Gold Belt Tour Scenic and Historic Byway
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, CO

Fossil Formation in Florissant

The geography of the beautiful mountain valley of Florissant, Colorado, is the catalyst for the area's colorful history. Thirty-five million years ago, the Florissant Valley was a lake bed. Volcanoes at Guffey and Thirty-Nine Mile Mountain erupted, spewing millions of tons of ash and lava that entombed dense groves of sequoia trees. The falling ash also carried a myriad of insects, birds, and vegetation into the lake. Layer upon layer of mud and ash preserved these creatures in the lakebed as shale encrusted "etchings" of life that existed during this prehistoric era. Today, the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is known for more than 80,000 identified fossil specimens.