There’s a whole lot to explore in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, but it’s often so overlooked! One interesting spot, the Dry Creek Petrified Tree Area, is a great destination for nature lovers when the weather cools off and autumn rolls into the region.

You'll find the Dry Creek Petrified Tree Environmental Education Area about 13 miles east of Buffalo, Wyoming. It's just far enough from the Big Horns that you can only see them on the horizon in an otherwise flat and seemingly barren landscape.
Flickr / BLM Wyoming
The first sign that you aren't truly in the middle of nowhere is the picnic platform and BLM sign pointing out the area is a place to stop and see.
Flickr / BLM Wyoming
The designated Environmental Education Area was established after the discovery of petrified trees.
Flickr / BLM Wyoming
Scientists were able to establish these sagebrush flats was once a swampy jungle, with towerig Metadeqouia trees, much like those that still stand in areas like California's Redwoods National and State Parks. While that may have been 60 million years ago, some of the trees still exist as petrified wood.

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There is a short trail that winds through the petrified forest, so you can get your steps in while walking through the remnants of what Earth looked like millions of years ago.
Flickr / BLM Wyoming
Take a close look - what may look like a pile of rock is actually a tree that's millions of years old! This remnant even shows the aging rings we're used to seeing in stumps.
Flickr / BLM Wyoming
Some of the petrified trees give you a clue at how big the metasequoia trees stood. It's almost hard to believe this desert-like area was once a bright green forest.
Flickr / BLM Wyoming
If you're looking for a unique place to see some of Wyoming's often forgotten history, head out from Buffalo and visit the Dry Creek Petrified Tree Environmental Education Area.
Flickr / BLM Wyoming

For more information, visit the Dry Creek Petrified Tree Environmental Education Area’s BLM website, right here.

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Petrified Forest, Wyoming 82513, USA