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Fossil Plants
Rocks and Geology Around Las Vegas
Fossil Plants
Liz with Scale Tree (Genus Lepidodendron) roots in the stone

Fossil Plants.

Hard to believe when looking around town, but back before dinosaurs, the area around Las Vegas once supported a forest of tall trees. The forest is long gone, but some of the logs were preserved as petrified wood. The best place to see petrified wood around Las Vegas is Valley of Fire State Park, but petrified wood can also be found at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area below the sandstone cliffs. Petrified wood can be found on BLM land where collecting a small amount for personal use is legal, but don't even think of collecting in conservation areas or state parks.

Scale Trees (Genus Lepidodendron) grew in this area during the Carboniferous Period (about 360-300 million-years-ago, and in at least one place, the roots of these 100-ft tall trees can be seen in the rocks.

Fossilized roots can be found sticking out of mudstone and sandstone in Gold Butte National Monument.

Petrified Wood. Around Las Vegas, the best place to see petrified wood is Valley of Fire State Park.

Fossil Plants
Petrified wood
Fossil Plants
Petrified wood showing bark beetle galleries
Fossil Plants
Petrified wood at Valley of Fire
Fossil Plants
Petrified wood
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Valley of Fire
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Valley of Fire
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Red Rock Canyon
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Red Rock Canyon
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Red Rock Canyon
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Red Rock Canyon
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Red Rock Canyon
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Red Rock Canyon
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Red Rock Canyon
Petrified wood
Petrified wood at Red Rock Canyon
Petrified wood
Petrified wood log with bark beetle galleries?
Petrified wood
Petrified wood log with bark beetle galleries (close-up)?
Petrified wood
Petrified wood log with knot hole
Petrified wood
Petrified wood bark?

Lepidodendron Roots. Scale Trees (Genus Lepidodendron) grew in this area during the Carboniferous Period (about 360-300 million-years-ago, and in at least one place, the roots of these 100-ft tall trees can be seen in the rocks.

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Fossil Plants
Lepidodendron root with dimpled bark
Fossil Plants
Impression of dimpled Lepidodendron bark in stone
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Fossil Plants
Impression of dimpled Lepidodendron bark in stone
Fossil Plants
Impression of dimpled Lepidodendron bark in stone

Fossil Roots. These fossil roots were found in Gold Butte National Monument. The larger roots were found in cracks in the sandstone, so the trees grew after the sandstone formed.

Fossil Plants
Fossil roots in sandstone
Fossil Plants
1/2-inch diameter root in cracked sandstone
Fossil Plants
1/2-inch diameter root in cracked sandstone
Fossil Plants
1/2-inch diameter root in cracked sandstone
Fossil Plants
Small roots in mudstone
Fossil Plants
Small roots in mudstone

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
copyright; Last updated 240331

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