Petrified Forest Road

Petrified Forest Road, the main park road, runs north-south for 28 miles from end to end. There's an optional 3.5-mile loop road at Blue Mesa. If you don't make any stops along the way (but you should), the road takes about an hour to drive one-way. Visitors entering the park from the north will leave Interstate 40 at exit 311 and head north to the Painted Desert Visitor Center. A loop north of the Interstate passes eight scenic overlooks for the Painted Desert where drivers can pull off the road, as well as the Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark. Heading south after Chinde Point, you will pass an Historic Route 66 exhibit, including the rusted remains of a 1932 Studebaker. There is no access to Interstate 40 from the Route 66 overpass. Puerco Pueblo archaeological site is next on the route, followed by The Tepees and a turnoff for Blue Mesa. You will pass the rest of the park's main sites a little further south: Agate Bridge, Jasper Forest, Crystal Forest, the Rainbow Forest Museum and Giant Logs Trail. The south entrance station delivers visitors to Highway 180, where it's 19 miles west to Holbrook and Interstate 40. The park road is open to bicyclists as well as motorized traffic.