Mississippi Petrified Forest — Attraction in Mississippi

This was an educational and enlightening visit. The best part is the gem history room which you enter after finish the petrified tour. It's an amazing room full of all the items I was hoping to see in the store area. The store itself is awesome and the custom jewelry for sale is amazing. They also have regular retail costume jewelry if you prefer. They have gems, gemstones, geodes, arrow heads, pyramids, and crystal / metaphysical books for sale. It's a large shop full of goodies and we browsed all the items for an hour before we took the petrified tour. The petrified tour itself was not as satisfying - you pay, are given a map, and sent on your way .. the trail is no longer being maintained, several signs, benches & fences were broken or missing altogether + 1/2 the trail is not accessible to the wheelchair bound and there is literally a cut off road & sign stating to turn around if you are wheelchair bound, the petrified fallen trees are barely visible through the overgrowth, grass and moss and are numbered for you to view and read about in your pamphlet but as I said most signs were broken, laying covered on the ground or missing altogether. It is however a wonderful stroll through the woods, up and down hills & around an old waterfall ravine but it is not a petrified forest tour as one is lead to believe.

Please take advantage of the free OFF spray that is offered before the tour it is veryyy buggy out there lol and don't forget to stop and pet the store cat on the back patio before leaving! He is in noooo way friendly and has a mean face but he is very tolerable to children...

The walk was nice (though July is not the best time to be walking mid-day in Mississippi ha!).Very scenic with interesting facts in a guide that goes along with the numbered signs along the trail. A bit sparse, though the Caveman's Bench was neat (and about the only thing you could really interact with on the trail). The specimen museum and gift shop more than made up for the slight disappointment . From all the glittery gemstones in their natural and polished states, to the fossils (just wait til you see JAWS!) the indoors is more fun than the outdoors ... at least to all the adults in our group that day. Many souvenirs were purchased, all of which are reasonably and affordably priced. I highly recommend the grab bags, especially the ladies pink bags... scored two nice necklaces that were well worth more than the $2 spent on each. For an enjoyable outing with family and friends, or just to meander by yourself ... especially to plunder in the gift shop and see the specimens, you really can't go wrong dropping by the Petrified Forest in Flora, MS. If you don't like the heat or outdoors skip the $10/person fee to walk the outdoors and just enjoy the unique finds indoors. Either way you will be happy...

Just went back for my second time, had even more fun than the first. Awesome trail, unbelievable mineral collection, and adorable cat. This is my favorite place in Mississippi, and one of my favorite places in the US! Original review from March - "You need to go here. The trail is pretty cool, with a brochure to guide you along the stops to see both living and petrified trees. The highlight for me was the museum. I've gone to a lot of natural history museums, and I can honestly say that they are able to show more with one small exhibit room than many other larger museums. Instead of inundating you with hundreds of similar specimens, each specimen in the museum is unique and different. Many of the items were things I had never seen before, like man-made minerals to rare and interesting gems from around the world. I was amazed by the caliber of the collection and wish I had spent more time enjoying and appreciating all the items. The staff was very friendly and I had an amazing experience. Looking forward to visiting...