Petrified Forest National Park

Shortly after our visit to the Grand Canyon, we hit our third National Park of the trip, Petrified Forest National Park!

It was set up completely differently. There is no campground available inside the park, as it closes to visitors at 5pm. (Apparently you can get an overnight pass to backpack/camp… but that’s not for us) Most people apparently just drive through the park, stopping at various informational/scenic spots, and hit one of the visitors centers (or both of them) Pro Tip: both visitor centers show the same excellent orientation film, but the southern one has a great fossil/dino exhibit that the other does not).

Photo Story: I turned the corner and saw the sky was on fire! And right in front of me was Route 66’s famous Wigwam Motel! Right place/right time.

We parked our rig in a KOA campground in Holbrook, AZ, just outside the park. Holbrook seems to exist solely as a gateway to Petrified Forest and Rt 66 (There isn’t much else going on in northeastern Arizona). In fact, while going out for groceries one evening I stumbled up on a RT 66 classic – The Wigwam Motel!

One family in the RV beside us were only spending the one night. They’d “seen” all of Petrified Forest NP in an afternoon and were moving on in the morning. I understand your travel time may be limited, but if you can – I recommend taking a little extra time to explore. We split our visit into two full days and got a full helping of scenery, experiences, and information. I’m glad we did… spending some extra time on foot and straying off the beaten path made for a much richer experience!

About 225 million years ago, when the continents were all together as Pangea, this stretch of land was a lush forest located close to where Costa Rica is now… Over the following millenia minerals seeped into the felled trees and turned them to stone, which is what we came to see. The park was created to protect this unique space… and it has been expanded over the years (causing Historic Route 66 to be slightly relocated) and now covers approximately 230 square miles – only a small portion of which we were able to see.

The park rangers and volunteers were eager to help tell us about the park and how to get the most out of it, starting with a great orientation film before we headed out to see it all. When we mentioned to one volunteer how disappointing it was that we can’t take our dog on trails within the National Parks he quickly said “Now wait one dog-gonned minute!”

He reached behind the desk to get a certificate and a package of milk bones. In minutes our pup, Peaches, was deputized as a BARK RANGER! He explained it’s a new program that the park, and some other National Parks, are trying out… if your dog (and you) are well behaved, and on a leash (the dog, not you) then they CAN be on the trails! I can assure you that Peaches takes her new job seriously!

We did the drive through the park (both directions) and took in all the scenic information points. Some were more interesting than others, but overall it was amazing scenery with lots to take in.

In a driving park like this you have to decide which stops are of most interest to you and your family and how much time you’ll give each. I would divide these “information points” into three types:

Type 1 – The Lookout

“Look out there and we’ll explain what you are seeing…”

Newspaper Rock – to preserve the petroglyphs left by ancestral Puebloan people, we modern people are not allowed down close… so Alex thought we should hold up my phone’s camera to the viewer and see if we could get some pictures… it worked! (sort of)

Symbols about food, hunting, spirituality… it’s a hodgepodge of the “news” the native people left for each other. Thousands of years of human history are captured in rock art throughout the park… this was just a small sample.

Type 2 – Trail Head

A trail heads leading off to the desert…

We chose to investigate Blue Mesa Loop. This is a side drive off the main road through the park that some explorers pass, and some take… Alex chose this drive because there was a trail posted – a hike down into the Badlands! If we were going to see the good stuff up close we had to get out of the car! On the hike down into the badlands we only saw a dozen or so brave souls – We dove in with our Bark Ranger in the lead! It was a unique experience – this softer land is changed with every storm (it had snowed and rained recently) – a great display of the change that is constantly happening on the earth!

A hike down Blue Mesa trail took us into the striped, ever-changing badlands – constantly changing with annual storms and water flow. That petrified log pictured has held on where others have fallen – but change is coming and it will eventually topple when the earth below it erodes.

Type 3 – Open Area

“Go ahead, wander around in the open and experience all this amazing stuff!”

No specific trail, lots of sand and interesting terrain… Pick up a rock and look at it! When you see a hill you must climb it!

Painted Desert at Tiponi Point. Mom stays back as designated photographer as Alex and Dad go climbing & wandering.

“Take only pictures, leave only footprints”

You can look, you can touch, but don’t take… we saw some amazing rocks, minerals, crystal formation, and of course, petrified wood. But the park is here to protect and preserve this unique place, so no taking any rocks with you. But there are rocks-a-plenty outside the park – and vendors outside the park (Trading Posts near the south entrance and all throughout Holbrook) that have plenty of rocks, gems, geodes and petrified wood samples to purchase.

I have to say, these kind of visits are great for school age kids. Alex got loaded up with information on geology, palentology, and the history of the park – including native Puebloan people, tourism, and efforts to protect this special place. Who knew you could learn while climbing on rocks!

Here are some more pics for you to soak up our experience…