Yellowstone Petrified Tree

The Yellowstone hotspot has been moving slowly east for millions of years. Before this area was a geothermal wonderland, it was a land of towering, majestic forests. Nearby volcanic activity from 50 million years ago buried these ancient forests, preserved some trees upright, and eventually petrified them, turning them stone. (The geothermal activity wouldn’t arrive here until roughly 2 million years ago.)

The most famous example of this fossilization, the Petrified Tree (a giant redwood), lies just west of Tower Junction, near the park’s Northeast Entrance. It’s a short, unpaved walk uphill from the parking lot to see this long-standing sentinel.

• A small parking lot services the Petrified Tree at the base of the hill it stands upon.

• The tree is guarded by a protective fence (to prevent looters).

• Petrified Tree isn’t the only example of petrification in the park—Specimen Ridge contains over 100 petrified species.

The Petrified Tree can be found just west of Tower Junction, off Grand Loop Road. At the end of the turnoff, there’s a small parking lot, and a marked trail leads up the hill to the tree. You can also reach the Petrified Tree on foot via the Lost Lake Trail and the Two-Hour Horse Ride Trail.

As with anywhere in Yellowstone, if you’re visiting in summer, get there early—before 10am (visiting midweek helps with crowds, too); the Petrified Tree’s parking lot is relatively small. If you visit in spring, fall, or winter, you have much better odds of nabbing a parking spot. Though many roads close, the Grand Loop Road at Tower Junction stays open year-round.

When the Absaroka volcanoes erupted, they covered the trees in debris, mud, and ash. Deprived of oxygen, the trees could no longer decay. Silica from the volcanic materials infiltrated the wood, preserving it, and eventually, erosion and glaciation exposed the trees we see today. Many have been stolen and wholly removed, but not the Petrified Tree.