![]() ![]() However, route-finding skills are necessary since the trail is not well-marked. It is 3 miles round trip and takes you through the Blue Mesa area of the park. The Blue Forest Trail is one of several off-the-beaten-path hikes in the park. This was our favorite experience in Petrified Forest National Park. This wood comes from private land so it can legally be sold. If you really want to take home a souvenir, visit one of many petrified wood shops located between the park and Holbrook. However, it is estimated that up to 12 tons of petrified wood is illegally removed from the park each year. It’s tempting, because it’s so beautiful. Important! Please do not take the petrified wood out of the park. You can clearly see rings and the bark, but it is shiny and crystallized and very, very heavy. This petrified wood still resembles the structure of the trees. Iron, manganese, and carbon add color to the petrified wood. When you look at these ancient trees, you can still see the rings, but instead of wood, you are looking at colorful quartz crystals. As the land was uplifted, layers of rock were eroded away, unearthing these petrified trees. These minerals slowly formed quartz crystals, which replaced the organic material of the trees.Ħ0 million years ago, tectonic movements of the Earth’s crust lifted up the Colorado Plateau. The river water that saturated the trees contained minerals. After the enormous trees fell, they were buried in the river channels. The fallen, petrified trees that give this national park its name date back to 225 million years ago.Īt that time, this area was located near the equator on the giant supercontinent of Pangaea. We literally hiked 3 miles round trip on a hiking trail and saw not one other person. That may sound like a lot, but compare that to Yosemite, which received 3.7 million visitors and Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which received over 13 million visitors!ĭuring our visit in mid-June, this park felt delightfully uncrowded. In 2022, Petrified Forest National Park received 505,000 visitors. For most of the year, the park opens at 7 am and closes at 7 pm, with reduced hours during the winter months. If you arrive before or after operating hours you will not be able to enter the park. At the north and south ends of the park are entrance gates. Petrified Forest National Park is not open 24 hours a day. You can start in the north and work your way south, or vice versa. The main road, Petrified Forest Road, starts in the north at Route 40 and ends 28 miles later at Route 180. In the northern half are the colorful hills of the Painted Desert. The highest concentration of this wood is in the southern section of the park. There are two sections to Petrified Forest National Park.The park gets its name from the petrified wood that is scattered throughout the park. From here, it takes roughly 3 to 3.5 hours to drive to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon. Petrified Forest National Park is located in Arizona. ![]()
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