Petrified Forest National Park Things to Do

Overlook for the red part of the Painted Desert, Pintado Point, and Pilot Rock.

Historic Pueblo-Revival style building sitting on the edge of a mesa above the red badlands of the Painted Desert, lit by dawn.

The park store is operated by Petrified Forest Museum Association, an official non-profit partner of the National Park Service dedicated to supporting the educational mission of Petrified Forest National Park.

Grasslands fill the spaces between red badlands with mesas in the distance.

Rocks—some with petroglyphs—pile up throughout the scenic view with buttes and mesas under a blue sky.

An area near Rainbow Forest with many petroglyphs and fascinating erosional landforms, accessed by old road that was made in the 1930s and closed in the 1950s. One of the bike routes and often used for ranger-led hikes.

Ancestral Puebloan site with easy loop trail, petroglyphs, and a mini-museum.

The Rainbow Forest district is an historic site with private ranger homes, gift/curio shop, museum, and bookstore. The buildings were built from the late 1920s into the late 1930s, some by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). In 1931 Dr. Einstein came to visit the museum and Giant Logs.

The Rainbow Forest Museum is the original HQ of the park, now an historic site. There are paleontological exhibits, a bookstore, visitor center, and trail. Be sure to look for the historic diorama that was made in the 1930s at University of California at Berkeley.

Great view of the red part of the Painted Desert

Tawa Point overlooks the red part of the Painted Desert and looks towards the Painted Desert Inn. The point is also a trailhead.

Hiker walking through the grassland under sunset clouds and sky.

The Flattops are mesas over which the park road passes. The views encompass parts of the Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area all the way towards the White Mountains to the south. It is a rugged area with no trails. Parking is located to the southeast of the mesas at Hamilili Point.

Red and gray badland hills are beautifully barren.

The Tepees is a area of the park named for the conical hills with banded mudstones that were thought to resemble tepees—or tipis as some people spell it.

View of the red part of the Painted Desert at Petrified Forest National Park.

Stop 1 along Giant Logs Trail

Once the main highway that provided access to the south entrance of the park, Old 180 went directly through a major deposit of petrified wood. The highway was rerouted to move it away from this natural resource, leaving a road that is slowly going back to earth, particularly on the eastern end.

Giant Logs is part of Rainbow Forest in Petrified Forest National Park. Once an ancient log jam in a Late Triassic river, Giant Logs was the heart of the original national monument set aside in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Visitors walk along Giant Logs Trail through grassland and pieces of petrified wood.

A single large petrified log spans a gully in very pale sandstone at the edge of the mesa, with spectacular views.

Reconstructed Ancestral Puebloan village built of petrified wood pieces.

Only one national park in the country includes and protects a section of historic Route 66: the Petrified Forest National Park 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, and displays of over 200-million-year-old fossils.

Blue Mesa, one of the most beautiful spots in the park, consists of blue, purple, gray, and peach banded badlands with pieces of petrified wood.

Visitors walk along the spectacular Blue Mesa Trail.

Multiple tan petrified logs gather along the Crystal Forest Trail under a blue sky with badlands in the background.

Petrified log eroding from the surrounding hills.

Paleo art reminds us that the petrified trees are from another time.

Giant Logs Trail Stop #2

Giant Logs Trail Stop #3

Giant Logs Trail Stop #4

Giant Logs Trail Stop #5

Giant Logs Trail Stop #6

Giant Logs Trail Stop #7

Giant Logs Trail Stop #8

Stop 9: Tap into the Past Note: image isn't working properly right now! As you round the bend, take a look at the massive log next to the trail. Roots and branches fall away from rotting trees, but this one still shows the stump of its taproot. A taproot is a central, dominant, deep-anchoring root. A tree is more than its trunk. Fossilized cones, needles, and roots tell us as much about the ancient trees as the fossilized logs do. Fossilized cones tell us the trees were conifers, reproducing through seed-bearing cones, like a modern pine tree. The taproot itself is also like some modern pines. Its purpose is to stabilize and nourish the tree during severe storms and drought. Nearly a dozen types of petrified wood have been formally described. There are more species that have yet to be determined. A healthy ecosystem is a diverse one. It was a time before flowers. Coniferous trees, tree ferns, and gingkoes thrived in the ancient subtropical landscape. Many of the giant logs found along the trail, unique to this area, have been given the scientific name Araucarioxylon arizonicum.

There are dunes throughout the park. This red sand dune is very easy to visit next to Hamilili Point with others nearby.

Badland, grassland, and mesa view from South No Name Point, the access point for the south unit of the Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area.

View from Kachina Point of the red part of the Painted Desert.

Colorful petrified wood pieces in front of blue gray badlands along the Long Logs Trail.

Nizhoni Point overlooks the unconformity between the Chinle and Bidahochi Formations.

Park at the fourth pullout of Blue Mesa Loop Road. If you reach the pullout with the shade shelter you have gone too far. This is a great overlook for the north-facing escarpment of Blue Mesa.

Trailhead for the Off the Beaten Path Billings Gap Overlook route.

View point along the Off the Beaten Path Billings Gap Overlook route.

Titular stop of the Off the Beaten Path Billings Gap Overlook route.

Towers, hoodoos, and monuments can be viewed at Blue Mesa.

An off the beaten path hike into the wilderness to a petrified log hidden in the red badlands.

Along the Off the Beaten Path to Onyx Bridge.

From here the path hooks to the left, still an obvious trail, with a small dry wash (a watercourse that only holds water during rain or other precipitation). This wash goes to your left and right as you move further along the path.

There are two versions of the park audio tour, beginning in the north and one in the south. This is the beginning of the north version. Most will start in the visitor center parking lot while others can start at the entrance gate parking.

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 10 Early explorations and historic inscription. Location: between Pintado and Nizhoni

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 11 Nizhoni unconformity. Location: Nizhoni Point

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 12 The Whipple Expedition Location: Whipple Point

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 13 The Beale Wagon Road and experimental camels. Location: Lacey Point

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 14 Route 66 history Location: Route 66

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 15 History of the travel corridor and centuries of people moving through the region. Location: Grassland, north of Rattlesnake Hill

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 16 Natural ecosystem, animals, and plants including their relationship with water. Location: Puerco river

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 17 The history of Puerco Pueblo Location: Puerco Pueblo

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 18 The petroglyphs of Newspaper Rock Location: Newspaper Rock

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 19 The Tepees and Mesa Redondo Member of the Chinle Formation Location: Tepees North Pullout

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 2 Welcome to the Petrified Forest National Park North Audio Tour and Painted Desert Community Complex amenities. Location: Main Painted Desert Community Complex parking area

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 20 Fossils in the Blue Mesa Member at the Tepees Location: Tepees south pullout

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 21 The Sonsela Member at Blue Mesa, including the banding and colors of the Painted Desert. Location: Blue Mesa

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 22 Drive between Blue Mesa and Agate Mesa and the history of ranching. Location: King’s Throne

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 23 The history of Agate Bridge and changing philosophy of the National Park Service. Location: Agate Bridge

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 24 The CCC road that once navigated Jasper Forest. Location: Jasper Forest

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 25 Exploration of Crystal Forest short Location: Crystal Forest

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 26 Early science at Petrified Forest Location: Flattops

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 27 Fossils in the Bidahochi Formation Location: Hamilili Point

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 28 Dune habitat Location: Hamilili Point

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 29 Rainbow Forest history Location: Rainbow Forest

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 3 The Painted Desert Community Complex history. Location: Painted Desert Community Complex

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 30 Visit the Rainbow Forest Museum. Location: Rainbow Forest Museum

Thank you for joining us for the Petrified Forest National Park Audio Tour, north version.

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 4 Drive after the north Entrance Station with an introduction to the Chinle Formation. Location: Passing Tiponi Point.

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 5 Tawa Point and Owl Rock Member and Walking the Rim Trail. Location: Tawa Point

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 6 Explore Tawa and Kachina Point, from overlooks and hiking. Location: Tawa to Kachina Point

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 7 Painted Desert Inn history. Location: Painted Desert Inn.

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 8 Dinosaur discovered at Petrified Forest National Park. Location: Hozho Point.

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 9 Volcanics of the region, including a maar crater nearby. Location: Pintado Point Maar

Thank you for joining us for the Petrified Forest National Park Audio Tour, north version.

South Entrance audio tour. A drive through petrified Forest National Park is a trip through time. As you travel along the main park road, take the time to learn about the natural and cultural history represented in the park. Your audio tour will tell stories through the exploration of fossils, artifacts, and other resources. What can you tell from this dramatic landscape? Entering from Arizona State Highway 180, you are coming into the park's south entrance. You can begin your trip through time at the Rainbow Forest Museum. There are amenities here, such as restrooms, convenience store, gift shop, park film, museum, and of course, the visitor center.

Painted Desert Community Complex National Historic Landmark is a Mid-Century style collection of buildings.

Visit the Museum Demonstration Lab at the Painted Desert Visitor Center Complex where you can ask questions and watch them work on fossils from the park.

Bicycle—including ebikes—use is permitted on paved park roads and parking areas open to the public as well as some areas listed in the main text. Be careful along park roads—everyone is looking at the view!

Collect your cancellation stamp!

Explore this ancient log jam at the base of purple and gray badlands along a paved half-mile loop.

Enjoy the tranquility of the grassland as the paved trail leads you to scenic Tawa Point. The 1.2-mile one way Tawa Trail is a perfect place to stretch your legs after a long road trip.

Bring your own horse and take a ride into the backcountry.

This unpaved trail winds 1-mile round trip through the rim woodland, a place for chance encounters of many species of plants and animals and spectacular views of the Painted Desert.

The 3/4 -mile paved Puerco Pueblo Trail features the remnants of a hundred room masonry pueblo.

Walk Crystal Forest Trail for one of the best opportunities to experience the petrified wood deposits as it loops through rolling gray and purple badlands.

This 1-mile alternately paved and gravel trail loop offers the unique experience of hiking among banded badland hills of bentonite clay as well as petrified wood.

Explore the paleontology exhibits at Rainbow Forest Museum.

As long as you both follow the BARK Ranger rules, you can take your leashed dog, cat, or other pet almost everywhere you can go in the park.

Go geocaching. There are multiple caches in the park including traditional and virtual.

Watching wildlife is a seasonal activity, but just in that the species to watch change, particularly in birdwatching.

Take a self-guided tour of Giant Logs, one of the highest concentration of large, colorful petrified logs.