One of Utah’s more under-appreciated state parks, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is a place where you can see petrified trees that are millions of years old. You’ll want to leave the petrified wood there, though…some people say that there’s an ancient curse if you take some of it home.
Welcome to Escalante Petrified Forest State Park! This pretty park has a reservoir, camping sites and two hiking trails. It’s also home to petrified trees that are more than 130 million years old.
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Near the visitor center, you can see a large, 50-foot petrified tree that was reconstructed from roots to tip. This tree is one of many here in the park.
Myla/Tripadvisor
To see more petrified trees, take the one-mile-long Petrified Forest Trail. You can also extend your hike by another .75 miles by adding on the Trail of Sleeping Rainbows.
IowaMum/Tripadvisor The short forest trail is moderately difficult with some elevation changes; the Trail of Sleeping Rainbows is more steep and strenuous, but offers an even larger amount of petrified wood.
Somewhere between 135 and 155 million years ago, this plateau was part of a flood plain. Massive trees were torn out from their roots in a huge flood.
Alana Furrow/Google
The trees were buried in mud. Because they were exposed to oxygen, the trees petrified over millions of years instead of just decaying.
Wendy Rosell/Alltrails
Erosion eventually uncovered the trees, and you can see them today along the trails in the park. Minerals seeped into the wood while it was petrifying, and left some beautiful colors behind.
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You’ll see dark oranges, yellows, red, and even purple, produced by iron oxides and manganese oxides. It’s so beautiful that you might be tempted to take just a tiny little piece home as a souvenir. Don’t do it!
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It’s illegal to remove petrified wood from this state park. It’s here for everyone to see and enjoy, and if visitors all took just a small piece home, soon there wouldn’t be anything left to see here.
Herve Baudry/Google
Some visitors say that there’s another reason not to remove the petrified wood - an ancient curse.
vincerelli/Tripadvisor Inside the Visitor Center is a case full of small chunks of petrified wood, along with letters from the people who sent the wood back to the park.
The people all claim that after taking the petrified wood from the park illegally, they suffered from bad luck.
Mitchell DuRant/Google Tales of broken bones, car accidents, and even a motorhome that mysteriously caught on fire are all on display for you to read. The park receives about a dozen letters every year from people apologizing for breaking the law and begging the park to return the chunk of petrified wood to its proper resting place.
Is the curse real? The guilt-ridden people who return the wood certainly believe so! As always, we encourage visitors to leave the park exactly as they found it - don’t remove anything. Whether there’s a curse or not, we want to keep this place pristine for future generations to enjoy.
You can find out more about Escalante Petrified Forest State Park on its website, and see what’s going on there when you visit the park’s Facebook page.
Hita Bhaget/Google
Myla/Tripadvisor
IowaMum/Tripadvisor
The short forest trail is moderately difficult with some elevation changes; the Trail of Sleeping Rainbows is more steep and strenuous, but offers an even larger amount of petrified wood.
Alana Furrow/Google
Wendy Rosell/Alltrails
Wildnerdpix/iStock via Getty Images
mddphoto/iStock via Getty Images
Herve Baudry/Google
vincerelli/Tripadvisor
Inside the Visitor Center is a case full of small chunks of petrified wood, along with letters from the people who sent the wood back to the park.
Mitchell DuRant/Google
Tales of broken bones, car accidents, and even a motorhome that mysteriously caught on fire are all on display for you to read. The park receives about a dozen letters every year from people apologizing for breaking the law and begging the park to return the chunk of petrified wood to its proper resting place.
Is the curse real? The guilt-ridden people who return the wood certainly believe so! As always, we encourage visitors to leave the park exactly as they found it - don’t remove anything. Whether there’s a curse or not, we want to keep this place pristine for future generations to enjoy.
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Address: Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, 710 Reservoir Rd, Escalante, UT 84726, USA
