Petrified Forest National Park -- North Entrance

The park entrance sign as seen after exiting Interstate 40. This is also known as the Painted Desert Entrance...

Painted Desert Visitor Center

The rather plain-looking visitor center at the north entrance. Aside from a gift shop, there's not much for visitors here...the finest displays concerning the park are found at the Rainbow Forest Museum near the south entrance to the park...

Tiponi Point -- 5,780'

This is the first viewpoint reached as you head south through the park. The reason this area is known as the 'painted desert' is immediately obvious here as red 'dunes' of rock cascade away from the overlook...

Tiponi Point -- 5,780'

This is the first viewpoint reached as you head south through the park. The reason this area is known as the 'painted desert' is immediately obvious here as red 'dunes' of rock cascade away from the overlook...

Tiponi Point -- 5,780'

This is the first viewpoint reached as you head south through the park. The reason this area is known as the 'painted desert' is immediately obvious here as red 'dunes' of rock cascade away from the overlook...

Tawa Point -- 5,850'

Tawa Point, looking northeast, provides another viewpoint of the magnificent multi-colored 'dunes' of the Painted Desert...

Tawa Point -- 5,850'

Tawa Point, looking northeast, provides another viewpoint of the magnificent multi-colored 'dunes' of the Painted Desert...

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First opened in 1925, this historic inn was originally made from petrified wood.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...

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First opened in 1925, this historic inn was originally made from petrified wood.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...

Chinde Point -- 5,780'

Chinde Point is located at the northernmost point on the park road and provides yet another amazing view of the Painted Desert, looking north...

Chinde Point -- 5,780'

Chinde Point is located at the northernmost point on the park road and provides yet another amazing view of the Painted Desert, looking north...

Chinde Point -- 5,780'

Chinde Point is located at the northernmost point on the park road and provides yet another amazing view of the Painted Desert, looking north. The high point in the distance is Chinde Mesa, rising to 6,004-feet...

Park Road near Chinde Point

Looking south at the park road as it sweeps along the top of the ridge above the Painted Desert...

Pintado Point -- 5,860'

Heading south now along the park road the surrounding terrain began to transition from the painted desert landscape to a more traditional desert southwest one...

Nizhoni Point -- 5,770'

At Nizhoni Point the road gets right up alongside the edge of the mesa we were travelling atop of...

Whipple Point -- 5,740'

Looking west from the overlook, the landscape really started to show off its many colors...

Lacey Point -- 5,700'

A desert landscape marked by infrequent rains...

Route 66 Marker -- 5,650'

Just before recrossing the interstate the park road passes a small marker denoting the original location of the famous Route 66 through Petrified Forest. This rusted car dating back to the time of the historic road sits alongside the marker...

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...

Park Road near Newspaper Rock -- 5,460'

Nearing the Blue Mesa are of the park the surrounding terrain began to be highlighted by colorfully striated buttes...

The Tepees -- 5,420'

Its not hard to see why this pair of large buttes is known as 'The Tepees'. This is perhaps the most striking example of such a landmark we saw on our drive through the park...

Park Road near Agate Bridge -- 5,400'

As the road climbed up and over the edge of another mesa we passed this interesting pair of toadstool-type formations...I thought them worthy of a quick pic...

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...

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...

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'

A short stroll down from the Jasper Forest parking area is this large, solitary petrified log...

Jasper Forest -- 5,560'

Family memories at Petrified Forest...

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...

Jasper Forest -- 5,560'

A large piece of petrified wood sits alongside a pretty bloom of Desert Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua)...

Giant Red Indian-Paintbrush

Castilleja miniata

Crystal Forest -- 5,660'

We stopped for a quick hike at the Crystal Forest, which contains one of the highest concentrations of petrified wood in the park. A separate album of the site will take you for a walk through this spectacular area. This is a shot of the landscape which surrounds the area...

Crystal Forest -- 5,660'

We stopped for a quick hike at the Crystal Forest, which contains one of the highest concentrations of petrified wood in the park. A separate album of the site will take you for a walk through this spectacular area. This is a shot of the landscape which surrounds the area...

Park Road near The Flatops -- 5,600'

The amazing landscape as we drove through the southern reaches of the park between the Crystal Forest and the Rainbow Forest Museum...

The Flatops -- 5,650'

Passing the aptly-named 'Flattops' as we near the south end of the park...

Rainbow Forest Museum -- 5,740'

The Rainbow Forest Museum houses some of the parks finest natural history displays. Here you can see excellent pieces of petrified woods as well as ancient fossils and animal bones...

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...