Ashfall State Park

Three-toed and one-toed horses milled about the watering hole as crowned cranes and secretary birds stalked reptile prey. The herd of barrel-torso rhinos bullied their way to the water. In the distance, bone-crushing dogs and smaller scavengers waited for one of the animals to die. And off to the west, a great black cloud boiled toward them, bringing a slow and painful death.

This scene played out 12 million years ago on the plains of what would become eastern Nebraska. The odd Mesozoic animals – sabre-toothed deer, giant horned hamsters, llama necked camels - that populated eastern Nebraska were overcome by a huge volcanic eruption 1000 miles away in south central Idaho. The ash cloud was composed of razor sharp volcanic glass that drifted in a beautiful but deadly cloud over the animals. Many of the larger ones lived for several months, only to die a slow, lingering death by suffocation. They gathered once more at the watering hole, made desperately thirsty by their condition. 

Undisturbed for the most part by scavengers, hundreds of animal remains lay by the water hole as ash from the on-going volcanic activity in Idaho drifted over them and covered them in an animal Pompeii. An ice sheet crept down from the north, missing the site by a mere handful of miles. In 1991, the first fossil, a barrel torso rhino was discovered and Ashfall State Park was created to house and protect this unique and breathtaking find. 

 

Open generally from May 1 to the middle of October, Ashfall State Park hosts a visitor’s center with excellent displays about the park’s history and the animals discovered within, including a crane with its last meal, a lizard, in its stomach. Outside near the picnic area, there is a children’s interactive site that earned rave reviews from my fossil-crazed children. Further on, the Rhino Barn offers what must be a paleontologist’s dream working conditions. The current dig is in a covered (and in eastern Nebraska, happily air-conditioned) barn. Video cameras positioned near each dig project what the crews are uncovering onto big screens. The barn has a long porch overlooking the rolling Nebraska countryside.

Many fossils have been left in-situ. Look for the rhino cow and her calf who died with noses touching. A three-toed horse and her foal were found curled next to each other. Fossils include five species of horses; three species of camels; sabre-toothed deer; barrel-torso rhinos; three species of dogs; reptiles and birds. Another building hosts an interesting looped video on the discovery of Ashfall.

Getting to Ashfall State Park can be a challenge. The nearest large town is Norfolk, Nebraska about 60 miles away from the park and 120 miles from Omaha. O’Neill is closer to the find but further from I-80. When we visited in 2010, the signs marking the turns to Ashfall had vanished, and we had an unexpected tour of Antelope County.

Challenges in getting to Ashfall aside, this park is well worth the visit. 

ashfall.unl.edu/