Mississippi Petrified Forest

The Mississippi Petrified Forest is a unique geologic site—one of only two petrified forests east of the Mississippi River. Located in Madison County, near Flora, the Mississippi Petrified Forest consists of forty acres of privately owned land, with the ancient stone logs dispersed throughout. The petrified logs composing the forest are the remnants of prehistoric fir and maple trees, entombed within the Forest Hills geologic formation. This formation is primarily sand and clay deposited by a river during the Oligocene geologic period thirty-six million years ago. Today, the petrified forest is open to the public and offers a variety of activities. 

The petrified logs are assumed to have grown in a northern climate, before a massive river uprooted them. They traveled south until a log jam formed, burying the trunks in sediment. The silica-rich water permeating the sediment led to the petrifaction (the fossilization of organic material) of the wood over time. In a process called silification, the wood’s cell walls were slowly replaced with the mineral silica, transforming the wood to stone. Eventually, melted glacier water and the resulting glacial dust flowed into the flood plains. Wind carried tons of the dried dust particles, also called loess, to the area where the logs had been deposited and buried them deeper underground. Vegetation began to grow in the soil, creating the forest that exists today. As weather eroded gullies and ravines into the deep loess soil, the now-stone logs became exposed.  

Surprisingly little research has been done on the Mississippi Petrified Forest. The first known report of petrified wood in the United States was made in 1851 by US Army officer Lieutenant Sitgreaves as he explored northern Arizona. Theodore Roosevelt created Petrified Forest National Monument in December 1906, and Arizona’s Petrified Forest became a National Park in 1962. The Mississippi Petrified Forest was known only to locals until Calvin S. Brown, a geology professor at the University of Mississippi, described it in Popular Science Monthly in 1913. Brown concludes the article with a comparison between the Arizona and Mississippi Petrified Forests: “While the Mississippi forest can not be said to rival in extent or in the coloring or its petrifactions the celebrated forests of Arizona, it is nevertheless a fine illustration of an interesting phenomenon of nature.” Brown only described the petrified forest as ancient and did not assign an age to it; this was done in 1915 by the state geologist of Mississippi, E. N. Lowe, who identified the age of the sands surrounding the logs as “probably Jacksonian” (thirty-three to thirty-eight million years ago), in a Mississippi State Geological Survey Bulletin. About forty years later, geology graduate student G. H. Dukes Jr. identified Flora’s petrified wood as fir and maple species in his master’s thesis at Mississippi College in 1958. In 1960, Richard Randall Priddy made detailed descriptions of the Forest Hill geologic formation and described the erosional landscape in detail, including how the petrified logs had been transported and deposited. This is the most detailed description of the logs and their origin.  

The Mississippi Petrified Forest remained in the shadow of its western counterpart, the Arizona Petrified Forest, until R. J. “Bob” Schabilion and Shirl Schabilion purchased the forty acres of land in August 1962. The National Park System recognized the forest as a National Natural Landmark in 1966. In 1967, Shirl Schabilion published the article “A Forest of Stone” in the scientific journal Rocks and Minerals, where she recites the history of the petrified forest in a streamlined, yet expressive manner. The passion she has for the forest is clear, as she writes, “[The] Mississippi Petrified Forest is truly a living, ever-changing wonder, placed as a rare jewel in the heart of Mississippi, for man to ponder and enjoy.”  

Today, the Mississippi Petrified Forest highlights its National Natural Landmark status. The Schabilions believed in the conservation and preservation of natural resources. In an effort to teach the “values and practicalities” of conservation, the Schabilions opened the petrified forest to the public. After paying admission, visitors can walk along the nature trail, with a trail guide offering information on “points of interest.” One popular example is the “Caveman’s Bench,” a larger piece of petrified wood that visitors can sit on. Visitors can also explore an earth science museum, which exhibits petrified wood from nearly every state, various kinds of fossils, and “plant life through the ages.” On the rock patio, a gem-mining flume allows visitors to wash and screen their “mine muck,” and they can keep any gems they find. The petrified forest’s campground offers RV and tent camping, and its newest addition is a pavilion that visitors can rent for gatherings. Finally, there is an educational gift shop “filled with unique and unusual gem and mineral items from around the world.”  

The Mississippi Petrified Forest is unique, both in its geology and on account of its private ownership. However, the development of entertainment and educational infrastructure allows the public to access this fascinating and rare natural landmark, ensuring its protection and enduring legacy.