Ginkgo/Wanapum State Park
Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park/Wanapum Recreational Area is a 7,470-acre (3,023 ha) state park at Vantage, Washington including 27,000 feet (8.2 kilometers) of freshwater shoreline on the Wanapum Reservoir on the Columbia River. Petrified wood was discovered in the region in the early 1930s, which led to creation of the park as a national historic preserve. There is a museum center at the site and one of the many features of the park is a Trees of Stone Interpretive Trail. The trail is split into two segments. There's a 1.5-mile loop through sagebrush-covered hills, or you can hike a longer 2.5-mile loop. The trail follows an exposed section of prehistoric Lake Vantage and wanders past 22 species of petrified logs that were left where they were discovered in the 1930s. The park is located at 4511 Huntzinger Road; Vantage, Washington 98950 and is owned by the Bureau of Land Management.
Over 50 species are found petrified at the site, including ginkgo, sweetgum, redwood, Douglas fir, walnut, spruce, elm, maple, horse chestnut, cottonwood, magnolia, madrone, sassafras, yew, and witch hazel. The museum also includes many Wanapum petroglyphs.
Read more about Ginkgo/Wanapum State Park: History
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—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“Linnæus, setting out for Lapland, surveys his “comb” and “spare shirt,” “leathern breeches” and “gauze cap to keep off gnats,” with as much complacency as Bonaparte a park of artillery for the Russian campaign. The quiet bravery of the man is admirable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)