Buckhorn Drive — John Day Fossil Beds High Desert Circuit

Buckhorn Drive is the kind of route that eastern Oregon regulars know about and almost nobody else does. It loops through the Clarno and Painted Hills units of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument’s outer buffer country — BLM ground mostly, with the kind of striped clay badlands and columnar basalt rimrock that makes you think you’ve wandered onto another planet. The route picks up off Highway 218 near Fossil and tracks northeast through Service Creek country before dropping into the John Day River canyon at Twickenham, where a low-water crossing tests clearance. The Clarno Palisades visible from the upper bench sections are a 54-million-year-old volcanic mudflow — stacked trunks and leaves still legible in the rock face.

Most of this route is passable in a high-clearance 2WD in dry conditions, but the clay sections turn to axle-deep greasy mud in rain or after snowmelt — the kind that packs into wheel wells and doesn’t leave. Don’t push it if the sky looks uncertain. The Twickenham crossing is usually ankle-deep in summer but can run higher in June. No permit required. Fossil is your last fuel and water stop — it’s a small town with limited hours, fill up before you leave. Cell service is dead once you’re in the river country. Dispersed camping on BLM is available but sites are primitive.