Just three hours from the Portland metropolitan area and two hours from Bend, Oregon. The 45th parallel runs though Fossil, and a sign marking the latitude is posted on Oregon Route 19, which passes through the city. The community is located midway along the 217-mile Journey Through Time – Oregon’s only official cultural and heritage tour route – which celebrates pristine fossil and geologic resou
rces, Old West culture and charming small towns. Fossil is also centrally located to the three separate units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Visitors from all over the world come to Fossil each year to dig fossils that are found strewn across a hillside behind Wheeler High School. Fossil features a walking tour with many historic buildings, including the 1898 courthouse and three museums. A professional rodeo, bull riding and other western events are held each summer at the county fairgrounds at the edge of town. Other ongoing events include a regional bluegrass festival, Fossil Cruz-in, a community-wide murder mystery, and golf tournaments at the nearby PGA-certified, six-hole Kinzua Hills golf course. The community features small town charm, nearly nonexistent crime and quality services – a great place to bring a family and business. The Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival is held on the courthouse lawn on the first weekend of July and during the second weekend in August, Fossil hosts the Wheeler County Fair and Rodeo. For more than 30 years, the American Bikers Aimed Toward Education (ABATE) of Oregon has held motorcycle rallies in the area in late May.Golf tournaments are held each year at a six-hole golf course at Kinzua, near Fossil.
