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Temporary Visitor Center / Trail Closures
The park is operating with a temporary visitor as it builds a new one. The park is OPEN with normal hours. Please bring your own water. Pit toilets are available for bathrooms. The Sawmill and Hans loop will have period closures. All other trails open.
Charlotte Hill
Homesteader, Charlotte Hill
Women played an important role in the early days of Florissant. Charlotte Hill was a pioneer and homesteader here in the late 1800s. Born in Indiana, she came west and at 13 married Adam Hill in Colorado City in 1863. While raising seven children and ranching with her husband, this remarkable woman collected fossils, and helped unveil Florissant's place in world fame. Several paleontologists credited Mrs. Hill with valuable finds. Her husband Adam helped Dr. Scudder in his excavations. 
The famous prodryas Persephone butterfly, one of the finest fossils ever found at Florissant.
Charlotte Hill's finds included the famous prodryas Persephone butterfly, one of the finest fossils ever found at Florissant. |
Did You Know?
In 1922, Fossil Cycad National Monument, in South Dakota, was established as the third NPS area to preserve fossils, however by the mid 1930s all the fossils visible at the surface had been removed, leaving nothing for visitors to see. As a result, congress removed Fossil Cycad National Monument from the National Park System in 1957.