Triassic Park

It is hard to grasp how old these petrified trees are because as humans we are just a blink of an eye in time. The best example that helps me put this into perspective came from one of my college teachers who suggested that we look at the history of earth as a calendar year. The Triassic period, when these monsters were made, died and turned to stone would have happen in the middle of the month of December. The dinosaurs that walked the earth were gone by the 27th of December and humans showed up at 11:15 on December 31.

So what toppled these giants and how did they become stone? Well a very long story short, as short as I can get it:

225 million years ago this area was a lowland with a tropical climate covered by forest. Rivers created by heavy rain storms washed mud and other sediments into the lowlands and the enormous coniferous trees, up to 9 feet in diameter and 200 feet tall, died or fell and were buried by river sediments and volcanic ash from eruptions that blanketed the area with a high silica ash. Burial kept the plant debris from destruction and over time, the silica replaced the plant debris, creating petrified wood. Trace amounts of iron, manganese and other minerals were included in the silica and gave the petrified wood all the colors we see today.

Add a few millions of years, the area gets uplifted and wind erodes away the softer materials, Petrified wood being a much harder rock. Sets on the new surface. Visitors to the park can observe the petrified wood and photograph it but collecting petrified wood in the park is prohibited. When Route 66 passed through this area the wood was being taken from the area in great numbers leaving just a portion of what was originally here before the park was established. Petrified wood is not a rare rock, it is found all over the world but this area is just a splendid example with a very high concentration. Rocks like the ones we found in Yuma and purchased at our campground are found in many other areas around the desert SW but you will never see it in the abundance as in the National Park.

Many of these are Giants. The example below is just part of one tree!

Agates bridge was at risk of collapsing before a concrete brace was put in place.

Hoodoo that voodoo like you do