Wolverine Petrified Forest GP

Hike an easy one mile trail to a forest of petrified wood.  This is the second largest fossil forest of its age in North America.

This formation was deposited about 225 million years ago, at the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs (Mesozoic Era), by rivers and streams on the floor of a broad basin on the western edge of the ancient supercontinent called Pangaea.  At that time, Utah was geographically situated farther south
than today, probably near the latitude of present-day Cuba.

Streams in the Chinle basin were generally flowing in a north to northwesterly direction toward the sea, which occupied what is now eastern Nevada and California. The now-fossilized wood found in the Wolverine Petrified Wood Area came from trees that grew along the banks of one of these streams and possibly from adjacent highlands.

​See this pdf for a great description.

wolverine_petrified_forest_description.pdf
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One BIG tree

Nice scenery from Burr Trail to Wolverine Petrified Forest if going counterclockwise on the Wolverine Loop GP.

Circle Cliffs near Burr Trail

Headed toward Wolverine Petrified Forest

Continuing counterclockwise will yield more scenery for the next few miles.  The last few miles before rejoining Burr Trail are rather mundane.

Chocolate topping on vanilla pudding?

Put your own description on this one

That is the loop.  The Petrified Forest is a stop along the loop.

It is a one mile hike to the petrified wood.  Put the waypoint on a smartphone or keep a very close eye to the right of the trail.  There are no signs and the wood is not really obvious unless you are looking for it.

​This particular field covers a large area.  Plan to spend a while looking around.

Large field of petrified wood

Large chunk showing evidence of rings

It is easy to see where individual trees have been exposed.

Several pieces of one tree

Entire tree exposed

Trees are still being exposed in the area close to the bank.

Tree only partially exposed

Three trees in an ancient log jam

Unlike most of the fossil wood in the Chinle Formation elsewhere in Utah and in the more famous and much larger Petrified Forest National Park, the wood in the Wolverine Petrified Wood Natural Area is typically black on fresh surfaces. The original dark color of the specimens has been enhanced by the dark patina termed “desert varnish” that commonly develops on exposed rock surfaces in the southwestern United States and in other arid regions of the world. The surfaces of many of the logs are brownish when they are first exposed by erosion, but weathering soon removes the brown coloring and reveals the characteristic black color of the wood.

Brown coloring on this piece

Interesting crystals

Updated 2017.

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