It only took me thirty years to find out that a petrified forest isn't a prehistoric looking grove of age-hardened trees. I think I liked the 1936 Bette Davis-Humphrey Bogart-Leslie Howard movie better.
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Want to find out the hard way? So I guess I had this lovely vision of what a petrified forest was for quite a long time, and sadly this one didn't come close. I think things were made even more irritating by the fact that the place has this pretty cool 1950's thing going for it, with the neat wooden signs and Park Service style buildings and whatnot. Makes me wonder if the drive-thru tree is going to be a disapointment as well...Still, if you happen to be near Calistoga and feel like dropping $20 somewhere that only takes ten minutes or so, this could be for you. They also have a healthy array of rocks in the gift shop in case you've been looking for that perfect bit of quartzite to round out your metamorphic collection.