EXPLORE: Petrified Forest Near Buffalo Wyoming

Ever seen a tree that’s millions of years old—turned to stone? You don’t have to travel far to find one.

Ranger Jessica from Buffalo, Wyoming, took me to the Dry Creek Petrified Tree Environmental Education Area, about 13 miles east of town. It’s a short drive and an easy 0.8-mile hike along an interpretive trail.

This unique site gives visitors a glimpse into what northeastern Wyoming looked like 60 million years ago. Back then, the red sage hills and open plains were nothing like today—they were swampy, jungle-like, with towering Metasequoia trees. Many of those trees still exist as petrified wood you can see and touch.

The trail winds through stumps and fallen trees, with signs along the way explaining what you’re seeing. Some trees are lying on their sides, while others are still partially standing, giving a rare view of their massive size. One tree even shows a hollow bottom and a different color inside, hinting that it was starting to rot before it turned to stone.

Visitors can explore the area freely. There are vault toilets, a picnic shelter, and tables, and dispersed camping is allowed outside the fenced trail and picnic area.

Walking this trail is like stepping back in time. Imagine a humid, low-lying swamp instead of today’s dry, high-altitude desert. By touching the petrified wood, you’re literally connecting with trees that grew millions of years ago.

How petrification happens: When a tree is buried quickly in mud or volcanic ash, decay stops. Over millions of years, minerals in groundwater replace the wood cells, turning it into stone while keeping its structure intact.

Next time you’re near Buffalo, take a short trip to Dry Creek and see history frozen in stone.

A tree becomes petrified when it is buried quickly in sediment, like mud or volcanic ash, which prevents decay, and then groundwater rich in dissolved minerals, primarily silica, gradually replaces the wood cells, essentially turning the wood into stone while preserving its original structure; this process is called mineralization and happens over millions of years. (National Park Diaries).

 

The video above had a deeper explanation of how trees become petrified.