Guide to Petrified Forest National Park

In Spring 2019 we took a week long trip to Arizona. We explored the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and Phoenix area. I had never heard of Petrified Forest National Park prior to this and it is clear that it is one of the lesser known parks. It was rather out of the way from where we were staying but I thought it looked cool enough to visit. I was so glad that we went! My husband is a big geology nerd and he absolutely loved it. It is easily one of his top 5 favorite national parks so far. I enjoyed it though not as much as him- it is quite unique to any other park we have visited so far. 

Basic Information about the Park 

1. It is $25 to enter the park in a car and this is valid for 7 consecutive days 

2. There are two entrances to the park- near the Painted Desert Visitor Center and near the Rainbow Forest Museum 

3. You cannot collect any petrified wood from the park- its a federal park. Once you exit the park there is an abundance of people selling petrified wood in the size of your choice. I would just proceed with caution. Be aware! The park rangers check your car for petrified wood when you exit the park. 

4. There are no places to camp and no overnight parking allowed inside the park. 

5. Albert Einstein visited the park in March 1931. It is neat to pictures of him in the park marveling at the same sections of petrified wood that you have just seen. 

6. Why is it called the petrified forest when it is in the middle of the desert? Millions of years ago this area was a lush forest. With change in the climate overtime the forest died and the trees fell and fossilized into stone over time. It is weird to thing that this dry desert was once a lush forest. 

Tips for Trip planning 

- As much as this pains me to say- you can easily do this park in day- especially if you are not a geology nerd. If you just happen to be passing through this park is easily accessible from the interstate and you can easily explore it and get a full experience out of a day here. 

- Remember that you are in the desert. Be sure to pack plenty of water and protect yourself from the sun. You can see I'm wearing long sleeves to protect myself in the pictures but I still got sunburned just because you are so exposed. I found with this park though we didn't really need our true hiking shoes

- If you are looking for an ultimate hike this park is not for you- there are a few small hikes but otherwise not to much. It's more of a drive through and look at things kind of park.  

- You can enter the park from either side but we found it easiest to enter near the Painted Desert Visitor center right off interstate 40 (exit 311). if you look at a map of the park the main road runs mostly vertical so we just entered the park and drove south to the other entrance. From there we had to drive on state highway 180 which took us back to I-40.

Painted Desert Visitor Center  

This is located right as you enter the park from I-40. It has everything you would expect from a national park visitor center including a small restaurant which I was shocked to find. They do sell petrified wood here but it was collected from outside the park. 

Tawa Point 

Tawa point is one of the first scenic views once you pass the visitor center. It gives spectacular views of the painted desert. There is a small  1 mile trail that leads from this point to the Painted Desert Inn. There is not a lot of petrified wood specifically in this section but the view is very unique and quite spectacular. 

Painted Desert Inn

The Painted Desert Inn is a National Historic Landmark. It was originally built in the 1920s and made from natural stone and petrified wood from the area. Today it now functions as bathrooms and a museum for the park. 

Puerco Pueblo 

From the inn you can continue to drive on the main road and pass multiple viewing points. One of the stopping points that I would recommend is Puerco Pueblo. This is an ancient pueblo village from the 1200s you can see the remains of the buildings in their village. You can explore the village on a mostly paved 0.3 mile trail. 

Newspaper Rock 

Ok so I only brought a regular and a wide angle lens to the park so I don't have a good picture of this rock. This is a rock with over 650 petroglyphs written into it. They have a viewing area where you can look down onto the rock but you can't get close to it. I would recommend bringing binoculars or telephoto lens to see it. 

Blue Mesa- my favorite part!!!

Ok if you do nothing else in this park I HIGHLY recommend checking out the Blue Mesa. This was easily my favorite part and it is the most amount of hiking that you will be able to do within the park. You can see the striations in the rock from extensive erosion over many years. The striations range in colors from gray-blue. It was so cool and I felt like I was on a completely different plant. The trail itself is quite easy and only about a mile round trip mostly paved. There is scattered petrified wood in this area. 

Agate Bridge 

This is a bridge made out of exposed petrified wood. In 1903 they added concrete underneath to support it and preserve the bridge for years to come. It is roughly 100' long and believed to be the single longest section of petrified wood in existence. 

Jasper Forest

If you came mostly to see petrified wood and lots of it this is where this park starts to pay off for you. This is a large section of petrified wood just scattered all over the place. There is a small walk from the parking lot to the overview. 

Crystal Forest 

0.9 mile loop paved trail that is completely littered with different sized sections of petrified wood. It is neat to explore the area at a leisurely pace and marvel at all of the different pieces of petrified wood that surrounds you. 

Rainbow Forest Museum 

This was the original building for the Petrified Forest National Park built in the 1930s. Now it is a great museum that has much more information about the park. They also have some really nice pieces of polished petrified wood from the park. 

Overall

Overall I would highly recommend visiting this park. I found it to be a really cool experience even if I didn't feel the need to spend multiple days in this park. This would be a great park to add into a long road trip.