Dayville is 125 miles east of Bend, Oregon, in the John Day valley, at the confluence of the main stem of the John Day River with the South Fork John Day River. Main Street in Dayville is U.S. Route 26, lined with large cottonwood trees.

Picture Gorge, named for Native American pictographs painted on the canyon walls, is 6 miles northwest of Dayville at the intersection of Route 26 and Oregon Route 19. The Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, including the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center and the James Cant Ranch Historic District and museum, are 2 miles north of Picture Gorge along Route 19.