Elephants in the American southwest? Not really elephants, and it was 65,000 years ago. The Columbian mammoth roamed the land from near present day Canada to as far south as Costa Rica. The Columbian were the largest of the mammoth species in North America, with the wooly mammoth and American mastodon smaller (though I would avoid getting in the way of all three species, myself).

Discovery of the fossils at this location was really a fluke. The land was private and undeveloped. In 1978, two men were walking the land near the Bosque River when they saw a bone sticking out of the ground. After tens of thousands of years, it finally worked its way to the surface. They took it to nearby Baylor University, where the science department was thrilled.

Excavation of the site continues to this day. A large open build was built around the dig site so visitors can walk through on a raised floor to see fossils still in the ground. There is even a camel in among the mammoth.

The park itself is small but nice. It abuts some local park land and offers a few short trails through the woodlands. The Visitor's Center is a short walk from the dig site, and, weather permitting, has a display table holding several fossils that you can actually touch. A family was there at the same time as I was, with two young children who were fascinated by the fossils and the ranger's descriptions of each. There is a tiny indoor section of the Visitor's Center with store items, but again, with nice weather, they set up a lot of items outside.

This was a nice half-day stop in which, as in most parks, I learned something new.