Ancient Clones

Arc of Heritage

Big Stump

• The Big Stump is one of the largest petrified redwood stumps at the Monument. It may have been more than 230 feet tall and 500 to 1,000 years old when a lahar (volcanic mudflow) buried its base.

Charlotte Hill

Conserving Stump P-47

Fierce Competition

Hornbek Homestead

The 1878 Hornbek Homestead is an original, historic log home that was owned by Adeline Hornbek a single mother of four children. The home can be easily accessed by a short walk on a gravel trail from a parking lot off of County Road 1. The home is on the original location of the homestead.

• The Hornbek Homestead is a 1 1/2 story log home built in 1878. It is made of large wooden beams and has white chinking between the beams. There are numerous windows around the building with white trim. Inside, there are four main rooms. There is a kitchen area with a large wood stove and a table and chairs. There is a well house room that contains a non working metal well pump. There is a parlor room that has a wood stove and a few chairs and tables. There is also a large room, that was a bedroom, that now contains a table and chairs.

Learning from Tree Rings

Mammoth Change

On Top of a Forest, on the Bottom of a Lake

Remnants of Nature's Powerful Forces

Shale Outcrop

• At this site, the key layers of the Florissant Formation are visible: The Caprock conglomerate unit, which is remnant of the debris flow that came into the lake; the Middle shale unit, which is remnant of the ancient lake containing thousands of insect and plant fossils; the Lower mudstone unit, containing lahar or volcanic mudflow that buried the redwood trees.

Stump Shelters - Petrified Tree Stump Outdoor Exhibit Area

• This outdoor exhibit area is located directly behind the visitor center at Florissant Fossil Beds. It consists of two large, green metal roofed shelters that cover and protect some of the largest petrified tree stumps in the world (by diameter). The shelters are 30 - 40 feet high and just as wide. The petrified tree stumps are white and gray in color and are 10 - 12 feet wide and 10 feet tall. One of the stumps, called the Trio, is actually three petrified trunks that share a common base. It is the only known petrified trio of redwood trunks in the world. The area is fully accessible and has sidewalks around both shelters. Under one of the shelters is an amphitheater with bench seating where programs are given in the summers. There are also a few picnic tables above the amphitheater where you can eat a picnic lunch and look at the stumps.  

The Big Five

The Big Stump

The Land Provides

The Valley Overlook

Virtual Hidden Treasures

What if?

Florissant Fossil Beds Visitor Center

• Florissant Fossil Beds Visitor Center
• The Visitor Center is where you should start your visit to Florissant Fossil Beds. At the Visitor Center you can show your pass, if you have one, and/or get passes. There is also a museum full of fossil exhibits, a theater to see the park film, and a bookstore. The Visitor Center also bathrooms and a water fountain and bottle filling station.

• Hiking the Petrified Forest Loop
• Take a self-guided, one mile hike and see some of the biggest petrified tree stumps in the world.

• Hiking the Ponderosa Loop Trail
• Take a stroll on a short, easy trail through a peaceful Ponderosa pine forest and learn about the area's natural history. The highlight of the trail is a modern Ponderosa pine tree growing out of a petrified redwood tree stump.

• Hiking the Geologic Trail
• This 1.2 mile trail highlights over a billion years of geologic history of the Florissant valley.

Virtual Wayside Tour

This virtual tour is based on two of our most popular and informative trails where you can learn more about the geologic heritage of the Florissant Valley. The Petrified Forest Loop wanders amongst giant stumps of ancient redwood trees that grew in this valley during the Eocene epoch 34 million years ago, while the Geologic Trail takes you even deeper to explore events of Earth’s history more than a billion years old. Click on the picture at the top of the pages to see the full image

Walking Tour of Petrified Stumps

The walking tour includes the Visitor Center, Outdoor Stump Shelters, Shale Outcrop, and Big Stump. Optionally, a visitor could continue on the Petrified Forest Loop hiking trail before returning to the Visitor Center.