Petrified Tree

Yellowstone National Park has the largest petrified forest in the world, a forest covered by volcanic ash and debris thousands of years ago and now partially uncovered by erosion. Most of it can be seen only by doing some serious hiking, but there is one tree, shown here, that is accessible by auto. A short turn off from the upper loop east side of the main road leads to this tree trunk. It is surrounded by a fence, otherwise, of course, it would soon not be there, but is a wonderful example standing about twenty feet tall and showing the wood grain and bark of a tree.