It's a bit hard to imagine, but a mere 225 million years ago, this arid Arizona landscape was hot, humid, lush, and green. Ancient birds soared and dinosaurs roamed among the tall trees that made up this prehistoric rainforest.
Over the years, continental drift slowly changed the climate and position of this landmass. Fallen trees were buried by layers of sediment which protected them from decay. The buried logs soaked up ground water and silica, calcite, and pyrite, and over the years, slowly crystallized into quartz. Eventually, erosion helped unveil these Triassic treasures for us to enjoy during our recent visit to ...
Petrified Forest National Park.
Since the national park is (kinda sorta) on the way from Phoenix to Tucson, we decided to take a slight detour in order to visit our 53rd national park. What we found was a tapestry of colors and history etched in the numerous fossils and land formations that decorate the desert plateau.
Petrified Forest National Park's northern entrance is located along a section that used to contain a portion of the famous Route 66 highway. In fact, it's the only national park that Route 66 passed through.
Along the road, the shell of a 1932 Studebaker seems to be working on becoming petrified also.
The northern section of the park looks out on the Painted Desert Badlands. After stopping at the Painted Desert Visitors Center, we followed the 26 mile Petrified Forest Road that winds south through the park.
Colorful vistas like this provided a beautiful lunchtime view.
Overlooking this colorful landscape is the majestic Painted Desert Inn. This historic complex, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, serviced travelers on Route 66. It was closed in the 1960s when the present day highway rerouted travelers a few miles to the south.
Thankfully, the inn was saved from demolition and refurbished to reflect its past beauty. It now serves as a museum and visitor center. Its cute soda fountain still serves up treats during the summer months ... although I suspect that a hot fudge sundae costs a bit more than the advertised price of 25 cents.
Friendly Native American artisans like Judy welcomed us to peruse their handcrafted jewelry. I'm always willing and able to find room for one more pair of earrings in my tiny home!
Judy's family still lives near the national park on the land that was the home of her Pueblo ancestors. In the park thousands of Native American architectural sites and artifacts, including stone structures found in Puerco Pueblo and petroglyphs etched on Newspaper Rock, have been discovered and preserved.
As we traveled south through the park, there were numerous overlooks, historic sites, and trails.
Some of our favorite stops included ...
Blue Mesa Trail,
Jasper Forest,
Crystal Forest,
and Long Logs Trail.
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Everywhere we looked, timbers encased in stone seemed to share the story of their history
... that is etched in layers of magnificent shapes and colors.
It was very tempting to want to take one of these beauties home, but best to leave them for future generations to enjoy ... and avoid a hefty fine!
I found my "mini" version in the nearby gift shop. The owners of the shop also allowed us to boondock in their lot after our day of exploring, so it was nice to have these ancient boulder beauties adorning my yard ... at least for the night.
While it may be one of the smaller national parks, Petrified Forest preserves a gigantic slice of the Earth's geological history. We're glad that we took a slight "detour" to experience the infinite colors, hues, and shades of history sealed in the fossilized wood for all to enjoy at
... Petrified Forest National Park, a Triassic Treasure!
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