(nr Wellington UT)
A friend told me about this BLM site. A photographer discovered the place in 1899, and thought it contained petrified tree stumps; hence the name. It sounded like an interesting place, so off I went to find it.
Geologists have identified them as concretions, which are hardened mud-balls often called cannonballs. Some of them were as big as 8ft in diameter. Over the ages, they turned into rock and were sheered off when the hillside collapsed.
Part remained in the cliff, and part rolled to the bottom, and are strewn about. After hiking about 1/2 mile, it didn’t take long to see them. It was easy to understand why one would think it was a buried forest.
The 2mi round-trip trail began atop a cliff, and was well marked. There was some signage to explain about the discovery. I’m glad I got to see them.
Camp: BLM-Buried Forest TH boondock
Scene: Rocks, cliff, trail
Wonderful report. I have never heard about this before. You certainly are showing me some grand adventures. Thank you.
It was new for me, too. There are a lot of little known nifty places. Stay tuned for more.
Thank you for these photos! I am interested in geology, though unlearned, and always notice angles of rocks etc. Of course have never seen anything like these…..Looking up concretions just now, I see that they are mostly round, and to see them sliced off, they DO look like tree trunks.
I have little interest in the facts of geology. I just like how the rocks look; shapes, colors, textures, size, and configurations. They’re some of my favorite things in nature.