Glacial erratic boulders of Snohomish County, Washington facts for kids
Glacial erratic boulders of Snohomish County are giant rocks that were carried to Snohomish County, Washington by huge glaciers during past ice ages. Imagine a massive ice sheet slowly moving across the land, picking up rocks and carrying them along, sometimes for hundreds of miles! When the ice melted, these rocks were left behind, often in places that look very different from where they originally came from. That's what a glacial erratic is – a rock that doesn't match the local geology because it was moved by a glacier. Snohomish County has some amazing examples of these ancient travelers.
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Cool Boulders of Snohomish County
Airport Boulder
The Airport Boulder is located at Martha Lake Airport Park in Martha Lake. It's known as one of the biggest glacial erratic boulders in the urban areas of King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. This huge rock is about 20 feet (6.1 m) long, which is like two cars parked end-to-end! It's also about twice the height of a grown man. The boulder is made of a type of rock called greenstone. For a long time, people have used it for bouldering, which is a type of rock climbing. There are at least four different climbing paths on it.
47°51′53.7″N 122°14′10.7″W / 47.864917°N 122.236306°W
Edmonds Way Erratic
You can find the Edmonds Way erratic near Edmonds Way. This boulder is made of a type of rock called Fraser Valley breccia. It measures about 10 by 15 feet (3.0 m × 4.6 m) and stands 12 feet (3.7 m) tall. That's like a small house made of rock!
47°47′21″N 122°21′17″W / 47.7892°N 122.3548°W
Everett Boulder
The Everett Boulder was found about 30 feet (9.1 m) underground during a construction project in downtown Everett, at Colby Avenue and Wall Street. This massive rock is 18 feet (5.5 m) long and 10 feet (3.0 m) high, weighing around 300,000 pounds (140,000 kg) – that's as heavy as 100 cars! When it was discovered, it became quite famous, even gaining over a hundred followers on Twitter for a short time. Eventually, the boulder was reburied.
47°58′40″N 122°12′31″W / 47.9779°N 122.2086°W
The "Granite" Boulder
This boulder, simply called "Granite," is a 6-by-7-by-4.5-foot (1.8 m × 2.1 m × 1.4 m) rock that weighs about 30,000-pound (14,000 kg). It was found in October 2015 during a construction project in Edmonds, hidden "under a bunch of sticker bushes." Workers tried to break it up, but their powerful equipment was destroyed instead! After that, the city decided to offer the boulder for free to any local resident who would take it and place it on their property.
47°47′58″N 122°20′28″W / 47.7995°N 122.3412°W
Lake Stevens Monster
Near Lake Stevens, you'll find a truly enormous boulder known as the Lake Stevens Monster. This giant rock is 34 by 78 feet (10 m × 24 m) in size and has a circumference of 210 feet (64 m). As of 2011, it was the largest known glacial erratic in Washington State. Some people even think it might be the biggest in the entire United States, though it's not as big as the Big Rock in Alberta, Canada.
47°59.816′N 122°6.954′W / 47.996933°N 122.115900°W
Longview Boulder
The Longview Boulder was discovered in a gravel mine near Gold Bar. This erratic was incredibly tall, about five times the height of a man! Because of its size and location in the mine, it had to be blasted into smaller pieces and removed.
47°50′N 121°38′W / 47.833°N 121.633°W
Unnamed Erratics near Market Place Road
Near Market Place road in Lake Stevens, there are several unnamed glacial erratics. The largest of these is quite special because it's made of unusual pink granite. This particular boulder is about 12 by 20 feet (3.7 m × 6.1 m) in size and stands 10 feet (3.0 m) tall.
47°59′50.5″N 122°05′55.52″W / 47.997361°N 122.0987556°W
