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 Petrified Forest National Park
N 34° 51.855 W 109° 47.370
12S E 610645 N 3858657
One of the world's largest concentrations of petrified wood.
Waymark Code: WM16X1
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 02/05/2007
Views: 116
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When you hear people say, “we skipped Petrified Forest because there is nothing to see there…” DON’T BELIEVE THEM! When a park ranger at the visitors center tells you that it takes about 45 minutes to see the park (as they told us), DON’T BELIEVE HIM either!
We spent an entire day in the park and there is enough to see for a couple of days. As far as we are concerned, the three greatest things in Arizona are its desert, its Native American heritage and its fossil records. Petrified Forest National Park is the perfect place to observe all three of them.
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This high, dry land was once a vast floodplain crossed by many streams. Tall, stately conifer trees grew along the banks. Crocodile-like reptiles, giant amphibians, and small dinosaurs lived among a variety of ferns, cycads, and other plants known only as fossils today. Eventually, the trees fell and swollen streams washed them into adjacent floodplains. A mix of silt, mud and volcanic ashes buried the logs.
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The sediment cut off oxygen and slowed the logs decay. Silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs and replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits. Eventually the silica crystallized into quartz, and the logs were preserved as petrified wood.
Here is a collection of our favorite pictures.
Click on the pictures to get larger images
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A 43,000 acres part of the Painted Desert is within the boundaries of the National Park. Here, you can spend days hiking and camping, provided you obtained a (free) hiking permit.
There are several vista points overlooking the desert along the road.
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When rocks are exposed to the element for a considerable amount of time, a patina, called "desert varnish" forms on the surface. People who farmed the Puerco River Valley 650 to 2,000 years ago used sharp tools to chip into these veneer of iron and manganese oxides, clay minerals, and organic material, revealing the lighter colored rock beneath.
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A great variety of petroglyphs, including anthropomorphs (human-like figure), zoomorphs (animal-like figures), katsinas (spiritual figures, hands and tracks and geometrics can be found at Puerco Pueblo and at Newspaper Rock.
4. Points of Interest
There are a lot of other interesting places along the way, most of them related to petrified wood. Check out our waymarks for
Agate Bridge, Long Logs & Agate House Trails and the Giant Log Trail. Or, just click "Nearest Waymarks" and check out the neighborhood.
Our favorite place in the park is "Crystal Forest" That is the one we've chosen for the coordinates. If you are planning on only one stop throughout the entire park, make it here!
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Yes, these really are petrified trees! Click on the pictures to get larger images.
And these are not even the biggest ones. Old Faithful, 225 mil. years old and 9.5 ft. diameter is the largest tree in the park.
The sun has been shining on these trees for 225 million years!
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State/States the Park is located...: Arizona
Park Designation: Park (inc. National)
Times the Visitors Center (or Park) is Open....: From: 8:00 AM To: 5:00 PM
Months the Visitors Center/Park is open...: From: 01/01/2007 To: 12/31/2007
Website From the National Parks Service Page of this Waymark...: [Web Link]
Are pictures included?: yes
SECONDARY website.: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please post a picture or pictures with this log.
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