Petrified forest Puyango

                                                The petrified Forest of Puyango, world-wide known as the site of marine fossils and petrified wood, is a real tourist attraction, only comparable to the Galapagos Islands and the Ecuadorian East for its great importance.

The protected area is located southwest of the province of El Oro, in the parish of Las Lajas of the canton Arenillas (111 km of Machala) and to the west of the province of Loja, in the parish allove of the canton Puyango (280 km of the city of Loja), on the banks of the river Puyango.

The main attraction of the petrified Forest of Puyango are the petrified trees genus Araucarioxylon, which is found in the ravines of the shads and custard. The trees have an approximate age of 100 million years and is perhaps the largest collection of petrified wood in the world; The largest specimen is 2 m in diameter and 15 m long. There are also leaf fossils that correspond to four genera of primitive plants similar to ferns and present-day palms. According to Shoemaker, 1 a famous paleobotánico who studied the area between 1975 and 1976, the amount of petrified logs contained in such a compact area represent one of the largest collections of this type in the world comparable perhaps with the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, USA.

                                        

                                                        From the city of Loja you take the paved road to Macara. It passes the cities Lojanas of the city, Catacocha and in the sector the joint is followed by a road of second order, towards the cities of Celica, Alamor, the victory and Arenillas. In the middle of the road between these two last populations, is the entrance to the forest.
                                                        
                                                    

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