Hell's Canyon Petrified Wood

WHAT TO CUT

- RUSS KANIUTH

The elusive Hell’s Canyon Petrified Wood has been one of the most popular petrified woods for decades. It was once collected along the Snake River, bordering Oregon and Idaho, until the Hell’s Canyon Dam construction. Now the entire collection site is underwater.

This was a unique find, and there has yet to be another like it since. Hell’s Canyon Petrified Wood is known to be from the Cretaceous and Miocene era (25 to 145 million years ago). It displays beautiful wavy patterns, known as herringbone, which was the natural growth rings of the ancient Sequoia trees. It also contains dry rot holes that have since been filled with silica and micro drusy cavities.