Itinerary (About 6 hours at the Park)

Phoenix to Seattle Road Trip – May 2024 (7 National Park and Lake Tahoe & Portland sights)

Day -2 – Petrified Forest National Park
Show Low, AZ to Petrified NP (about 70 miles)

Painted Desert Visitors Center

Scenic drive 28 miles (Action guide audio tour)

Blue Mesa Trail 1.0 mile

Giant Logs Trail 0.5 mile (can be skipped)

Drive to Williams for overnight stay at Comfort Inn near Grand Canyon (about 150 miles)

Petrified Forest National Park is known for its abundance of petrified wood- wood from ancient trees that transformed into stone over millions of years due to burial under layers of sediment and minerals. These petrified pieces are estimated to be around 225 million years old

We began our visit at the Painted Desert Visitor Center to obtain stamp for our National Parks Passport book

We continued our journey with a scenic 28-mile drive through the park, listening to “Action Guide” audio tour. Along the route, we stopped at various viewpoints and went through some short trails such as Jasper Forest and Crystal Forest seeing collections of petrified wood

Highlights of the drive included Agate Bridge, a 110-foot petrified log, Newspaper Rock with petroglyphs, and the colorful mountains in the Badlands area known as the Tepees

Before exiting the park through the South Entrance, we visited the Rainbow Forest Museum and hiked the nearby Giant Logs Trail. This trail can be skipped if you are short on time