Located about 25 miles east of Holbrook in northern Arizona, Petrified Forest National Park is one of the most fascinating landscapes on the Colorado Plateau. Instead of living forests, visitors discover colorful badlands, ancient fossils, Native American ruins, petroglyphs, and one of the world's largest concentrations of petrified wood.
The park lies entirely within the Painted Desert, a 7,500-square-mile region of brilliantly colored hills formed from the Chinle Formation. These colorful layers of mudstone and sandstone were deposited during the Triassic Period more than 200 million years ago and later uplifted and eroded into today's striking landscape.
Long before European settlement, ancestral Puebloan people thrived here. Between A.D. 900 and 1200 they built pueblos, harvested rainwater, farmed the desert, and even used petrified wood as a building material. The best example is Agate House, a reconstructed pueblo built almost entirely from petrified logs.
Another historic landmark is the Painted Desert Inn, a beautifully restored adobe-style building overlooking the Painted Desert. Originally built in the 1920s, it was later redesigned by famed architect Mary Colter and now serves as a museum highlighting the area's cultural history.
The park's greatest attraction is its remarkable petrified wood. During the Triassic Period, towering conifer trees were buried by sediment and volcanic ash. Over millions of years, silica-rich groundwater gradually replaced the wood with colorful quartz crystals. Minerals such as iron and manganese created the vivid reds, oranges, yellows, and purples seen in many of the logs today.
The best places to see petrified wood include Blue Mesa, Jasper Forest, Crystal Forest, and Rainbow Forest. Each area offers a different perspective, from colorful badlands and crystal-filled logs to giant fossil trees scattered across the desert floor.
Petrified Forest National Park also preserves an important piece of American history. It is the only U.S. national park that contains a section of historic Route 66. Near Tiponi Point, visitors can walk beside the original roadbed and view a restored 1932 Studebaker, a reminder of the millions of travelers who once crossed Arizona on the legendary "Mother Road."
Whether you're interested in geology, archaeology, photography, or the history of the American Southwest, Petrified Forest National Park offers one of Arizona's most unique and colorful landscapes.
The park lies entirely within the Painted Desert, a 7,500-square-mile region of brilliantly colored hills formed from the Chinle Formation. These colorful layers of mudstone and sandstone were deposited during the Triassic Period more than 200 million years ago and later uplifted and eroded into today's striking landscape.
Long before European settlement, ancestral Puebloan people thrived here. Between A.D. 900 and 1200 they built pueblos, harvested rainwater, farmed the desert, and even used petrified wood as a building material. The best example is Agate House, a reconstructed pueblo built almost entirely from petrified logs.
Another historic landmark is the Painted Desert Inn, a beautifully restored adobe-style building overlooking the Painted Desert. Originally built in the 1920s, it was later redesigned by famed architect Mary Colter and now serves as a museum highlighting the area's cultural history.
The park's greatest attraction is its remarkable petrified wood. During the Triassic Period, towering conifer trees were buried by sediment and volcanic ash. Over millions of years, silica-rich groundwater gradually replaced the wood with colorful quartz crystals. Minerals such as iron and manganese created the vivid reds, oranges, yellows, and purples seen in many of the logs today.
The best places to see petrified wood include Blue Mesa, Jasper Forest, Crystal Forest, and Rainbow Forest. Each area offers a different perspective, from colorful badlands and crystal-filled logs to giant fossil trees scattered across the desert floor.
Petrified Forest National Park also preserves an important piece of American history. It is the only U.S. national park that contains a section of historic Route 66. Near Tiponi Point, visitors can walk beside the original roadbed and view a restored 1932 Studebaker, a reminder of the millions of travelers who once crossed Arizona on the legendary "Mother Road."
Whether you're interested in geology, archaeology, photography, or the history of the American Southwest, Petrified Forest National Park offers one of Arizona's most unique and colorful landscapes.
This gallery contains some of my favorite Petrified Forest National Park images that are available as downloads and fine art prints. To view the gallery, click here or on the photo collage above. When you are in the gallery, click on a thumbnail to enlarge an image. To navigate the images click on the arrows. To see the captions click on the (i) symbol.
