Over Spring Break we made a quick day trip to Waco, Texas. We stopped at the Waco Mammoth National Monument. In 1978 some hikers came across some interesting looking bones coming out of the bottom of a creek bed. So they called over some experts from nearby Baylor University. It turns out they had found an amazing discovery of fossils.
Apparently, around 70,000 years ago, 19 Colombian Mammoths got stuck in a flash flood event and died en masse in that creek. Other fossils have been found in the area including those of a sabre tooth cat and a pre-historic camel. Paleontologists eventually built a permanent climate controlled building over the site to allow for continued excavating in a protected environment. President Obama would later designate the site a National Monument.
It's not a large place. But it's a fun visit. There's a few nice nature trails and they seem to be expanding slowly. Definitely doesn't take long to visit, maybe a couple of hours if crowded. But it was very interesting.
