The Petrified Forest Is So Much More Than Old, Cool, And Colorful Wood

The Petrified Forest National Park📍Navajo & Apache counties 

I was stunned when I arrived to the Petrified Forest National Park. I want to start of by saying that the national park was nothing like what I expected and the rich and ancient history blew me away.

When you think of the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, you imagine a bunch of old, cool, and colorful trees, right? You may imagine some forest of standing trees too, despite the harsh climate, implied by the name. Alas, that is not what the Petrified Forest is all about.

So What Is The Petrified Forest, Exactly?

Nps.gov says, “Petrified Forest National Park is located in the greater Painted Desert—they are not two separate parks. While the Painted Desert encompasses about 1500 square miles, the park is over 200,000 acres—and not desert! Actually the main environment is short-grass prairie or intermountain-basin, semi-arid grassland. It is dry here, but there is snow in the winter and rain during the monsoon.” The park contains the Painted Desert badlands, Mesas and buttes (created by erosion), and petrified wood.

A Brown And Purple Wonderland

See that colorful explosion of purples and browns? Walking through the usual formations with the deep, earthy colored walls was my favorite thing about the park. I know that you’re supposed to save the best for last, but these formations are hard not rave about!

Let’s let the experts explain what the seemingly magical setting pictured above is made of: “The colorful Painted Desert badlands are composed of bentonite, a product of altered volcanic ash. The clay minerals in the bentonite can absorb water and swell much as eight times their dry volume. The expansion and contraction properties of the bentonite cause rapid erosion including by preventing much vegetation from growing on—and thus fixing—the slopes of the hills.”

The Blue Mesa Trail

The Blue Mesa trail was my favorite one in the park. (Although I would say that “Purple Mesa” trail would be more fitting!) It is a 1 mile loop on a paved trail and takes you on a loop through the hills of bentonite clay as well as petrified wood.

A Different Type Of National Park

One thing that sets the Petrified Forest National Park aside from others is that it seems to have less hikes to choose from, and many of them wouldn’t be considered strenuous. This means that this park is a bit more accessible to those with kids, disabilities, or older folks than others. The park is easy to tour by car and can be done in a day. Unlike many other parks, the Petrified Forest opens their entry gate at 8 AM and closes it at 5 PM. The Painted Desert Visitor Center and Rainbow Forest Museum keep the same hours. Be sure to plan your day accordingly!

Other Trails To Explore

My other favorite hikes in the park were the Crystal Forest and Giant Log trail! Both provided the opportunity to get up close and personal with petrified wood. You will notice that small pieces of petrified wood are scattered throughout the park, while the large pieces that are available to the public are grouped together on these hikes. You can read about the different hikes that the park offers here.

Let’s Get To The Petrified Wood Already!

Although I learned all about petrified wood during my visit to the park thanks to the informational signs and flyers, I’ll let someone else break down the cycle of the life of petrified wood. Their website says:

“Petrified wood found in the park and the surrounding region is made up of almost solid quartz. Each piece is like a giant crystal, often sparkling in the sunlight as if covered by glitter. The rainbow of colors is produced by impurities in the quartz, such as iron, carbon, and manganese.

Over 200 million years ago, the logs washed into an ancient river system and were buried quick enough and deep enough by massive amounts of sediment and debris also carried in the water, that oxygen was cut off and decay slowed to a process that would now take centuries.

Minerals, including silica dissolved from volcanic ash, absorbed into the porous wood over hundreds and thousands of years crystallized within the cellular structure, replacing the organic material as it broke down over time. Sometimes crushing or decay left cracks in the logs. Here large jewel-like crystals of clear quartz, purple amethyst, yellow citrine, and smoky quartz formed.”

Don’t Miss The Museum

To really understand more about this incredible place that feels more like another planet than a national park, be sure to visit their museum or take a guided tour.

The Rainbow Forest Museum, located in the southern entrance of the park off of US-180, was one of the highlights of my trip to the park. Without diving into the history of the area, my imagination would never had been able to conjure up an accurate clue about the history of the place. I really appreciated the life-size replicas of creatures that used to roam the very ground that I was standing on!

Some Other Things To Know…

It is important to note that the only camping that is done in the Petrified Forest is with a free backpacking permit from the visitor centers that must be obtained in advance before 4 PM. You can find a list of nearby National Park sites with campgrounds here.

If you’re trying to avoid paying a fee to camp outside of the park, read my detailed guide on how to find free camping and parking spots inside of the USA. You can also learn exactly how much I spent while traveling the country in my van for two months with this complete budget breakdown!

All photos in this article were taken by me, Calen Otto. Please email me at hellounrulytravel@gmail.com for permission to use them.