Forget Arizona’s Petrified Forest – Mississippi Has One Just as Stunning

Mississippi Petrified Forest, Flora MS

Ancient Mississippi looked nothing like today’s pine forests and cotton fields. Back then, giant redwoods ruled the landscape until a catastrophe buried them all. This is how Mississippi’s trees became living, beautiful stone.

Talk About Rare

The Mississippi Petrified Forest is one of only two petrified forests in the eastern United States, the other being Gilboa Fossil Forest in New York.

If you want to see petrified trees without traveling to Arizona, this is your best option on the East Coast.

Seriously Ancient

These trees existed during the Oligocene period 36 million years ago, long before humans appeared on Earth.

Nature’s Traffic Jam

The petrified logs grew in a northern climate before a massive river uprooted them. They traveled south until they got stuck, burying the trunks in sediment.

Petrified by Minerals

Deep underground, air could not get to them, so the wood couldn’t rot like it normally would.

Instead, silica-rich water soaked into the logs. This silica made tiny crystals inside the wood’s cells, slowly replacing the original organic material while keeping every bit of the wood’s pattern.

After millions of years, this slow process turned them into petrified logs weighing about 166 pounds per cubic foot, way heavier than when they were living trees.

Official State Bragging Rights

Petrified wood is Mississippi’s official state rock, even though it’s actually a type of fossil. The state chose these stone trees as their signature geological feature, making it part of Mississippi’s official identity.

Ancient Skyscrapers

Experts estimate that these trees were ancient giants when they were alive, growing to be at least a thousand years old and standing over a hundred feet tall.

Government Seal of Approval

By the mid-1850s, exposed logs attracted people who came to look and steal fossils. Over 100 years of looting happened before anyone stepped in to save it.

Fortunately, it was declared a National Natural Landmark in October 1965. This prestigious designation came just three years after the Schabilion family purchased the land to protect it from further damage and theft by visitors.

The Famous Caveman’s Bench

Right along the main Forest Trail sits the most photographed spot in the whole forest. The “Caveman’s Bench” is a big chunk of petrified wood that sits exactly where natural erosion left it ages ago.

Rock Collector’s Paradise

The site features a museum with examples of petrified wood found in every state and from other countries. The samples include plant materials like leaves, fruits, cones and bark. Other fossils include dinosaur footprints, whale bones and turtle shells.

Try Your Hand at Digging Up Fossils

When you visit the forest, remember to try the gem-mining flume, which works just like the gold panning techniques old-time treasure hunters used.

You can buy pre-made bags of “mine muck” that have gems and minerals hidden inside.

Visiting the Mississippi Petrified Forest

The Mississippi Petrified Forest is at 124 Forest Park Road, Flora, MS 39071.

Summer hours (April 1-Labor Day): 9am-6pm, with nature trail open 9am-5pm. Winter hours: 9am-5pm, with trail open 9am-4pm.

Admission costs $7 for adults, $6 for students and seniors, $5 for groups of 15 or more. Dogs welcome but keep them leashed.

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