Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

The richest and most diverse fossil deposits in the world! There are petrified redwood tree stumps here that measure up to 14 ft wide, making them some of the biggest petrified trees on earth. There are thousands of fossils to see here. Most derive from plants and insect but a few mammals, fish and even birds have been forever cast into stone at this location.

history

34 million years ago this area was very similar to a tropical forest. It contained giant redwood trees and lush vegetation. It also had a large lake and many rivers which attracted a lot of wildlife. It was a perfect habitat at the time , problem is, it was also in the 39 mile volcanic field. Strata volcanoes started erupting everywhere. The lava that flowed out of them covered the tropical Redwood forest that thrived below. The entire valley was covered in lava and volcanic ash.

How were the fossils created?

Fossils here were created in the lake. When the volcanoes erupted they poured lava everywhere which created a giant cloud of volcanic ash that eventually suffocated all forms of life that survived the lava flow. Plants, insects and mammals died and sunk to the bottom of the lake. The volcanic ash in the air eventually settled in the lake and sunk on top of all the dead plants, insects and animals. Fine layers of clay and mud mixed with the volcanic ash. Over time everything solidified together and created paper shales with beautifully preserved fossils.

What’s petrified wood?

When the volcanoes erupted lava covered the base of the redwood trees, sealing them with stone and water. Without air, wood can’t rot. Since wood is porous it will absorbs all the minerals that surround it instead. Once the minerals are inside the wood, they solidify and turn the wood into stone. The result is called petrified wood. The trees here were estimated to be 500-700 years old when they were petrified here and they could have easily measured 195 ft tall. That’s over 12 stories high.

Sadly a lot of the petrified wood was removed from this site before it was finally established as a National Monument in 1969 after a long battle between local land owners and the federal government. Large pieces of petrified wood are extremely valuable so it’s understandable that the local land owners did not want to give it up easily.

Plan at least a half day for the visit, the petrified loop trail is a mile long on natural terrain. It’s an easy hike. The 1 mile geological trail is moderate. There are many other nature hikes that you can do at this site as well. Bring lots of water, hat and a camera. Make sure you visit the visitor center so that you can see all the fossils, it’s totally worth it!

From I-25 exit at US 24 West, travel 35 miles to Florissant, then follow signs two miles south to the Visitor Center on Teller County 1.