Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

(Painted Desert)

With one of the world's largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood, multi-hued badlands of the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites, native grassland environment, and displays of over 200-million-year-old fossils, this is a surprising land of scenic wonders and fascinating science.
Petrified Forest was set aside as a national monument in 1906 to preserve and protect the petrified wood for its scientific value. It is recognized today for having so much more, including a broad representation of the Late Triassic paleo-ecosystem, significant human history, clear night skies, fragile grasslands ecosystem, and unspoiled scenic vistas.

Petrified Forest National Park contains the petrified remains of 225 million year old trees from the Late Triassic. Surrounding the petrified wood are millions of years of deposition, uplift, and erosion, creating the Chinle Formation. This rock formation creates the red hues of the Painted Desert and the blue tones of the Blue Mesa region.

Petrified Forest is situated near the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau with elevations ranging from 5300 feet to 6235 feet. It was the uplift of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 60 million years ago, and the erosion that followed and continues today, which carved the present landscape.

Over 13,000 years of human history and culture can be found at Petrified Forest National Park. From prehistoric peoples to early explorers, from the Civilian Conservation Corps to Historic Route 66, the park has many stories to tell.