Petrified Forest National Park -- Driving Tour (4-15-17)
Read MorePainted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark
First opened in 1925, this historic inn was originally made from petrified wood. A major remodeling took place in the late-1930's, however, and the current adobe-style structure replaced the original. Although at one time guests to the park could find accommodation here, today the old Inn serves exclusively as a museum and art gallery...
Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark
First opened in 1925, this historic inn was originally made from petrified wood. A major remodeling took place in the late-1930's, however, and the current adobe-style structure replaced the original. Although at one time guests to the park could find accommodation here, today the old Inn serves exclusively as a museum and art gallery...
Puerco Pueblo -- 5,360'
Puerco Pueblo was a small village occupied by ancestral Puebloan people from around 1200-1400 A.D. Located not far from the Rio Pueblo, which provided reliable water, the village once contained over 100 rooms and was home to an estimated 200+ people. Occupied for nearly 200 years it is believed that the pueblo was all but abandoned by the year 1380 due to climate changes which forced the relocation of the ancestral Puebloans...
Puerco Pueblo -- 5,360'
Puerco Pueblo was a small village occupied by ancestral Puebloan people from around 1200-1400 A.D. Located not far from the Rio Pueblo, which provided reliable water, the village once contained over 100 rooms and was home to an estimated 200+ people. Occupied for nearly 200 years it is believed that the pueblo was all but abandoned by the year 1380 due to climate changes which forced the relocation of the ancestral Puebloans...
Agate Bridge -- 5,580'
Agate Bridge was a fantastic quick stop as we entered the true petrified forest portion of the park. The 'bridge' is actually a 110-foot petrified log which, over the centuries, has had a gully washed out beneath it suspending it high above the ground. You might notice that it has been braced with concrete. This was done in the 1910's to prevent the log from collapsing. Interestingly, if it had been discovered today, no such bracing would have been constructed as current park philosophy is to allow natural processes to occur without human interference...
Agate Bridge -- 5,580'
Agate Bridge was a fantastic quick stop as we entered the true petrified forest portion of the park. The 'bridge' is actually a 110-foot petrified log which, over the centuries, has had a gully washed out beneath it suspending it high above the ground. You might notice that it has been braced with concrete. This was done in the 1910's to prevent the log from collapsing. Interestingly, if it had been discovered today, no such bracing would have been constructed as current park philosophy is to allow natural processes to occur without human interference...
Agate Bridge -- 5,580'
Agate Bridge was a fantastic quick stop as we entered the true petrified forest portion of the park. The 'bridge' is actually a 110-foot petrified log which, over the centuries, has had a gully washed out beneath it suspending it high above the ground. You might notice that it has been braced with concrete. This was done in the 1910's to prevent the log from collapsing. Interestingly, if it had been discovered today, no such bracing would have been constructed as current park philosophy is to allow natural processes to occur without human interference...
Jasper Forest -- 5,560'
Our stop at Jasper Forest was our first real introduction to the true petrified forest region of the park. The amount of petrified wood that could be seen from this overlook astounded us. Every brown speck you see in this and the following shots is another log. It was incredible to see...
Jasper Forest -- 5,560'
Petrified wood isn't actually wood at all but rather a fossil of wood which once lay in these spots. Millions of years ago these logs were covered in sediment and slowly, over the eons, different minerals replaced the wood fibers of the log which had been buried. The colors you see in the logs tell which minerals in particular helped in 'preserving' the logs. Here, the oranges represent iron-oxide and manganese minerals while the brown and greenish parts could be iron, copper, chromium, or cobalt...
View near South Entrance -- 5,700'
Te park landscape as seen from near the museum. The
Long Logs and Agate House Trails, which we unfortunately didn't have time to explore, loop across this area. In fact, if you blow up this shot in 'ultra hi-def' resolution you can just make out Agate House itself sitting on the low mesa in the far distance to the left...
Dave Kathy Weemhoff
on April 27, 2017That's amazing! Who would have thought this area was so large and unique!!!! Wow! Thanks for sharing!