Name: Trees of Stone
Placed by: Eliza B.
date: 05/25/02
nearest town: Vantage, WA, USA
county: Klikittat (don't hold me to that spelling)

From I-90, east or west bound, take the Vantage exit. Follow Highway
10 (main road) through town to the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park.
Stop at the Interpretive Visitor Center and pay a dollar to learn all
about why you should be really impressed on the trails, and to talk to
the lady behind the counter who is a font of information on the ice age
and on the native american petroglyphs behind the building. For a
quarter, you can pick up a map of the interpretive trails, as well,
which I'd highly recommend. It gets a little confusing out there.

From there, load up on water and head the 2 miles north to the parking
lot for the interpretive trailhead. (There's only one trailhead, you
can't miss it.) Follow it south, past the ranger station and exhibits
1, 2, and 3. Continue on straight before taking a sharp left and going
up a massive hill. Stay on this trail until you hit a "Y" in the road,
and take the right fork, heading up even further. Over the top of the
hill is an unnumbered display on your right of a petrified redwood.

Go off the path and around to the top side of the redwood display.
Hidden in the sagebrush bush just above the display, under a pile of
rocks, is the letterbox!

Please make sure to cover the box -completely- with rocks when you're
done, or it can be easily seen in this desert wilderness. Also, please
please PLEASE be VERY careful when reaching in -- there are Western
Rattlesnakes all over this area, and it's a long way down the hill if
you get bitten. Poke the rocks first and listen for a rattle before
reaching near them.

This trail gains about 300 feet of elevation over 3 miles round trip,
and is quite suitable for older children.

If you continue on the trail to the north (veering to the west), you'll
be able to see the rest of the displays, some of which are pretty
interesting. This path will also lead you back around the parking lot,
past a Western Meadowlark nesting ground.

(I'm planning on coming back here to put in a series of boxes, one near
each display, if I can. This is because I'm an overachiever and I have
to make up for the fact that I proceeded to mis-carve the lettering on
this stamp so that it's in reverse, since I carved it in the parking
lot. *sigh*)