Petrified Forest National Park, Holbrook, Arizona.

The Petrified Forest National Park, as the name emphasizes, is known for the petrified logs scattered all over the landscape. The quartz logs you see came from trees living about 210 million years ago. The trees died and their composition was replaced by quartz and other minerals over many millions of years. The land around them eroded and exposed the petrified logs, which broke as the earth beneath eroded away.
But the Park is noted as a terrific source of plant and animal fossils from the Triassic Period, about 250 million to 200 million years ago, right before the Jurassic Period. And the landscape is stark and enthralling. The Painted Desert is extraordinary. I noticed particularly how empty and quiet the land is.
Theodore Roosevelt created Petrified Forest National Monument on December 8, 1906. It was designated a national park on December 9, 1962.
My favorite spot is the Puerco Pueblo, which isn’t about fossils or petrified wood but about Ancient Puebloan people who lived along the Puerco River between 1200 and 1400 AD. But I am fascinated by such sites, so I am biased. Yes, think petrified logs and fossils and Painted Desert when thinking about the Park.
The petrified log fields are concentrated at the southern end of the Park. Outlooks, trails, cultural sites, and painted desert badlands are found in the middle and northern sections.
The Rainbow Forest Museum at the southern entrance to the Park is excellent. It is especially rich in information about the fossils found in the Park.
You can enter the Park from either the north or south. It is 26 miles from one Visitor Center to the other. You could drive through the entire length of the park in an hour, but you would be missing so much if you don’t stop at various places. Better take a day to visit.
Enjoy my video of my visit to the Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook, Arizona!
• Petrified Forest Natio...
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• National Monuments and...
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