Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
Just north of Las Vegas, Nevada is Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. This monument captures a prehistoric time in rock with fossils of extinct mammoths, lions, camels, horses, bison, dire wolves, and several other creatures that roamed what once were wetlands of the area. Tule Springs Fossil Beds represents a period that ranges from 200,000 to 3,000 years ago. The area was once so abundant with mammoths that it has been referred to as “mammoth central.” Now, fossils of these extinct giants fuel research about paleontology, geology, and prehistoric climate change.
Tule Springs Fossil Beds is the first National Park Service monument to be specifically dedicated to the preservation, public education, and scientific study of Ice Age fossils. The area also houses several patches of very rare Las Vegas Bearpoppy flowers. Tule Springs Fossil Beds offers paleontological fun, scientific discovery, and educational opportunities to visitors of all ages.