The northern end of the range is near Livingston, Montana and Bozeman Pass separates the Gallatins from the Bridger Mountains to the north.

The petrified wood that comprise it consist of the mineralized fossils of a mixture of transported logs and in place (in situ) wooden tree trunks rooted.

The in place tree trunks are rooted in moderately developed fossil soils, (paleosols).

The petrified logs, stumps, and trunks found in the Gallatin Range were buried by volcanic lahars.

[3] The U.S. Forest Service has a 2-mile (3.2 km) long interpretive trail which details the petrified trees.