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Free Traveling Guides » States » California » Wine Country
Petrified Forest
The Petrified Forest is privately owned park in the hills of eastern Sonoma County. It is a park which attracts thousands of visitors each year to marvel the results of explosive volcanic activity which resulted in Giant Redwood trees turning into stone.
It is believed that the Redwood trees preserved in the Petrified Forest were hundreds of feet tall with diameters up to 8 feet (2.4 m) before they were mowed down by ash from a major volcano. These trees were subsequently buried deep in the earth by ash and the organic material of the trees was replaced by silica and oxygen. Because of erosion and shifting of earth and soil, the tips of the trees were revealed until excavation resulted in what we see of the forest today.
The park was established in 1910 by Ollie Bockee and her family, and today the Petrified Forest has a museum, and a gift shop besides the natural displays of the fossils. A 20-minute walk through the park allows you see all the major tree fossils. However, if you want a meadow hike, you would have to make an appointment. This hike takes you to Mount St. Helena and the slope of Ash Fall.
In the main hike, you can see eight major and four minor fossils. This hike starts behind the gift shop and the first display is a collection of petrified logs that have been collected the area. These logs are gray to white in color and a closer inspection will reveal growth rings and ridges on the surface. The trail then heads uphill through a woodland of Oaks, Manzanita, Bay and Firs.
The first petrified tree is in a 15-foot (4.5 m) deep pit and is aptly called the Pit tree. The Pit tree is the only pine fossil in the Petrified Forest. This fossil is 43 feet in length and 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter. Past the Pit Tree is the gulley tree which is fragments of a tree which was once a large one. The gulley tree was once a Redwood. Here the trails starts heading upwards and enters the meadow area. Here one can see the display called the Giant. This tree was once a Redwood and the fossil is 60 feet (18 m) long and 6 feet (2 m) in diameter. It is believed that the tree must have been much taller as the top of the fossil is 3 feet (90 cm) thick. Even the root ball of the Giant is visible.
The next fossil is fascinating because it has an oak growing out of it. This is Queen Tree and it is 8 feet in diameter and 65 feet (20 m) long with an obvious root ball. The growth rings suggest that the tree was 2000 years old when it fell. Then there is the Ollie Bockée Tree which is a 70-foot (21 m) long display and is actually two trees criss-crossing each other. Excavation is still on to expose the root ball of this fossil. Many are fascinated by the next display at the Petrified Forest and that is the Monarch or Tunnel Tree. This fossil is 105 feet long and 6 feet in diameter making it the largest single and intact petrified tree in the world.
The trail takes you back to the starting point and you can visit the gift shop and the museum there.
- Address: 4100 Petrified Forest Road Calistoga, CA 94515
- Telephone: (707) 942-6667
- Hours: 9 AM – 7 PM daily (9 AM – 5 PM winter hours)
- Website: www.petrifiedforest.org
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