Overview

Petrified Forest National Park's 42,000 square miles were set aside in 1906 to preserve the world's largest petrified wood deposits, as well as protect part of the Painted Desert in the park's northern unit. In the past few years, the park has added more land to protected areas. A 28-mile road passes from the north unit to the south unit, and features plenty of scenic turnouts, as well as the opportunity to get out of the car for short hikes to view petroglyphs, mesas, and petrified wood. Interstate 40 bisects Petrified Forest National Park in northeast Arizona, making a visit quite easy even for those just passing through. The park is named after the fossilized remains of once living conifer trees. There is 20-million years worth of earth history captured in the late Triassic Chinle Formations (228-208 million years ago). Fossil reptiles within the park include some of the earliest dinosaurs ever discovered. Several modern Native American tribes claim ancestral ties to the park, and visitors can visit the archeological remains of those settlements at Puerco Pueblo, Long Logs, and Agate House. In modern times, part of the fabled Route 66 passed through the park, and there's a rusting 1932 Studebaker Eight parked at the spot where the road passed through. The Painted Desert Inn, in the northern unit of the park, is a designated National Historic Landmark and now offers exhibits on the building's history.