The stone trunks
Rock that was once giant trees.
Darwin Pucha Cofrep — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Arabsalam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arabsalam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arabsalam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arabsalam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arabsalam — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Puyango Petrified Forest is a fossil site in the middle basin of the Puyango River, between El Oro and Loja provinces in southern Ecuador. It covers 2,658 hectares, with huge petrified tree trunks in tropical dry forest, and it is on UNESCO's World Heritage tentative list. The sediments date from the late Cretaceous. The area was once a sea, which dried and was covered by forests, whose trees were buried in natural catastrophes before movements of the earth brought them back to the surface. The trees are about 100 million years old, of the genus Araucarioxylon. The researcher Shoemaker, who studied the site in 1975 and 1976, compared the collection with Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. You walk a loop trail of about 4 km through dry trees and rocky ravines. In a small stream you see stone trunks cut into sections among the pebbles, the largest 2 metres across and 15 metres long. There are also fossil leaves and shells. The forest holds about 161 bird species, 43 of them regional endemics, and is among the last remnants of dry forest in the area. The site is 72.7 km in a straight line south of Machala and 57.6 km from Zaruma. The dry season from May to December is said to be the best time. British advice is against all but essential travel to El Oro province, so check your government's advice. Bring water and a hat, and do not take any stones.
Rock that was once giant trees.
About 4 km among the ravines.
About 161 bird species.
Puyango River basin, between El Oro and Loja provinces
About 100 million years, from the late Cretaceous.
The dry season from May to December is said to suit best, while the forest looks greener in the rains.