Not many Washington residents know that the official Washington State gem is petrified wood. And, most people wouldn’t know petrified wood is a gem, right? Well, spread over 7,100 acres near the town of Vantage, Washington, you’ll find a truly famous Washington state gem – the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park.
The pieces of Petrified Forest in the area are estimated to be about 15.5 million years old, which dates back to the Miocene era.
When one visits the state park now, it’s hard to imagine the area was once a subtropical forest. Over millions of years, trees in the location were covered by sediment and ash from volcanic eruptions and petrified by silicification.
Photo: Parks.Wa.Gov/Canva
What is silicification?
According to Wikipedia, silicification is a process of petrification involving silica, a fluid that soaks into substances such as wood and rock and preserves them. Silica is a plentiful matter that is found in the Earth’s crust and in other natural materials.
Put the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park on your list of summer trips
The Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park allows visitors to go back in time and learn about our region’s fascinating geological history. Explore the visitor center, a museum, and interpretive trails at the most famous Petrified Forest in the Pacific Northwest.