If you are going to the Painted Hills in the John Day National Monument, you will take a turn off from Burnt Ranch Road. However, once you are done you can continue up Burnt Ranch Road for a ways through some nice farm and ranch areas and drive along side the John Day river. It was a very scenic drive on a beautiful day.

The John Day River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 284 miles (457 km) long. Undammed along its entire length, the river is the third longest free-flowing river in the contiguous United States.