This landscape was built by ancient lava flows and sculpted by powerful Ice Age floods. The park contains hundreds of pieces of petrified wood preserved within an ancient basalt lava flow known as the Ginkgo flow, and these remains of a fossil forest were unearthed through a combination of Ice Age floods, erosion, and human activity. Many species were preserved here, including ginkgo, maple, Douglas-fir, spruce, walnut, and elm. The Columbia River has long served as a travel and trade route for Native Americans, and early traders and settlers also passed through the area, eventually building ferries and roads at this natural river crossing. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built many structures in the park, including the interpretive center and the nearby stone house. The park's trails opened in 1938, and self-guided interpretive trails along Vantage Highway two miles west of here lead to petrified logs and Ice Age flood features.