The Fossil Trail is a short 400m trail just beyond the chalets in the Rest Camp of the Karoo National Park. The aim of the Trail is to illustrate the geology of the Karoo, which is a very complicated subject, but the information is fascinating, well laid out, and helps you to understand some of the strange sights in the countryside.
‘Fossils and sedimentary rocks from the Great Karoo provide the best picture we have of ancient African wildlife and landscapes during the late Permian Period, about 255 million years ago.’
‘Wave ripples – wind-generated waves in shallow water formed regular sets of small symmetrical ripples on the sandy bed of pools.’
‘Mudflake breccia – periodic collapse of riverbanks into the channel formed a breccia composed of angular pieces of mudstone embedded in a sandy matrix.’
The walk shows us some fossilised tree trunks, and fossilised animals.
And some of the plants along the trail are named.
The Fossil Trail joins easily to the Bossie Trail, and the trail around the camping site.