Everything you should know about Petrified Forest National Park

Gazing across the Painted Desert of northern Arizona today, it’s hard to believe that 200 million years ago the region was a primeval tropical forest watered by abundant streams and inhabited by a wide variety of wildlife, including the reptilian forerunners of dinosaurs.

That’s what makes Petrified Forest National Park so special. It’s a remarkable example of how the region (and the Earth as a whole) has radically evolved through the ages.

The park is also a reflection of the humans that came to inhabit the area, long after the tropical trees and giant lizards were gone. The ancestral Pueblo peoples left their mark on the landscape, as did Midwestern farmers fleeing the Dust Bowl during the 1930s.

“It’s got so much,” says Doug Lentz, a former National Park Service ranger and current board chairperson of the nonprofit Friends of Petrified Forest National Park. “It’s got the Painted Desert. It’s got wildlife, all kinds of critters. It’s got native culture and petroglyphs, and of course, petrified wood. So many different facets. It’s an amazing park.”

Best times to visit Petrified Forest National Park

Even though the region is characterized as a cold desert climate (with the possibility of snow during the winter), temperatures easily reach into the triple digits during the summer months. Despite the heat, the park tends to attract more visitors in June and July than any other months.

The climate is much milder during the early spring (March and April) and late fall (October and November), when blue skies and daytime temperatures in the 70s and 80s are the norm.

Where to find the best views in the park

Many of the most stunning panoramas of the Painted Desert are along the first stretch of Petrified Forest Road as it loops north from Interstate 40 (Exit 311). Among the best vistas are Tiponi Point, Tawa Point, Kachina Point behind the Painted Desert Inn, and Nizhoni Point.

In the middle of the park, the turnoff at the end of Blue Mesa Scenic Road offers one of the higher vantage points to look east across the desert, while the observation platform at Newspaper Rock affords a westward perspective that seems to stretch forever.

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Where to find the best hiking trails

The park offers two types of hiking: Easy walks of a mile or less that start from turnoffs along Petrified Forest Road and backcountry hikes of varying distances along variable desert terrain.

One of the most rewarding short hikes is the Painted Desert Rim Trail (1 mile/1.6 km) between Tawa Point and the Painted Desert Inn. Farther south, the paved Blue Mesa Trail (1 mile/1.6 km) descends into the multicolored badlands beneath the mesa for a close-up look at the park’s fascinating geology.

If 200-million-year-old trees are your thing, try the Giant Logs Trail (0.4 mile/0.6 km) behind the Rainbow Forest Museum & Visitors Center or the paved Crystal Forest Trail (0.75 mile/1.2 km).

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More than half a dozen “Off the Beaten Path” trails lead to geological features away from the main road. They include the Blue Forest Trail (3 miles/4.8 km) through the badlands and the path to the Black Forest and Onyx Bridge (4 miles/6.4 km). Tougher routes include the Wilderness Loop (7 miles/11.3 km) weaving through several stands of petrified trees and the epic Red Basin Clam Beds Hike (8.5 miles (13.7 km) featuring petrified trees, petroglyphs, and 210-million-year-old fossil beds.

Venturing into the park’s two wilderness areas requires a permit for hikers spending the night and for anyone (day or night) exploring the remote Devil’s Playground with its tortured geology. Free permits are available at the visitor center.

The best spots to see wildlife

Despite the stark desert environment, Petrified Forest National Park is home to an amazing array of animals, from large creatures like coyotes, bobcats, and pronghorn antelope to horned lizards, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and even salamanders. Nearly 260 bird species have been spotted in the skies above the park.

Seeing them requires a sharp eye, good timing, patience, and quite a bit of luck. Like just about anywhere, dusk and dawn (the park gates open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.) are when wildlife are most active. The trails well off the main park road, especially in the two wilderness areas, are the best vantage points.

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Expert recommendations & tips

“My biggest piece of advice is not rushing through the park.” says Doug Lentz. “You need to dedicate half a day at least to driving the 26 miles from the north end down to the south end. It’s well worth the time. Explore the little side trails—most of them take no more than five to 20 minutes—read the wayside exhibits, go into the visitor centers and talk to some of the rangers and volunteers.”

Lentz also recommends popping into the Museum Demonstration Laboratory at the Painted Desert Community Complex, where visitors can speak to a paleontologist and watch them prepare fossils. “Petrified Forest is on the cutting edge of paleontology worldwide,” says Lentz. “They discover a new species of dinosaur from the late Triassic period two or three times a year.”

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Things to do in Petrified Forest National Park

The Painted Desert Visitor Center is located right off the park’s north entrance (off Interstate 40). Designed by eminent architect Richard Neutra in the 1950s, the complex includes a restaurant, gift shop, gas station, shaded picnic pavilion, and the Museum Demonstration Laboratory.

If you haven’t done so already, this is the place to download and start listening to the excellent PEFO Audio Tour North, which includes 31 stops along Petrified Forest Scenic Drive, which meanders 28 miles across the park. There’s also a version for those entering the park from the south.

North of the interstate, the scenic drive offers more than half a dozen vista points overlooking the Painted Desert’s undulating landscape with its array of earth tones. “El Desierto Pintado” was named by Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado during a 1540 expedition to find the Seven Cities of Cibola.

The elegant adobe structure near Kachina Point may look as if it was built by the region’s ancestral Puebloan people, but it actually started life in 1924 as a roadside hotel. Nowadays the Painted Desert Inn harbors museum exhibits, an ice cream parlor, and exquisite Hopi murals.

Farther along is the Route 66 Pullout, where a rusty 1932 Studebaker marks the spot where the “Mother Road” once crossed the main park road.

After crossing over the interstate, the scenic drive arrives at two of the park’s historical relics. Puerco Pueblo was constructed around 1100 CE and may have been home to as many as 200 people. On the opposite side of the road, Newspaper Rock is covered in more than 650 petroglyphs rendered by ancestral Puebloans.

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Just past a cluster of pyramid-shaped hills called The Teepees is the turnoff for Blue Mesa and a rugged badlands area with blue, purple, and gray stripes. The mesa marks the northern edge of the petrified zone. Look for popular turnoffs at Jasper Forest, Crystal Forest, and Agate Bridge, the latter a 100-foot (30-meter) petrified log that one paleobotanist called the world’s most significant piece of petrified wood.

Anchoring the park’s southern end is the Rainbow Forest Museum & Visitor Center, which has arguably the park’s best museum exhibits, info desk, bookstore, and gift shop. It’s also the jumping off point for the Giant Logs Trail and the Long Logs Trail through the park’s most impressive stands of petrified trees. A short walk south of the Long Logs area is the incredible Agate House, an eight-room pueblo dwelling constructed from petrified wood around a thousand years ago.

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Best things to do for families

Even if they’re not into science, kids tend to be fascinated by the notion that the long, round rocks beside the trail were living trees 200 million years ago. With that in mind, the easy Giant Logs Trail and Crystal Forest Trail are ideal for short family hikes in the middle of what used to be a tropical forest.

Another great family activity is exploring how the ancient inhabitants of the area created the petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock, and what those images are likely to mean.

Junior Ranger Activity Books exploring the park’s natural and human history are available at the Painted Desert Visitor Center, Painted Desert Inn, and Rainbow Forest Museum.

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Where to stay

The only way to camp at Petrified Forest National Park is through overnight backpacking. Otherwise, the closest cities to Petrified Forest National Park are Holbrook and Winslow, in Arizona, and Gallup, across the border in New Mexico.

While most accommodations in those cities are modern, motel-style, there are a couple of vintage Route 66-style digs, including the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook (opened in 1950), the upscale, Spanish Revival-style La Posada Hotel in Winslow (opened in 1930), and the Hotel El Rancho in Gallup (opened in 1936).

What else you need to know

Entrances: The park has two entrance gates: Just off Interstate 40 in the north and just off U.S. Highway 180 in the south.

Visitor centers: Painted Desert Visitor Center in the north and Rainbow Forest Museum & Visitor Center in the south. Both are open year-round 8 am to 5 pm.

Entrance fees: $25 per vehicle, $20 per motorcycle, $15 per person for those without their own vehicle.

Are pets allowed: Owners must keep pets on leash and clean up after them. There’s a fenced dog park near the Painted Desert Visitor Center. Visitors with pets should ask about the BARK Ranger program at the entrance gates. Never leave a pet unattended in a vehicle.

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How accessible is the park?

Many of the short trails off the Petrified Forest Scenic Drive, including Tawa Point, Puerco Pueblo, Newspaper Rock, and part of Long Logs, are wheelchair accessible.

Seven accessible restrooms are scattered across the park. Both visitor centers are accessible, as are the picnic areas at Hózhó Point and Rainbow Forest.