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Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is famous for having large amounts of well-preserved, petrified wood. Located half-a-mile from the town of Escalante, the park is about 1300 acres, and sits adjacent to Wide Hollow Reservoir.
(Kendall) The fishing is good. We have fishing for rainbow trout, largemouth bass, and blue gill.
The park also has a 22 unit campground with a 50-person group site.
(Kendall) We have all the amenities here. We have showers, hot water, modern restrooms. It's very comfortable.
But the main draw is the petrified forest, where campers can hike through fossilized trees.
(Kendall Farnsworth - Escalante Petrified Forest State Park Manager) We got two loops, the first loop is a mile, and that's what I recommend to most people.
(Kendall) You'll climb 200 feet and find petrified wood naturally occurring all along the trail. At one point in the trail, you will come to an option and that's called the Trail of Sleeping Rainbows, and that's an extended loop that goes off the main loop.
Thousands of colorful, petrified wood pieces are scattered on the trail as it winds among huge trunks that still have ancient tree rings and even bark. For more about Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, log on to stateparks.utah.gov.
