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Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, Escalante

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#3 of 6 in Nature in Escalante
State Park Nature / Park
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a state park of Utah, USA, located a half-mile north of the town of Escalante. A visitor center was built in 1991, and features displays of plant and marine fossils, petrified wood and fossilized dinosaur bones over 150 million years old . The Petrified Forest Trail is a one-mile loop, winding up the side of a mesa to the top where most of the fossil wood occurs. Logs two feet or more in diameter are seen at several places along the trail where it is eroding from the conglomerate capping the mesa. This conglomerate lies near the top of the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. The wood is multicolored and was prized by hobbyists before the Park was established. The logs are believed to be of conifers that were transported by a river before being buried and later fossilized as agate. A 50 foot log is displayed near the trail head and is one of the most complete fossil logs known from the Morrison Formation.The Sleeping Rainbows trail is an optional.75mi loop off the Petrified Forest Trail. This section is much steeper and requires scrambling and climbing over rocks.In 1954 Wide Hollow Reservoir was constructed to provide irrigation for the town of Escalante. The reservoir is stocked with rainbow trout and bluegill, and is popular for water sports including swimming, boating and fishing.
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Escalante Petrified Forest State Park Reviews
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TripAdvisor
  • October 2, 2017
    Enjoyed the hike to the top ( not massive ) to see the trees that look like rocks now was fascinating  more »
  • October 2, 2017
    After staying in Escalante for 4 nights, on the way out we decided to stop in here. We love all the things about our natural world and were looking forward to this. Located just off the highway. Fee t...  more »
  • October 1, 2017
    While traveling through the Escalante grand staircase, we stopped to see the petrified forest. The first part of the trail is steep and rocky, stop at each of the points of interest and read the broch...  more »
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