Jasper Forest contains one of the largest accumulations of petrified wood in the world. Originally called the “First Forest,” it was the first petrified wood site available to railroad travelers in the early 1900s. John Muir wrote on September 12, 1906, that nowhere else had such a large, beautiful, and wonderful section of the ancient forests been discovered and that, once cared for by the nation and made easily accessible, it would become one of the most attractive and famous places in the West. Looking down, visitors can see pieces of logs that were once encased in the sandstone ledge there, and a visitor in 1917 wrote that the six-mile trip to Forest #1 was well worth it because the ground was covered with broken pieces of the high and brightly colored material. Horace E. Wood Furness wrote in 1906 that, on the score of interest, the Petrified Forest rivaled the Grand Canyon. In 1883, photographer Ben Wittick extensively photographed petrified wood deposits in the area, and more than 130 years later the landscape remained almost completely unaltered. A 1905 photograph of John Muir and his party compared with the same view today showed that little had changed in more than 100 years. Eagle Rock, a prominent sandstone pinnacle in the Jasper Forest area first described by John Muir, was later encircled by a touring road, but the pinnacle collapsed in 1940 due to erosion, and traces of the old road still remain where it once stood.