MITCHELL —

It’s difficult to say why, but I always suspected Eastern Oregon’s Painted Hills were overrated.

There are a handful of places in Oregon that look great in photographs but are pretty dull to actually visit — often because there’s little to do except stand at a viewpoint — and I’d heard the Painted Hills was one of those places.

Recently I decided to put that assumption to the test with a trip to the most famous unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument to determine once and for all whether this patch of High Desert is more than just a single pretty picture.

I wasn’t the only one with curiosity.

Visitors to the Painted Hills have skyrocketed ever since the state’s tourism bureau, Travel Oregon, named the location one of the “Seven Wonders of Oregon.”

The marketing campaign drove a 61 percent increase in tourism during the last two years, bringing a small but much-needed economic boon to the rural town of Mitchell just 15 minutes away.

“It has been amazing for the town — every business has seen an increase,” said Skeeter Reed, owner of the Oregon Hotel in Mitchell. “The number of people staying at the hotel doubled this year, and they came from all over — Japan, China, Germany and the Philippines.

“People from the Willamette Valley show up and say, ‘Wow, this is beautiful. We never knew this was even out here!’”

That all sounds promising. But does the trip actually live up to the hype?

I drove out of Salem in the darkness to find out.

The trip

Oregon’s landscape transforms at least three times on a drive from the Willamette Valley to the Painted Hills.

The green forest and snow-capped Cascade Range gives way to sagebrush prairie, ponderosa forest and, finally, the shadow of High Desert canyons twisting above the John Day River.

In four hours, you can see more landscape diversity than in four days of traveling through the Midwest.

The drive came to an end at Bridge Creek, where I turned left and followed signs into the national monument and at a sign that said “Viewpoint Trail.”

The moment of truth had arrived.

After stepping out of the car, I was greeted by a spectacular sight. The twisting waves of red, gold and black were far better in person than in pictures.

The half-mile hike gave plenty of time to admire what really is a uniquely beautiful sight. Signs along the trail explained how historic changes in the environment, and elements such as iron and manganese, created the ribbons of color.

Yet here came the expected problem: As slow as I walked, and as many pictures as I took, the hike ended in about 45 minutes. Now what?

The good news is that the Painted Hills actually are home to five different trails, exploring a collection of landscape highlights.

There are, it turns out, more than just painted hills. There’s a painted cove and painted knoll, which looks a bit like a magician’s multicolored hat.

The best overall hike isn’t even the main overlook trail. The Carroll Rim Trail climbs a craggy ridge and provides overhead views of the Painted Hills and a panoramic sweep of the rolling desert.

The time of year for my visit — early November — also worked out. Crowds were tiny, and the air was clear, cool and fresh with the smell of juniper.

While exploring the trails, I joined hikers Rachel Housley, of Medford, and Michelle Webb, of Bend.

Housley had visited the Painted Hills twice before and said November’s weather was about perfect.

“It was 100-plus degrees when I came here before, and the parking areas were pretty full,” Housley said. “But this is perfect.”

Exploring all five trails took most of the afternoon. It wasn’t a huge workout, but the trails were all interesting in their own way, and you spend enough time contemplating each area that it’s not easy to get bored.

(See toolbox, D1, for a breakdown of each hike).

Overall, the trip to the Painted Hills was better than expected and certainly worth the trip. The sights are so beautiful and the landscape so unique that it’s one of those places every Oregonian should visit at least once.

It is not, as I might have believed from afar, overrated.

Overnight in Mitchell

The closest accommodations to the Painted Hills are in the cozy town of Mitchell, a quintessentially Eastern Oregon town of 130. There’s a grocery store, restaurants and a fun little park downtown.

I spent the night at the Oregon Hotel — a historic spot originally built in the 1800s (it was rebuilt after a fire in 1904). Old-timey but clean and well-kept, the rooms are amazingly cheap. Pay $20 per night for a bunk, $59/$69 for a room and $105 for your own private apartment with a kitchenette.

Not every hotel and restaurant stays open in the offseason, so make sure to call in advance to book a room.

Rest of the national monument

An afternoon at the Painted Hills should take up most of the afternoon. However, don’t forget about the other two units in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Drive 45 miles east to the Sheep Rock Unit and Blue Basin, the location of the national monument’s visitor’s center. Or, head 59 miles north to the Clarno unit.

Trying to do all three units in one day requires a lot of driving, so I’d recommend splitting it up.