Starting at the Rainbow Forest

If this is your first time to Petrified Forest National Park, we think you need to begin at the Rainbow Forest Museum. Here are a couple of reasons that I think this is the best place to start. Many people skip the musuem, but we recommend checking it out, it houses critical fossils of the giant reptiles that once roamed this lush, swampy landscape, long before it was a desert. Giant Logs Trail: is a 0.4-mile loop behind the museum is home to some of the largest and most colorful logs in the park. We saw "Old Faithful," the massive log at the top of the trail that is almost ten feet across at its base!

Checking Off the "Grand Tour"

Here is the route we took through the park hitting all the best spots from the southern section to the northern section. Jasper & Crystal Forest  areas have the highest concentrations of petrified wood. At Crystal Forest, you can see how the wood was actually replaced by clear and amethyst quartz over millions of years. Agate Bridge is a 110-foot-long petrified log that spans a sandstone gully. In the early 1900s, people were so worried it would collapse that they reinforced it with concrete—a bit of "old-school" conservation that you can still see today. The Tepees are colorful, conical hills look like they were painted by hand. They showcase the different layers of the Chinle Formation, with the blues, purples, and grays representing ancient volcanic ash.

A Window into the Past: Newspaper Rock

Contrary to its name, Newspaper Rock is not a newspaper or just a "simple" rock. One can read petroglyphs that have been left by peoples of the past. Here is some more fascinating information about this site. There are over 650 Petroglyphs etched into the rock faces here. Most were created by the Ancestral Puebloan people between 650 and 2,000 years ago. The "paper" for this newspaper is actually a dark coating of manganese and iron called desert varnish. The ancient artists would chip away the dark surface to reveal the lighter sandstone underneath.

The Painted Desert Inn: A Cool Oasis

We finished our Junior Ranger program at the Painted Desert Inn, which was the perfect way to wrap up. Here is some information about the Painted Desert Inn. This 1930s National Historic Landmark was built using petrified wood and native stone. It survived the era of Route 66 as a "Harvey House" restaurant and guest lodge. Inside, we saw the stunning murals by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie, which depict Hopi life and the journey to the Salt Lake. It’s one of the best spots in the park to take a breath, enjoy the air conditioning, and look out over the vast, red expanse of the Painted Desert. While we were here the Visitors center in the north section was closed and after we left they annouced it was getting a makeover. There is a store here that sells petrified wood chunks that are sourced from beyond the boundaries of the national park.