ginkgo petrified forest state park interpretive center

You can wander around the park and enjoy the views, that's the best part. You can also check out petrified forest remains and Native American petroglyphs which is neat. A good visit.

My husband and I were on a road trip to Wyoming from Vancouver and stopped here. As a tree biologist, I found it fascinating to see that these now petrified conifers had once thrived here in this place that is now a desert. There were also some really nice wildflowers. I am convinced that desert flowers are the most spectacular, probably just because they stand out so much in the landscape. This was also just a great place to get out and take a 30 minute walk to stretch your legs. Definitely recommend if you are passing by!

You would expect to see Ginkgo trees in a warmer and more temperate place. But by Vantage, Wash., on the west side of the I-90 bridge, there is a forest of petrified ginkgo trees. You can wander dirt trails on a hillside to see all the half-buried ginkgo trees. It is easier to just stop at the store outside the park for the best specimens. If you park at the museum, you will need a pass, and it costs $30 for the annual pass (for all Washington day-use parks) or, I think, $10 for the day. So if you are on a tight budget, go to the store near the entrance to the park, and then drive farther up the main road to gain access to the dirt trails. The museum has some exhibits that explain how a ginkgo trees ended up here, in what had been a swamp sometime in the past. I would also recommend that you go to Wanapum Dam, down the river some 10 miles south. Watch the film about the Great Missoula Floods. The film will explain the sights you will see if you travel north toward Wenatchee and Banks Lake toward Grand Coulee Dam. It will explain how all the coulees were formed, and why there are huge granite boulders out in the middle of farm fields, during the repeated floods. Wanapum Dam is also free, and so you can see most of this without paying the $30 annual fee.

This was a great display of the petrified wood from the forests that used to be in the area. There are also a couple amazing petroglyph panels created by Native Americans with the remainder of them lost beneath the lake behind Wanapum Dam.

Un Centre d'interprétation qui nous explique très bien la transformation des arbres en matière minérale. Il y a une grande quantité de troncs d'arbres qui jalonnent le site que nous pouvons parcourir et apprécier le paysage fabuleux qui entoure ce parc. Je pourrais envoyer des photos mémorables des souches transformées en minéral. Je suis très surpris pourquoi ce site est si peu connu. Il mérite d'être revisité.