After El Malpais National Monument, we continued our loop back into Arizona. Our goal for the day was Petrified Forest National Park. Like El Malpais, this site is all about the landscape and how it evolved over time. In the park, you get picturesque views of the surrounding Painted Desert and history about how living trees turned into a petrified forest.
The park stretches between I-40 and Highway 180, both with an entrance, the north and south entrances respectively. Its main road is 28 miles with viewpoints along the way. We started at the north entrance off I-40.
Petrified Forest National Park
2023 Price: Free due to my Annual Pass (Fee would have been $25 for a 7-day pass)
Painted Desert
From the entrance, we turned right on the main park road for a loop road with eight overlooks of the Painted Desert.
The Painted Desert extends over 7,500 square miles across Arizona. Sandstone and mudstone layers make up the park’s Chinle Formation geologic layer. Geologists group the formation layers into members like the Petrified Forest Member and Blue Mesa Member. Iron minerals in the sediment produce colors. Drier climates exposed minerals to oxygen creating red, brown, and orange. Wetter climates barred oxygen, causing blue, gray, and purple layers.
We started at Tiponi Point. As we visited in January, just after a snowstorm, we had the benefit of bright whites contrasting the deep colors.
The second major stop is Tawa Point. From here, there is a 1-mile Painted Desert Rim Trail which connects to Kachina Point.
Hózhó Point, Navajo for “beauty all around,” is down a spur road. Previously known as Chinde Point, the feature was renamed in August 2023.
The rim here is made of hard, black basalt deposited by local volcanoes. This forms a protective cap over the soft, red rocks of the older Chinle Formation. A picnic area is available here for those wishing to stop, rest, and eat in the beautiful landscape.
Nizhoni Point shows the unconformity between the Chinle Formation and the basalt layer mentioned above (Bidahochi Formation).
The last stop on the loop is Lacey Point. It looks toward Pintado Point and Pilot Rock.
Iowa Congressman John Lacey advocated to protect public lands. He was an active supporter of the Antiquities Act of 1906, which led to the creation of national monuments. The Petrified Forest was one of the first national monuments due to the abundance of archeological and fossil resources.
Petrified Forest
After the Painted Desert loop, we crossed I-40 into the main section of the park. Our first stop here was Newspaper Rock. It has over 650 petroglyphs covering a group of rocks. Due to the number of carvings over generations of Ancestral Puebloans, it is impossible to “read” the rockface. There are figures, spirals, animals, moons, hands, and so much more!
Then, we kept our eyes peeled for a pull-off along the park road for The Tepees. These are small, cone-shaped mountains named for their resemblance to tepees/tipis. They are striped with reds, pinks, blues, grays, and purples.
Blue Mesa
After The Tepees, we took the Blue Mesa Scenic Road for views of the colorful badlands. In arid badlands, water carries sediment away as it runs down rills, gullies, and washes. Bentonite clay in the formation swells, shrinks, and cracks, creating an “elephant-skin” surface.
Keystone Bridge overlook shows where a large, petrified log once sat on a pedestal of rock. The pedestal log fell in 2005. Logs here are still eroding, breaking, and tumbling to the ground.
Blue Mesa Trail starts at the Blue Mesa Sun Shelter. This 1-mile loop allows visitors to hike among the blue badlands. It is a relatively easy paved path; however, there is a steep, winding grade down into the badlands at the beginning. I think it could be universally accessible if you have help on the initial decline.
This was my favorite area of the park! The layers of blue, pink, and purple are stunning.
Small segments of petrified wood are all around, especially in channels and low-lying areas.
As we returned to the trailhead, we spotted a rainstorm in the distance. It was striking to see the shape of the clouds and water falling to the ground.
Just after the trailhead, there is one last overlook for Blue Mesa that gives a bird’s-eye-view of the trail.
Agate Bridge
Agate Bridge is a 100-foot petrified log spanning a gully. Water is slowly carving out the gully below it which will eventually cause it to collapse. In 1917, a supportive concrete block was added to help preserve it.
There is a universally accessible, paved path to the bridge.
Crystal Forest
Next, we visited the Crystal Forest, named for the quartz crystals in the petrified logs. During the Triassic Period, this area was a lush forest.
Two main groups of trees have been identified in the petrified forest: conifers (pines, cypress, and cedars) and ginkgos. These trees died, fell into a stream, snagged on the bank, and were buried under sand and mud. Being buried so deeply, the trees were sealed from bacteria and oxygen decay. Silica in the ground water replaced organic material with quartz crystals, petrifying the logs.
The Colorado Plateau lifted slowly over millions of years, bringing the land about a mile above sea level.
A 0.8-mile universally accessible, paved loop runs through tons of petrified wood pieces.
This trail brought us closer to the logs, so we were able to clearly see the colorful quartz sections. White is pure quartz. Red, yellow, orange, and purple are iron oxides like the surrounding sediment.
Some sections of the trail have massive fallen logs right along the pavement.
Several logs look like they have been sawed into rounds like any other tree. Heavy quartz causes the log to crack and break. Because it is the shortest distance for cracks to grow, they break up and down rather than along their length.
Giant Logs
Finally, behind the Rainbow Forest Museum at the southern end of the park is the Giant Logs Trail.
It is a short, easy 0.5-mile loop trail. It is not ideal for strollers or mobility devices because of its mixed terrain and multiple sets of stairs (over 200 stairs).
This trail features some of the largest and most colorful logs in the park.
“Old Faithful” is almost 10-feet wide at the base!
The clouds continued to build, and with the storm inching closer, we decided to call it a day and head to Holbrook for the night.
I really loved this national park! It is all about exploring the landscape and understanding how its features formed over the years. When we were in Arizona in 2018, we didn’t have time to tour the park. I made sure to include it on this 2023 road trip and was not disappointed!
This was an amazing place as Steph mentioned. The time of year (January) gave us great contrast of color with crisp blue skies and saturated colors in different shades of earth tones. LOVED IT!
Steph’s pictures are true to life and couldn’t have depicted the place any better. Wonderful photography Steph! So many places to pull off and just enjoy the scene in front of you. A MUST SEE
Steph mentions how an Annual Pass for National Parks is great to have and this is one place that proves just that.