Atlas Obscura
The Lost Forest in Christmas Valley, Oregon
In the Pleistocene, ponderosa pine forests extended much farther east into central Oregon than they do at present, reflecting the cooler, wetter climate then prevailing. As the climate warmed and dried, these forests were largely replaced by the current scrub vegetation, including sagebrush, juniper, pinyon pine, and similar arid-adapted species. The exception is here, where a sparse stand of p…