The park’s unique geology dates back millions of years and offers a window into the ancient history of the earth. The colorful formations of the Painted Desert, created by millions of years of erosion, showcase the unique and diverse beauty of the area. The petrified wood, formed over 200 million years ago from fallen trees, is now an incredible sight to behold. With its once-living cells replaced by minerals, creating a brilliant rainbow of colors. Even with millions of years of history, you really only need one day in Petrified Forest National Park.
Before visiting Petrified Forest National Park, we did not know what to expect. When you hear the word ‘forest’, your mind immediately envisions trees that are still standing. Perhaps a better name for this park would be ‘Petrified Wood’. The forest that you’ll find here is all lying on the earth – where it’s been for millions of years. Once you see it, you actually start to wonder where exactly these logs and trees came from. Certainly not this landscape. But that is what makes Petrified Forest National Park an amazing place!
If you need all of the details, check out our ULTIMATE GUIDE TO PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK. You’ll find places to stay, seasonal temperatures, and everything you could possibly need to know to plan the trip your way!
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED IN PETRIFIED FOREST?
As the article title implies, you can experience so much of this unique national park in just one day! Petrified Forest is one of the few national parks that has a closing time and is not open 24-hours. This makes it perfect for a day trip! Unless you’re backcountry camping, there are not options for staying, stargazing, or even sunset.
THINGS TO DO IN PETRIFIED FOREST
Although this is not one of the largest national parks, coming in at 220 square miles. Petrified Forest National Park is still home to an incredible landscape of multicolored badlands, ancient fossils, and one of the world’s largest concentrations of petrified wood.
Hiking trails – Petrified Forest National Park has many hiking trails for all skill levels. And the best part? They’re all soft adventures and dog-friendly!
Visit the museums and visitor centers – The park has two visitor centers and a museum, where you can learn about the park’s geology, paleontology, and cultural history. The Painted Desert Visitor Center and Rainbow Forest Museum are both excellent places to start your visit.
Scenic drives – The park has several scenic drives, including the Painted Desert Drive, which offers stunning views of the multicolored badlands and the Petrified Forest Loop, which takes you through some of the most beautiful areas of the park.
View the petrified wood – The park is home to one of the largest concentrations of petrified wood in the world. Take a walk along the Crystal Forest Trail or Blue Mesa Trail to see the colorful petrified logs up close.
Wildlife viewing – The park is home to a variety of wildlife, including pronghorns, coyotes, and several species of birds. Keep your eyes peeled as you explore the park’s trails and drives.
Backcountry camping – If you’re looking for a more immersive experience, the park offers backcountry camping permits. You’ll need to bring your own supplies as there are no facilities or established campgrounds.
ONE DAY IN PETRIFIED FOREST
If you only have one day, here’s what we recommend to make the most of it! You can accomplish various activities in just a few hours in the park! The park hours are 8am-5pm MST, and you will likely have a bit of a drive in and out since it is a bit remote. **NOTE: If you are arriving from New Mexico or Utah, don’t forget that Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings. There may be a time difference depending on what time of year you visit.
VISITOR CENTER | 30 MINUTES-1 HOUR
The visitor center is always the best way to orient yourself with a national park. Pick up a map, watch the informational video, and of course – stamp your passport book. You will also want to visit the restroom and fill up your water bottle. There are not many facilities throughout the rest of this park.
DRIVE THE PARK | 1 HOUR
The main park road is 28 miles long and takes about 1 hour to drive. This allows for pull-off vistas and views from the car of badlands, prairies, and more! The main road will also take you to popular trailheads for additional exploring. But, you will need to allow extra time for that!
HIKE BLUE MESA TRAIL | 30 MINUTES-1 HOUR
Blue Mesa is the most popular hike in Petrified Forest, and for obvious reasons! This soft adventure 1-mile path loops through badlands scenery and past ancient logs of petrified wood. It is mostly paved and if you’re in a hurry you can finish in 30 minutes. We recommend going a little slower to take it all in.
HIKE LONG LOGS TRAIL | 1 HOUR-1.5 HOURS
Throughout the national park, you will see scattered pieces of petrified wood. What we like about the Long Log trail is that there are seemingly complete tree trunks lining the trails. The logs look as though they have been sawed apart with a chainsaw. These breaks are actually caused because the logs crack under stress. Long Logs trail is a 1.6 miles long loop.
On our one day visit, we also included the Crystal Forest, the Agate Bridge, Tawa Point, and added the Agate House onto the Long Logs trail. These are all easy to tackle in one day, but the itinerary above are our favorites, and what we recommend most. For more information on all the activities, be sure to see our complete guide.
Obviously, you can spread these out and spend more than one day in Petrified Forest. Or you can visit again and again. Maybe it is your favorite national park! We loved learning about petrified wood and now point it out whenever we see it. After all, that’s one of the reasons we love visiting all of the national parks! We always learn something new to carry with us.
WHERE IS PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK LOCATED?
Petrified Forest is one of Arizona’s three national parks, not far from the New Mexico border. Petrified Forest National Park is located in the high desert of eastern Arizona, near the small town of Holbrook. It’s easily accessible by car, and one of the few National Parks where you can experience most of the park simply by driving through it.
DRIVE TIME FROM:
- Grand Canyon – 3 hours
- Phoenix- 3.5 hours
- Las Vegas – 5.5 hours
- Salt Lake City – 8 hours
- Albuquerque – 3 hours
- Los Angeles – 8 hours
HOW WAS THE PETRIFIED FOREST MADE?
Is it rock? Is it wood? Spoiler alert: it’s neither! Petrified wood in Petrified Forest National Park is formed through a process called permineralization. This occurs when organic materials, such as wood, are buried by sediment and become fossilized over millions of years.
The process of permineralization begins when dead trees are buried by sediment, such as volcanic ash or mud, which cuts off the supply of oxygen and prevents the wood from decaying. Over time, groundwater rich in minerals, such as silica, iron, and manganese, seeps into the buried wood and begins to replace the organic material with these minerals. The minerals fill in the spaces within the wood, replacing the cells and creating a detailed mineral replica of the original wood, and forming quartz. This process can take millions of years, resulting in petrified wood that is extremely hard, durable, and colorful.
In Petrified Forest National Park, the trees that once grew in the area were likely knocked down by flooding rivers and buried by sediment, which eventually led to the formation of the park’s stunning petrified wood.
IS PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK WORTH VISITING?
In our honest opinion, Petrified Forest National Park is never going to make it in the top 10 for us. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth visiting! We would recommend scheduling your trip to Petrified Forest in conjunction with another Arizona attraction. Or, include it if you are driving through the state on a road trip. Seeing that you can essentially conquer the whole park in just one day, we do not advise making a special trip out for it. A great way to visit would be to plan a road-trip to all three national parks in the state!
We love that Petrified Forest National Park is dog-friendly and completely soft-adventure! However, once you hike a couple of trails and see petrified wood, there’s not much new left to explore. But as a road-trip stop to get outside, stretch your legs, and see beautiful scenery – we’d definitely say it’s worth visiting!
If you are someone like us who is either on a mission to visit every single National Park in the U.S., or plans to visit moe than 2 or 3 U.S. national parks per year, then we’d highly recommend getting the America The Beautiful Pass. For $80, this annual pass gives you full access to all 63 National Parks in the U.S., as well as any federal recreational sites that charge a fee for entry. Visit 3 National Parks and this easily pays for itself.
ONE DAY IN PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK
No matter how much time you spend in Petrified Forest, it’s a great place to visit! Even if it doesn’t make the tops of your list either, there is still much to see and learn from the history here.
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