Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park offers desert recreation rich in scenery and history — driving the scenic park road between the Painted Desert in the north and the petrified-wood areas in the south, stopping at overlooks and trailheads, hiking among the colorful petrified logs (the Giant Logs, Crystal Forest and Long Logs trails) and the painted badlands (the Blue Mesa and Painted Desert), viewing ancient petroglyphs and Puebloan ruins (Puerco Pueblo, Newspaper Rock), seeing a preserved stretch of historic Route 66, backpacking the wilderness, and stargazing. Exploring the petrified wood and the Painted Desert is the signature draw, making the park a colorful and fascinating destination.

Spring and fall offer the most comfortable weather for exploring the exposed high desert, while summer is hot (though the high elevation moderates it somewhat) and winter cool, with the colorful badlands striking year-round. The petrified wood and the Painted Desert glow most vividly in the low, warm light of early morning and late afternoon, the best times for photography. The park is open for day use (with set hours; no overnight car camping). Spring and fall offer the best weather; come early or late for the best color and light on the petrified wood and the badlands, and carry water for the desert.

The Petrified Forest region holds a deep human history — ancestral Puebloan peoples lived here for centuries, leaving petroglyphs and villages like Puerco Pueblo, and Route 66 later crossed the painted land. The colorful petrified wood drew collectors and souvenir-hunters whose plunder threatened the deposits, prompting protection as a national monument in 1906 and a national park in 1962 (later expanded). The park preserves the petrified wood, the Painted Desert, the rich Triassic fossil record and the ancient cultural sites, a treasured landscape of deep time and human heritage in northeastern Arizona.

Petrified Forest’s wood was created over 200 million years ago, in the Triassic Period, when fallen trees were buried in sediment and volcanic ash; groundwater rich in silica seeped through the wood and, over time, replaced the organic material with quartz, preserving the wood’s structure in stone, while traces of iron, manganese and other minerals colored it in brilliant rainbow hues. Later uplift and erosion exposed the petrified logs and carved the colorful, banded badlands of the Painted Desert from the soft Chinle Formation. The silica-replaced wood and the eroded, mineral-stained badlands make the park a vivid showcase of geology and deep time.

The high desert and badlands of Petrified Forest host pronghorn, coyotes, bobcats, jackrabbits, prairie dogs, and a community of birds, including ravens, raptors and desert species, along with lizards, snakes and the creatures of the grassland and badlands, many active in the cooler hours. The short-grass prairie and desert support wildlife adapted to the open, arid land. While the park is visited above all for its petrified wood and colorful scenery, the surrounding high-desert grassland and badlands support the wildlife of the Colorado Plateau, glimpsed across the open country of the painted land.

Petrified Forest National Park protects a high-desert grassland and badlands ecosystem on the Colorado Plateau, where short-grass prairie, sparse desert vegetation, and the colorful, eroding badlands of the Painted Desert support life adapted to the open, arid, windswept land. The park is also significant for its protected wilderness and its dark skies. Though the petrified wood and fossils are the park’s fame, the living grassland and desert ecosystem, with its pronghorn, prairie dogs and birds, adds ecological value. Protecting the grassland, the badlands, the wildlife and the fossil and cultural record sustains both the ecology and the deep heritage of this colorful park.

Petrified Forest National Park, with its rainbow-hued petrified wood, its breathtaking Painted Desert, its ancient petroglyphs and ruins, and its stretch of historic Route 66, holds a treasured place among America’s natural and cultural landscapes, beloved for its surreal beauty and its vivid window into deep time. From the ancestral Puebloans who lived among the painted badlands to the travelers of Route 66 and the visitors drawn to the stone forest, the park embodies the colorful grandeur and the layered history of the Arizona desert. Petrified Forest is a cherished landscape where the deep past is written in stone and color.

Petrified Forest National Park is in northeastern Arizona, straddling Interstate 40 (and historic Route 66) between the towns of Holbrook and the New Mexico border, about an hour east of the Holbrook area and 2.5 hours from Flagstaff. An entrance fee applies. The park is open for day use only (with set hours; no developed overnight car camping), offering a scenic park road between the Painted Desert (north) and the petrified-wood areas (south), visitor centers, overlooks, trails, and the Painted Desert Inn. Backpacking the wilderness is permitted. Check the National Park Service for hours and conditions before visiting.

The National Park Service protects the petrified wood, the Painted Desert badlands, the fossil and cultural record, and the high-desert ecosystem of Petrified Forest National Park. Visitors help by never taking petrified wood or anything else (it is strictly illegal, and the theft of even small pieces adds up to great loss), staying on trails to protect the fragile badlands and soil, respecting and never touching the petroglyphs and ruins, packing out everything, protecting wildlife, and following the rules. Protecting the petrified wood, the badlands, the fossils and the cultural sites sustains both the deep heritage and the colorful scenery of this treasured park.

Petrified Forest’s high desert is exposed and can be hot and dry — carry plenty of water (there is little shade), wear sun protection, and be mindful of heat in summer. Watch footing on the uneven badlands and trails, and keep back from any edges. Afternoon thunderstorms can bring lightning to the open country and flash floods to washes; seek shelter and avoid low areas in storms. Watch for snakes and other desert wildlife, give them space, and be aware the park is day-use with set hours (don’t get caught out after closing). Carry water and sun protection, and respect the open desert.

An entrance fee applies; the park is day-use only with set hours (no developed overnight car camping; wilderness backpacking by permit). Never take petrified wood, fossils, rocks or artifacts — it is strictly illegal. Stay on trails to protect the fragile badlands. Do not touch or deface the petroglyphs or ruins. Pets must be leashed (allowed on most trails). Drones are prohibited. Pack out all trash. Heed park hours and storm warnings. Check the National Park Service for hours and current rules before visiting; buy petrified wood only from authorized sources outside the park.

The town of Holbrook (with its Route 66 heritage and famous Wigwam Motel), the Navajo and Hopi lands, the Painted Desert extending across the region, Meteor Crater, and the broader high desert of northeastern Arizona lie near the park, with Flagstaff about 2.5 hours west and the Petrified Forest’s own stretch of Route 66 crossing it. The Colorado Plateau and the Painted Desert define the region. Petrified Forest National Park anchors a colorful and historic region of northeastern Arizona, a centerpiece of a Route 66 and Painted Desert journey through the deep-time landscape of the high desert.

Drive the scenic park road between the Painted Desert overlooks in the north and the petrified-wood areas in the south, hiking among the rainbow-hued logs (the Giant Logs and Crystal Forest trails) and the painted Blue Mesa badlands, and don’t miss the ancient petroglyphs (Newspaper Rock, Puerco Pueblo) and the historic Route 66 marker. Come in early morning or late afternoon for the most vivid color and light, carry plenty of water for the exposed desert, never take any petrified wood (it’s illegal), mind the day-use hours, and buy souvenirs only from authorized sources outside the park.