Gallatin Petrified Forest

The Gallatin Petrified Forest, located near Rock and Porcupine creeks in the Gallatin Range, is between 35 and 55 million years old. Geologically speaking, it extends back in time as far as the early part of the Eocene Epoch of the Tertiary Period. The Gallatin Petrified Forest is unique because many of the trees were petrified in the upright position. Most petrified forests contain trees petrified after being transported by mud and lava flows. This movement leaves the majority of the trees in a horizontal position.

The Gallatin Petrified Forest is comprised of numerous layers of trees; and 30 to 75 percent of the trees in each layer are upright. At several localities, as many as 80 superimposed laters of upright trees exist. Scientists believe that the variation in tree layers found throughout the Gallatin Petrified Forest is possibly the result of two different events. First, many of the trees were buried in place and in an upright position by ash and mud flows. Second, some trees were uprooted and deposited in bodies of water. In the water, trees became saturated and sunk to the bottom, many in an upright position.

The US Forest service operates a 1/2 mile interpretive trail that helps visitors identify specimens in the petrified forest. This trail begins approximately 1,000 feet from the Tom Miner parking area and climbs up an 11 to 13 percent grade. The path leads forest visitors past a series of conglomerate rock cliffs embedded with petrifed wood specimens. Once you use this trail to determine what petrified wood looks like, you may collect small amounts of wood (with a free permit obtained at a Ranger District office) for souvenirs of your hike through the forest.

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