A sectional of a long since fallen and petrified tree--almost exactly as it lay after it fell. The cool thing about the petrified forest is the formation. Apparently, a meteorite landed not too far from here and caused a cataclysmic reaction on the order of a volcanic eruption. Trees were toppled, animals died, and it all lay there for thousands of years. Sand and silt from the rivers slowly eroded and filtered through the wood, stripping it of minerals and nutrients to the point where it became hard as a rock.