Petrified Forest National Park

After leaving Tombstone, we made our way to Petrified Forest in the Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. Just driving into this National Park, you could instantly tell that this park is going to be different. The only way to describe it, it’s like having two National Parks jammed into one. One being the petrified wood trails with beautiful crystals in the petrified logs, the other is The Painted Desert and Badland Hills. We were able to hike 6 of the 8 trails, and literally enjoyed all 6.

The Tawa Trail is a 1.2 mile walk that starts in the grassland and you finish at the scenic Tawa Point in the Painted Desert. From the Tawa Point, we did the quick 1 mile Painted Rim Trail, an unpaved trail that showcases the majestic views of the Painted Desert. Next we hiked the Blue Mesa Trail. This 1 mile loop takes you through Badland hills and allows you to to see how a clay makes these mountains blue. Bentonite is a type of clay blue in color and makes all the mountains bluish in color. It’s breathtaking. The last 3 trails we hiked were The Crystal Forest, Giant Logs, and Long Logs trails. All three trails combined is around 3 miles. The last trails we did allow you to see the petrified logs, wood and crystals. They almost seem to not be real at first sight. Getting to touch something that can be anywhere from 211-218 million years old is really awesome.

With 13,000 years of cultural history and over 800 archeological sites, you will not be disappointed. With 220,00 acres, there is plenty to explore and see. I can honestly say, if given the opportunity I will be back! Our next stop is The Grand Canyon, LET’S GO!