Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park
At Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park, the interpretive center specimens and Trees of Stone trail connects petrified wood, Columbia basalt, shrub-steppe, and river views.
Artwork inspired by Z. Vanessa Helder
Ginkgo Petrified Forest preserves tree species entombed by ancient lava flows near the Columbia River, linking petrified wood with Columbia Plateau volcanism. The Vantage interpretive center and the outdoor Trees of Stone trail tell complementary parts of that story.
Begin indoors with identified specimens, then test the volcanic sequence outside. The two stops have separate parking, exposed terrain, and Discover Pass rules, and no rock or petrified wood may be collected.
- Setting
- Vantage, Washington
- Day use
- Discover Pass required at signed state-park areas
- Allow
- At least half a day
Quick guide
- Primary evidence
- petrified wood
- Then examine
- interpretive center specimens and Trees of Stone trail ↔ At least half a day
An evidence route through Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park
- Begin with identified wood
- Use the Vantage interpretive center to compare grain, species, mineral replacement, and the lava-flow context of the specimens.
- Move to Trees of Stone
- Follow the separate outdoor trail to see protected logs in place and relate them to basalt, slope, and arid shrub-steppe.
- Connect forest to eruption
- Ask how buried wood, groundwater minerals, and repeated lava flows converted living trees into the surviving record.
- Protect the site record
- Use the correct lot for each stop, carry water in hot weather, and leave every stone and wood fragment exactly where it is.
Good to know
The interpretive center and outdoor petrified-wood trail are separate experiences, and collecting rock or wood is prohibited.
Notice these
- petrified wood
- interpretive center specimens and Trees of Stone trail
- At least half a day