Is at only 38km in the south of Sarmiento and you can access by route of padding, coming to this nature reserve you find a Parques Guard who will give you all the information that you need.
The forest is a formation of the Cenozoic Era (tertiary inferior) with an approximate age of 65.000.000 years. This petrified trees, witness of the Prehistory, make a scenery of indescribable beauty that have the hardness of the rock, the colour of the different geologic stratums and the heavy silence of respect to the nature.
Theirs petrified trunks are part of the process that those millions of years did over his woods. You must remember that at begin the Tertiary era, the Andes Cordillera rise and impede so,the passage from humidity from the Pacific, making at the same time eruptions, which sediments of ashes and lava scatter, beginig a slow transformation process of this trunks in rock.
In the volcanic sediments of its ground, there are abundant trunks, some of them are very big and have an antiquity about tertiary inferior (Paleoceno).
Of these sediments there are studies about the minuscule grains of pollen which permits reconstruct with most detail the types of dominant vegetation in the zone, they were of temperate to tropical warm weather whit an important humidity.
The "Salamanquense" is the first testimony of marine join of the Atlantic Ocean in these latitudes.
Estimate in an approximate age of 65.000.000 years primitive species of the coniferuos´s family (though is possible see remains of palm trees) permits imagine a subequatorial region with abundant forests and small lakes habitated for numerous and varied fauna, this last date is possible reinforce it because of the important Paleontologic discoveries obtained in the department of Sarmiento.
Today the scenery is distressing and shocking since in the arid solitude of this steppe you have the certain that some time, this was a vergel of forest that today is difficult to imagine.

Petrification process
The petrified wood is the tranmutation of the organic matter on stone through of the process that a broad outline we can describe of this way: To beginning of the tertiary era the Andes cordillera begins to elevate impeding the way of the humid air running of the Pacific Atlantic.
At the same time volcanic eruptions were producing which ashes and lava that were spreading begining so the slow process of organic transformation: absorption, impregnation, substitution and mutation of the molecular nature, conserving his exterior appearance.
The afloramientos of this extraordinaries Petrified trunks, the contiguous Lunar scenery and their hills surrounding of varieds tonalities permit observe the different geographic stratus that makes this place an unique attractive and obliged visit.

It horary public attention is from Octuber to March from 08hs. to 20 hs., and from April to September from 9 hs. to 18,30 hs.

Location:
Localizated at 38 Km of the city of Sarmiento in direction SE. round consolidate way.