On Sunday, we drove from Ely, Nevada, to Meridian, Idaho (a western suburb of Boise, Idaho). To break up the drive, we stopped at the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument - it has more fossils from the Pliocene Era than any other location in the world.
Google maps took us to the actual monument first, rather than to the visitor's center located in the town of Hagerman, Idaho - this in spite of the fact that Google maps was supposedly taking us to the visitor center (which is what I had put into the app). I had read on line that there was nothing to do at the actual fossil beds because of the risk of harm, either to the fossils by visitors or to visitors by collapsing walls at the dig sites.
It turns out that just inside the monument is a nice Snake River Overlook. We had our lunch at the covered picnic area - it was a hot, sunny day, so the shaded picnic table was a great place to eat.
Across the road was a sign about the Oregon Trail. A three mile portion of the original Oregon Trail has been preserved and can be hiked - we chose not too because it was a hot sunny day and we still had a couple of hours driving time to get to our hotel.
Besides the Oregon Trail used by white settlers, there is info about the natives who were here for centuries before Americans came west to Oregon.
From the picnic area, as promised by the signage, there is a nice overlook of the Snake River and plenty of educational signs to help visitors understand the monument. Several tell about where the fossils are found and why.
The Hagerman Horse is the animal from which all modern day horses, donkeys and zebras are descended. They have found numerous complete sets of skeletons for the horses.
We had parked our car in the shade of a nearby municipal park where they have commemorated Marcus Whitman, the man who brought the first wagon train to Oregon in 1836.
Google maps took us to the actual monument first, rather than to the visitor's center located in the town of Hagerman, Idaho - this in spite of the fact that Google maps was supposedly taking us to the visitor center (which is what I had put into the app). I had read on line that there was nothing to do at the actual fossil beds because of the risk of harm, either to the fossils by visitors or to visitors by collapsing walls at the dig sites.
It turns out that just inside the monument is a nice Snake River Overlook. We had our lunch at the covered picnic area - it was a hot, sunny day, so the shaded picnic table was a great place to eat.
Across the road was a sign about the Oregon Trail. A three mile portion of the original Oregon Trail has been preserved and can be hiked - we chose not too because it was a hot sunny day and we still had a couple of hours driving time to get to our hotel.
Besides the Oregon Trail used by white settlers, there is info about the natives who were here for centuries before Americans came west to Oregon.
From the picnic area, as promised by the signage, there is a nice overlook of the Snake River and plenty of educational signs to help visitors understand the monument. Several tell about where the fossils are found and why.
We then drove into town to the visitors center and learned more about the fossils found here.
The Hagerman Horse is the animal from which all modern day horses, donkeys and zebras are descended. They have found numerous complete sets of skeletons for the horses.
We had parked our car in the shade of a nearby municipal park where they have commemorated Marcus Whitman, the man who brought the first wagon train to Oregon in 1836.
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