Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It looks like a weathered, multicolored tree limb, shining and sparkling in the light—but it's heavy,
hard, and solid as a rock. Just what is this stuff? It's
petriiedwood.
Back in the old days—some
135 to 155 million years ago—southern Utah was not at all the way it is today. It was closer to
the equator than it is now, which made it a wet, hot land, with lots of ferns, palm trees, and con-
ifers that provided lunch for the neighborhood dinosaurs. Occasionally, floods would uproot trees,
dumping them in flood plains and along sandbars, and then burying them with mud and silt. If this
happened quickly, the layers of mud and silt would cut of the oxygen supply, halting the process of
decomposition—effectively preserving the tree trunks intact. Later, volcanic ash covered the area,
and groundwater rich in silicon dioxide and other chemicals and minerals made its way down to
the ancient trees. With the silicon dioxide acting as a glue, the cells of the wood mineralized. Other
waterborne minerals produced the colors: Iron painted the tree trunks in reds, browns, and yel-
lows; manganese produced purples and blues. Sometime afterward, uplifts from within the earth,
along with various forms of erosion, brought the now-petrified wood to the surface in such places
as Escalante Petrified Forest State Park and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument,
breaking it into the shapes we see today—a mere hundred million years or so after the trees were
first uprooted.
Sports & Activities
FISHING&BOATINGWideHollowReservoir,
located partially inside the park, has a
boat ramp (sorry, no rentals are available) and is a popular fishing hole for rainbow
trout and bluegill, plus ice-fishing in winter.
HIKING
The 1-mile loop
Petrified Forest Trail
★ is a moderately strenuous hike
among colorful rocks, through a forest of stunted juniper and piñon pine, past a
painted desert, to a field of colorful petrified wood. The hike also offers panor-
amic vistas of the town of Escalante and surrounding stair-step plateaus. A free
brochure is available at the visitor center. Allow about 45 minutes. An optional
.75-mile loop of the main trail—called
Trail of Sleeping Rainbows
—leads
through a large amount of petrified wood, but is considerably steeper than the
main trail.
WILDLIFE-WATCHING
This is one of the best spots in the region to see wildlife.
The reservoir is home to ducks, geese, and coots. Chukar partridges wander
throughout the park, and you're also likely to see eagles, hawks, lizards, ground
squirrels, and both cottontails and jackrabbits. Binoculars are helpful.
Snow Canyon State Park
11 miles NW of St. George; about 60 miles W of Zion National Park
