P.O. Box 185
Florissant, CO 80816-0185
(719) 748-3253
www.nps.gov/flfo

Today Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is a wonderland of meadows, forests, and wildflowers. Noting this brilliance, an early settler from Missouri gave this area his hometown's name since it means "flowering" in French. Yet 35 million years ago a description would tell another tale. Lake Florissant, stretching 15 miles through an ancient forested valley, dominates the scene. Lush ferns and shrubs thrive under towering redwoods, cedars, pines, and a colorful mixed hardwood forest of maples, hickories, and oaks. In this warm, humid climate, thousands upon thousands of insects crawl, fly, and buzz about. Fish, mollusks, birds, and mammals inhabit the lake and its shores.

Nearby, a volcano rumbles. In the past, volcanic mud flows blanketed parts of the forest surrounding Lake Florissant, killing entire trees. Now, as the volcano again erupts violently, the devastation is widespread. The exploding volcano showers the countryside with millions of tons of ash, dust, and pumice. Caught in this deadly cloud, insects, leaves, fish -- anything that cannot escape -- die, and many fall to the lake bottom, where they are buried. These eruptions occur again and again for perhaps as long as 700,000 years. Each time, fragments of life are trapped in a layer of volcanic sediments at the bottom of the lake. Eventually these sediments become a finely layered shale and transform the buried plant and animal life into fossils.

Today Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument preserves this site. The fossil beds are internationally renowned for the variety and number of fossils-particularly of insects and plants-they have yielded since their discovery in the late 1800s. Paleontologists have collected more than 60,000 specimens for museums and universities around the world. These fossils reveal, in remarkable detail, what life of so long ago was like. Ever so fragile and tiny a creature as a butterfly may be preserved as a fossil that clearly shows its antennae, legs, hairs, and the pattern of its wings. Massive petrified redwood stumps are evidence that ancient life here had its giants, too. Yet, little remains of other ancient Lake Florissant life. Fossil bones, teeth, shells, and feather impressions reveal the existence of mollusks, fish, birds, opossums, mesohippus (an ancestor of the modern horse), and oreodonts (extinct pig-like animals). But unless a mammal or bird actually died in or near the lake its chances of preservation were very slim. Future scientific explorations promise to unearth more of Florissant's"buried treasures."

Fossils of Ancient Lake Florissant

The rich deposits discovered at Florissant Fossil Beds give us an unusually detailed look at life in an ancient North America. These impressions of prehistoric plants and animals are relatively young in geologic terms. The Florissant fossils hint at what life may have been like about 35 million years ago during the Oligocene Epoch; approximately 30 million years after the age of dinosaurs and at least 33 million years before humans appeared. Today most of Florissant's fossils are exhibited and studied at various museums and universities. A small number are displayed in the park visitor center. Others, unfortunately, have been taken as private souvenirs over the years; what valuable information they might have provided cannot be known, for each fossil is an irreplaceable piece in the puzzle of the past. Fortunately millions of other fossils in yet undisturbed portions of the fossil beds are now protected by the park.

Fossil Plants: Fossils of an incredibly diverse mix of more than 100 species of trees and other plants have been discovered at Florissant. Most commonly fossil leaves are found, but fossil twigs, seeds, cones, flowers, and pollen grains also occur. Like the insects, plant fragments have usually been preserved as life size, color enhanced impressions. A quite different type of plant fossil found at Florissant consists of massive petrified stumps of redwoods and other trees. They stand today where they were buried by volcanic mud flows millions of years ago. The stumps turned to stone as minerals seeped into the wood and gradually crystallized within living tissue. The fossil record suggests that the ancient forest was not like any now in Colorado. In it grew many trees and shrubs whose closest living relatives are now found in widely scattered places such as the southeastern United States, Mexico, China, and South America.

Fossil Insects: Insects are rarely preserved as fossils because they are so fragile. But the volcanic ash mixture that fell on Lake Florissant was finer than talcum powder and ideal for the delicate job of preservation. Thousands of insect fossils have been recovered from the fine grained, fossil-bearing shales. An amazing number of insect species-more than 1,100 have been identified. The insects are usually preserved as exquisitely detailed impressions in the shale, colored brown or black by a thin residue of organic matter-all that remains of the actual living thing. Some insects look perfect, other are crushed, and some are just parts: a delicate wing, a headless body. The fossils indicate that insects 35 million years ago were much like those today. However, many types that once lived at Lake Florissant no longer inhabit Colorado. Some like the tsetse fly, are gone from North America. Others are wholly extinct.

Visiting the Monument

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is today a land of rolling hills and meadows with forests of ponderosa pine, spruce, fir, and aspen. It is in the high country of the Rocky Mountains west of Pike's Peak. Obvious signs of the ancient scene are scant. Surface exposures, of the paper-thin, light-gray fossil- bearing shales occur in only a few spots and easily erode. Fossils are best seen in the visitor center exhibits and on two interpretive trails. In today's cooler, drier climate pronghorn antelope, elk, deer, porcupines, and golden eagles live, as do insects of all kinds. Florissant is French for flowering, and meadow and wildflowers offer excellent opportunities for photography and enjoying nature throughout the summer.

Visitor Center: The visitor center serves as a museum and information center. Fossils and other exhibits are on display and books and brochures are available. Schedules of talks and other special activities are posted. Park programs and your own imagination will help you discover the present and bring the past to life. A picnic area is nearby. The park offers environmental education programs for school groups; please call for details. The center is open daily 9 a.m to 5:30 p.m. in the summer, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in winter; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.

Trails: The park has more than 10 miles of trails. On A Walk through Time, a 1/2- mile loop trail you can see the fossil bearing shales and petrified stumps. The 1-mile Petrified Forest Loop leads to several petrified stumps, including Big Stump, the remains of a giant sequoia 74 feet in circumference. Both trails are wheelchair accessible. Other trails explore the park's forests and meadows, alive with the plants and animals that have taken the place of ancient life. Ask for a trail brochure.

The Hornbek Homestead: The 1878 Hornbek Homestead recalls the life of early pioneers. Many were drawn to the region by gold, but Adeline Hornbek and her children-like many others came to farm and ranch. The historic site includes the original cabin and a reconstructed barn, carriage shed, and root cellar.

Other Activities: In the winter, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are permitted. Picnicking and horseback riding are enjoyed year round. Contact a ranger for information.

Nearby Visitor Services: Lodging, restaurants, gasoline, and groceries are available in the town of Florissant, 2 miles north. Colorado Springs, with the range of facilities of a modern metropolitan area, is 30 miles east and easily reached on U.S. 24. Public and private campgrounds are nearby.

Weather: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, elevation 8400 feet (2560 meters) , has a typical mountain climate. Summers are generally of short duration with warm days and cool nights. Freezing temperatures can and often do occur during summer months. Temperatures begin to drop significantly in September and snow is not uncommon in early fall. In winter months, one can experience severe temperature drops. Temperatures begin to moderate in spring, but sub-zero lows can still occur. In 1992, 35 sub-zero days were recorded. In February 1989, a record cold wave kept temperatures below zero for 72 hours.

Climate in this area is dry. Average total precipitation (rain, melted snow, etc,) is approximately 15 inches annually, with most of that coming in the form of afternoon showers during the period from did-May to mid-September. Snowfall can occur any month of the year but is most common during Late fall and early spring. Total annual snowfall amounts average about 50 inches with a maximum accumulation of approximately 1.5 to 2 feet. The moisture equivalent of snow here is quite low: a 20:1 ratio (inches of snow per inch of liquid precipitation) is a good guide for snows in January, February, and March, while a ratio as low as 12:1 will apply for the spring and fall months.

It's a Family Affair - Tips on hiking with kids, plus a rundown of walks in Florissant Fossils National Monument in Colorado.