Petrified Forest National Park guides
12 in-depth guides to Petrified Forest National Park, in reading order: what to see, how to get around, and what to know before you go. Back to the Petrified Forest National Park overview.
Driving the 28-Mile Road North to South
A 28-mile park road links the north and south entrances, so a single drive covers the full length of Petrified Forest National Park.
Monsoon Storms and Shortgrass Prairie Seasons
From July through September, the monsoon season brings thunderstorms that build quickly and release heavy rain within a short window.
Painted Desert Rim: Tawa to Kachina Points
The Painted Desert Rim Trail is a short walk of about one mile round trip, and it is one of the simplest ways to see the northern part of the park up close.
Geological Wonders: The Tepees and Agate Bridge
Along Petrified Forest Road, the drive passes through the Tepees, one of the most colorful and unusual parts of the park.
Dark Skies Above the Painted Desert Rim
The Painted Desert spreads across the northern part of Petrified Forest National Park, and its colors are what the area is best known for.
How Triassic Logs Became Rainbow Stone
Between about 225 and 207 million years ago, in the Late Triassic, this corner of what is now northeastern Arizona lay close to the equator.
Ancestral Puebloans and 13,000 Years of People
Human history in what is now Petrified Forest National Park reaches back more than 12,000 years.
Roadrunners, Hawks and 200 Grassland Bird Species
What you see here changes with the seasons, especially among the birds, so birdwatching rewards repeat visits.
Backpacking the Petrified Forest Wilderness
The Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area covers more than 50,000 acres of the park and is split into two units, one at the north end and one at the south.
Rainbow Forest Museum and Giant Logs Loop
The Rainbow Forest Museum sits near the south entrance and serves as the visitor center for this part of the park.
Blue Mesa Loop Through Blue Badlands
When a short walk is all your schedule allows, the Blue Mesa Trail is the one to choose at Petrified Forest National Park.
Puerco Pueblo and the Solstice Petroglyph
Puerco Pueblo sits eleven miles in from the park's north entrance and seventeen miles from the south one.
