College Station has a lot of petrified wood. It is abundant in stream beds, at Lake Bryan, and on oilfield roads. I’ve collected hundreds of small pieces and brought them home with me.

I want to find some larger pieces, logs, to put in my garden. Unfortunately, the big pieces are harder to find, and they are very very heavy.

Petrified wood is created by a process called perimineralization. The wood falls into water or mud containing a lot of minerals. It rots slowly; usually only leaves and branches disappear. The rest of the wood is replaced by the minerals, retaining the structure of the wood, sometimes all the way down to the cellular level. You can almost always identify wood grain in petrified wood. In some pieces, you may also be able to see tree rings, bark, or even the cellular structure.

When Veteran’s Park in College Station was built, several large pieces of petrified wood were uncovered.

Wood grain or bark visible in petrified wood in Veteran's Park.

Some of my collection of petrified wood.

Sitting on a tall piece of petrified wood in Veteran's Park.