Queen of the Petrified Forest

There are so many interesting places to see in the U.S. that you can never hope to visit them all. The task is to sort out the ones that appeal to you and point your RV in that direction.

The blogs at rvlife.com offer a way to sift through the attractions. Our bloggers write about places they have been so you will have a good idea of what you will find in each location. One of our travel experts is Denise Seith, whose blog, “Great Escapes,” is an excellent source of reliable information on attractions across the country. In recent months, she has written about places as varied as Michigan’s Mackinac Island, the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, a Wisconsin amusement park with Elvis Presley’s favorite roller coaster, and a museum of antique farm equipment in Oregon. You may not want to go to every place Denise writes about, but no doubt you will find many places—including some you had never heard of before—that sound enticing.

Here is one of Denise’s recent posts:

Great Escapes: Walk Through the Petrified Forest in California

By Denise Seith

Calistoga, California, is home to the world’s largest petrified forest of redwood trees, Sequoia langsdorfii, which are now extinct. This grove of magnificent trees was turned to stone in a volcanic eruption that occurred about 3.4 million years ago. Today, you can see the fossilized remains along a half-mile paved trail (some uphill). If you add another half mile to your walk, you’ll also see an ancient 100-foot-high ash fall (looks like cement) and a view of Mt. Saint Helena seven miles away—the volcano was thought to have originated there.

The trail is open for self-guided tours (interpretive signs are along the route), or you can take a one-hour docent-led tour at no additional charge if you want to learn more and be able to ask questions. Poison oak grows in some areas along the trail, so take care not to touch it!

The fallen trees you see today are harder than steel, being mainly comprised of quartz, a very hard naturally occurring stone substance. Following the volcanic eruptions, the trees lay buried in the ash for millions of years. Time passed and the ground was saturated with water containing dissolved silicon and oxygen, or silica, from the overlying ash. One by one the molecules of silica replaced the molecules of the wood, turning the trees to solid stone. Some of the largest and most interesting trees and stumps have been given names such as “The Queen” (eight feet in diameter; 65 feet long) and “The Robert Louis Stevenson Tree.” Only 105 feet of the “Tunnel Tree” is exposed; it is said to be one of the best-preserved petrified trees in the world.

William Travers first discovered this area in 1857, but it wasn’t until 1880 when writer Robert Louis Stevenson recounted his visit here in chapter two of his booklet, “The Silverado Squatters,” that the trees started to become famous. Most of the redwoods were excavated between 1910-1920. The Ollie Bockée family arrived in 1914 and further developed and advertised the area as a public attraction. Ollie’s heirs, the Hawthorne family, continue to improve the property. Designated a California Historical Landmark in 1978, the Petrified Forest presents a unique opportunity to see the preservation effects Mother Nature can create when conditions are just right.

If You Go:
The Petrified Forest
4100 Petrified Forest Rd.
Calistoga, CA 94515
Phone: (707) 942-6667
Petrifiedforest.org
Open every day at 10 a.m. Closes at 7 p.m. in the summer (earlier in other seasons).
Adults $10; Kids 6-11 years $5