Next up – the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. At the Ranger Station on the way in, they asked us not to feed the animals and especially the ravens. There were lots of ravens. We did have to wear masks in the buildings around the Petrified Forest.
It is a 346 square mile park and has some absolutely stunning opportunities for beautiful pictures. From the Painted Desert to the ancient homes of people 13,000 years ago to the zebra-striped mountains of the Tepees and the Blue Mesa in the badlands with the striped hills of blue, purple, pink and gray. At the Crystal Forest, you could walk right up to the petrified logs.
Petrified wood is very colorful because of impurities present during the fossilizing process. The trees lived in the Late Triassic Epoch, about 225 million ears ago, before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. That’s a long time ago!!
We saw lots of Petroglyphs made by the Puebloan people (petroglyphs were made by carving designs and pictures into a rock on the ground. These were very important to their society and religion).
We went to the Painted Desert Visitor Center for information.Then off to look at the Painted Desert from some of the overlooks. It is amazing and beautiful with lots of colors in striations. We saw the Painted Desert Inn. We also saw the Blue Mesa. Its is called Blue Mesa for a reason – beautiful blue coloring and gorgeous striations there too. We saw the Newspaper Rock area where you could see over 650 petroglyphs, some 2,000 years old!
We went to see the Jasper Forest with lots of petrified wood all in one place. Studies have shown that some of the petrified trees date back 211 to 218 million years! We went to the Agate Bridge which is a 110 foot petrified log spanning a gully. The ranger said it would eventually fall into the gully.
The Crystal Forest has a short trail (0.8 mile loop) where ancient 200 foot tall conifers existed and are now petrified and on the ground in pieces. These particular trees have a high concentration of crystals inside (small pockets where trees have become filled with deposits that eventually turned into quartz and amethyst crystals). From the trail you could view the beautiful petrified wood as well as a panoramic view of the Crystal Forest ad the Blue Mesa.
Leaving the Park, we saw the rusted 1932 Studebaker which is near the original Route 66 that cut through the park.
