What is Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument?

Tule Springs Fossil Beds is named for the signature Pleistocene-age fossil-rich sediment layers.

NPS Photo | L. Parry

 

Tule Spring, located nearby at Floyd Lamb Park.

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Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument is a long name. What exactly was it named for?

A long time ago, during the last Ice Age, spring water bubbled up from underground to form pools, streams, marshes, or wet meadows. These springs expanded and contracted locally for over 500,000 years. A nearby spring that is still active today is surrounded by wetland plants, like tules (too-lees), a type of giant sedge. This spring is called “Tule Spring”, located within Floyd Lamb Park a few blocks away from the National Monument.

 

Life at a Spring Pool at Tule Springs 50,000 years ago. An ancient bison drinks from a wetland spring, along with other aquatic animals and birds. Ash and cottonwood leaves fall to the surface of the water in the autumn. A giant ground sloth eats globemallow branches on the shore.

NPS Artwork | J. Csotonyi

During the Ice Age, also known as the Pleistocene epoch, many animals would come to drink from these ancient springs, eat the plants that grew nearby, or hunt prey. When these animals died, their remains decomposed, leaving behind their bones, teeth, or shells. These remains became fossils if they got buried by mud, silt, or sand that formed layers in these springs. Over time, these springs dried out and left behind fossil-rich layers or “fossil beds.”
Tule Springs Fossil Beds is the largest Pleistocene fossil site in the Mojave Desert!

 

The park's official friends' group, the Protectors of Tule Springs, helped to advocate for Tule Springs Fossil Beds to become a unit of the National Park Service.

NPS Photo

Our local community and scientists worked hard to protect this area so that its stories can be preserved and told for future generations. In December, 2014, Tule Springs Fossil Beds became a National Monument, meaning that this land is public-it belongs to everyone.

 

 

Learn More

Life through time Fossils & Paleontology

Pleistocene megafauna Prehistoric Life of Tule Springs

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