Shadows Of The Past - Visit to Florissant Fossil Beds

(Florissant, Colorado) 53 degrees, cloudy, snow showers

John's new toy

We finished our first workamping week at Cripple Creek.  It was very enjoyable and we certainly learned a lot.  John had fun using this front end loader as he brought up gravel to improve the deluxe tent sites. 

On Monday, our day off, we drove to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.  It was a very pretty 20 minute drive.

Dome Rock in the distance (right)

Llama Farm

34 million years ago this was a massive volcanic area.  After an eruption a mud flow 17 feet deep went through this area and buried plants,flowers, insects, and huge redwood trees.  Over time they became fossilized. 

Florissant was a very popular destination in the late 1870's and many people traveled here by train to take home fossils and petrified wood.  Eventually, this area was protected and it became a National Monument in 1969 (thank you President Nixon). 

The visitor center has a a wide variety of fossils that displayed on pull out drawers. There is also a movie that describes how the fossil beds were formed and some of the early discoveries.  Admission to the park is $3/person or free with an access pass (no pets allowed). 

Butterfly fossil

Petrified Redwood tree stump - estimated to have been 250 feet high

There are 14 miles of trails in the park and we  enjoyed hiking the petrified forest loop and sawmill trail. 

Petrified Forest Loop

Mountain Blue Bird

Sawmill Trail

Aspen trees stand just starting to bud

We had a late lunch in the very small town of Florissant and traveled back to Cripple Creek.  It was a very enjoyable day off.

View Cripple Creek, CO in a larger map