Photo by: Jacob Lips
Beautiful landscape, perfect hues and amazing natural skyline—these are what visitors expect at the 146,930-acre Petrified Forest National Park. Contrary to the park’s name, there is nothing that screams terror and fear in this national park in Arizona.
The park got its name from the large deposits of petrified wood in the area. However, the colorful badlands are just as popular. Close to 645,000 visited this park in 2018.
History
Aside from petrified wood, there is also a large fossil deposit at the Petrified Forest National Park. Some of the fossils indicate plant life from the Late Triassic, which is believed to be around 225 million years old.
There are over 600 archeological sites at the park. These sites have evidence that humans started living in the region 8,000 years ago. Artifacts also point to the Paleo-Indians as the region’s first inhabitants.
The importance of the park came into focus when U.S. Army Lt. Amiel Whipple, explored the northern part of the Petrified Forest in 1853. A member of the team, geologist Jules Marcou, noticed that the petrified trees were from the Triassic period. Further exploration led to various archeological sites and 250 fossil sites.
To protect the area, a law that declared the Petrified Forest as a national monument, was passed in 1906. In 1962, the area officially became the Petrified Forest National Park.
Photo by: Jacob Lips
Places to go
The vast park is rich in cultural, geological, archeological and paleontological history. There are so many activities at the park, including several scheduled activities. Visitors should check out the park’s calendar, as they cannot afford to miss the Paleontology Lab Demonstrations. The park is one big science department, it is interesting to see how experts prepare and discuss the fossils discovered in the park.
As for the important sites to visit, here is a list:
Crystal Forest
This is a paved loop of less than a mile, where visitors can see why the Petrified Forest is so significant. There are park rangers ready to answer queries related to the tree fossils and the history of the forest. Some of the logs at the Petrified Forest carry quartz, which provides important geological information. The logs date back to the Triassic, and were eventually buried by sediments that carry volcanic ash. Groundwater dissolved the silicon dioxide from the ash, which helped the formation of quartz crystals. There are at least nine species of extinct trees identified from the logs in the park.
Giant Logs
Since the park is called Petrified Forest, visitors should see some petrified wood! There is a log of wood so huge that its diameter is taller than a person: 10 feet. The giant petrified tree is called the Old Faithful. There is a trail that visitors can follow to see more logs belonging from medieval times.
Painted Desert
This particular badlands is popular for its varied and striking colors. Badlands should be red, but there are also traces of lavender and other colors at the Painted Desert. The Painted Desert Rim Trail leads to an area, which gives visitors the perfect view of the colorful badlands.
The Teepees
This particular area of the colorful badlands features landforms that resemble teepees. As with most of the badlands at the Petrified Forest, the different colors of the mountains are clear: hues of blue, gray, pink, purple and white.
Devil’s Playground
One needs a permit to explore this place. It is otherworldly. The rock formations are unbelievable. There is also a vast plain with rugged terrain, which looks very peaceful, which is ironic considering the name.
Route 66
Visitors can drive around Petrified Forest to have a better and more expansive view of the park, from different angles. But one famous pullout on Route 66 has a 1932 Studebaker, where tourists just love to take photos of.
Flora and fauna
Despite the badlands looking quite bare in most areas, the park is home to some 447 species of flora. The Painted Desert rim has an abundance of steppe shrub. There are also more than a hundred species of grass in the area. Providing colors are blue flax, evening primrose, mariposa lilly, and sagebrush, among others.
Animals that roam the park include bobcats, coyotes, black-tailed jackrabbits, foxes, prairie dogs, and pronghorns. There are also 16 species of lizards, one more colorful than the next. There are also seven species of amphibians like the tiger salamander, the lone salamander found in Arizona. As for the birds, there are over 200 identified species at the Petrified Forest.
Photo by: Jacob Lips