

• Web: nps.gov/joda

The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is dedicated to the preservation and continuing research of the fossil plants and mammals that existed here millions of years ago. The monument is comprised of three geographically unique units: Clarno and Painted Hills in Wheeler County, and Sheep Rock in Grant County, which together cover nearly 14,000 acres.

Sheep Rock is home to the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center, the Historic Cant Ranch and seven hiking trails.

The paleontology center, which opened in 2005, is named for 19th century missionary and scientist Thomas Condon. Born in Ireland, Condon immigrated to New York and later traveled with his wife to Oregon, where he was known for his interest and expertise in geology. In 1865, while venturing across the state, he was the first to identify the scientific significance of the area that is now the John Day Fossil Beds.

The expansive 11,000-square-foot paleontology center is a state-of-the-art research facility where new discoveries continue to be made well into the 21st century. Visitors can peruse a vast array of fossils, exhibits, displays and information, and even watch scientists at work in the laboratory.

Across Highway 19 from the paleontology center is the Historic Cant Ranch and Museum, which was a working sheep ranch in the early 20th century.

The ranch house and museum are open only in summer, although visitors are welcome to tour outside areas and trails at any time.

Outdoor enthusiasts will also enjoy seven trails within the Sheep Rock Unit, ranging in length from ¼ mile to 3¼ miles. Each offers its own breathtaking vistas, rock formations and colorful geologic layers. All are open year-round. Information and maps are available at the paleontology center.

Visitors to the John Day Fossil Beds are reminded that all fossils, rocks, plants and animals are fragile and protected, and may not be collected or disturbed. Anyone who sees a fossil is urged to take a photo of it and report it to a ranger.

Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site

• Where: 125 NW Canton St., John Day

• Dates: May 1 to Oct. 31

• Hours: 9 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m., daily

• Admission: Free

• Phone: 541-575-2800

• Web: friendsofkamwahchung.com

Chinese immigrants were instrumental in the history of Grant County and Eastern Oregon, and nowhere is their influence more thoroughly preserved and honored than at the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site in John Day.

Loosely translated as “Golden Flower of Prosperity,” the Kam Wah Chung site includes an interpretive center on Northwest Canton Street and a museum on nearby Ing Hay Way. The latter, built in 1876 as a trading post, was the longtime location of a successful business venture for two Chinese immigrants, herbal doctor Ing “Doc” Hay and businessman Lung On.

For 60 years, from 1888 to 1948, the enterprising pair ran a general store, practiced Chinese herbal medicine and performed religious rituals. Chinese miners, local residents and pioneers all benefited from Doc Hay’s treatments. The business also served as a vital social center for Chinese immigrants throughout Eastern Oregon.

After Hay’s death in 1952, the building was abandoned until 1967, when the city of John Day launched plans to restore it to its 1940s condition and turn it into a museum, per Hay’s request. Thanks to the hard work of Oregon State Parks and the Friends of Kam Wah Chung, visitors entering the museum today are treated to a step back in time to the bustling business days of Doc Hay and Lung On, almost exactly as they left it.

In 1973, the museum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2005, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.

The interpretive center features videos and informational exhibits, unveiled in 2011, outlining Chinese influence in Eastern Oregon. A few years prior, the museum underwent nearly a year of renovations and repairs, which were unveiled at a lavish ceremony in 2008.

The museum is open to guided tours only, at the top of each hour, until 4 p.m. Tours are about 45 minutes long. Virtual tours are available at the interpretive center.

The site is slated for a major expansion in the next few years.

Free tickets are available at the interpretive center.

DeWitt Museum at Depot Park

• Where: Bridge and Main streets, Prairie City

• Dates: May 15 to Oct. 15

• Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays

• Admission: $3 per person

• Phone: 541-820-3330

In addition to mining and lumber roots, Grant County was also once home to a thriving railroad. This slice of railroad history — and much more — is preserved at the DeWitt Museum, located in the heart of Prairie City.

Built in 1910, the two-story museum was originally a depot for the Sumpter Valley Railway. It was the only two-story depot along the railway line and the only one that’s still on its original site.

The narrow-gauge line, which began rolling in 1890, ran from Baker City to Sumpter, and later to Prairie City. The passenger station, or Prairie City Depot, was the railway’s terminus.

In the depot’s heyday, a waiting area, baggage, freight and express rooms and the station agent’s office were all on the ground floor. The agent’s living quarters were on the second floor.

Railway service to Prairie City ended in 1933, although some passenger trains continued for a few more years.

Slated for demolition, the historic building was rescued thanks to the efforts of a local group of women. In 1976, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, though it remained unused until the mid-1980s, when it found new life as a community museum.

The DeWitt’s artifacts were originally from the collection of local pioneers T. Gail and Peacha DeWitt, who ran a sawmill, dredge and ranch on the Middle Fork of the John Day River. Family artifacts were kept in several locations before finding a permanent home in the depot building in 1984.

Over the past 30-plus years, the collection has ballooned as more items were added. Visitors to the DeWitt will find a wide assortment of railroad memorabilia, mining and ranching tools, rocks and minerals, vintage household items, photos of local families and the town, books and much more. Each section and room of the two-story museum features a facet of local history.

Grant County Historical Museum

• Where: 101 S. Canyon Blvd., Canyon City

• Dates: May 1 to Sept. 30

• Hours: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays

• Admission: Adults, $4; seniors and veterans, $3.50; children, $2; ages 6 and under, free

• Phone: 541-575-0362

• Web: grantcountyhistoricalmuseum.org

It’s appropriate that the Grant County Historical Museum is located in Canyon City, since that’s where the county’s existence was born. The discovery of gold in 1862 in nearby Whiskey Gulch attracted thousands to this area, which wasn’t even a county yet, and was home to a few Native American tribes and traveling exploration parties and trappers.

The first items in the collection were gathered by early-1900s Canyon City resident Charley Brown, who was a postmaster and ran a general store and a gas station. In 1925, Brown bought an old saddle from someone, and soon — as the story goes — a deluge of local folks began beating a path to Brown, eager to sell relics from their homes. Soon, his small gas station on Washington Street overflowed.

Brown later sold the amassed goods to the Grant County Historical Society, and in 1953, local rancher Herman Oliver purchased a building for the present-day museum to house the growing collection.

The spacious building is a one-stop, comprehensive source for Grant County history, primarily the Canyon City and John Day areas. Visitors will be transported back in time to Grant County days gone by among vivid exhibits showcasing not only the area’s rich gold mining days but Native American artifacts, day-to-day early pioneer life, business endeavors, Chinese influence in Eastern Oregon, ranching and lumber industries, rock collections and much more. There are also files of newspaper clippings, letters, documents, books, ledgers and an extensive catalog of vintage photographs. Even local residents are bound to learn something new upon a visit to this Grant County gem.

Next to the museum, visitors will also want to check out the jail from the onetime mining town of Greenhorn and the Joaquin Miller cabin. Miller, known as the “Poet of the Sierras,” was a colorful character who held a lengthy list of titles including Grant County judge at age 29. The cabin was where he wrote and lived in Canyon City from 1864-1870.

Grant County Ranch and Rodeo Museum

• Where: 241 E. Main St., John Day

• Dates: May 1 to Sept. 30

• Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays, and group tours by appointment

• Admission: Adults, $3; children under 12, free

• Phone: 541-575-0052 or 541-575-0747

Perhaps the truest image of Grant County is that of the cowboy and ranching way of life. One sure place where visitors will find a thorough collection of that wild and colorful legacy is at the Grant County Ranch and Rodeo Museum.

The museum is dedicated to celebrating the cowboy way of life in Grant County and honoring past, present and future local cowboys and cowgirls.

Several rooms showcase exhibits that are divided by category such as ranch, rodeo and Western arts and crafts. Displays include rodeo champion belt buckles, branding irons, cowboy poetry, knife collections, historical barbed wires, Grant County Fair and Rodeo Court costumes, trophy saddles of National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association champions as far back as 1959, photographs of Grant County cattle drives, documents, books and much more. Most of the artifacts and memorabilia have been donated.

A gala celebration marked the museum’s opening on July 23, 2005. The following summer, four colorful paintings depicting ranch and rodeo scenes, the work of Mt. Vernon artist Patricia Ross, were installed on the exterior of the building.

The museum is a treat for travelers who may be unfamiliar with the Western, rural lifestyle.