7 Things to Do in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
Red-colored badlands, blue-banded rock formations, a historic auto route, Native American sites and fossilized trees make up the remarkably varied landscape of Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
Named for its huge density of petrified logs, this is one of the world’s best places to see fossils from the Late Triassic, which was basically the dawn of the dinosaurs. It’s that long ago.
The things to do in Petrified Forest National Park outlined in this post will allow you to walk where dinosaurs roamed and to stand where ancient forests fell.
You’ll explore an ancient river system that would’ve put every other river in the world today to shame.
These arid landscapes may seem desolate and empty, but a closer look reveals an age-old geological and natural experiment that’s still ongoing to this day.
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7 Things to Do in Petrified Forest National Park
One of the three national parks in Arizona, Petrified Forest deserves at least one full day and one night of your time.
It’s not the biggest of America’s national parks, though, and there’s only one road, running from north to south through the park. This allows you to see every single attraction, in depth and at your own pace.
I’ve listed the following things to do in Petrified Forest National Park in order, in a north-south direction. Upon entering the park in the north and driving south, this is the order you’ll come across the top Petrified Forest highlights.
1. Backpack and Camp in the Painted Desert
There are no designated campgrounds or other accommodations in Petrified Forest National Park, but you needn’t worry. You can still pitch a tent. In fact, camping in the Painted Desert is the best wild camping I’ve ever done and I highly recommend it. The night sky is phenomenal.
A huge area of red-and-purple-colored badlands in northern Arizona, the Painted Desert stretches from just east of Grand Canyon National Park eastward into Petrified Forest National Park. Much of the desert lies in the Navajo Nation.
The Painted Desert makes up the northern part of Petrified Forest National Park, which is the most easily accessible area in this entire desert.
From Kachina Point near the Painted Desert Inn, a National Historic Landmark and now housing a small museum, you can descend into the badlands.
One of the best backpacking trips in America’s national parks, the trail only runs for about a mile, until you’re in officially designated wilderness. From there onward, there are no trails and you’re free to wander around as you please.
When you’re going on a Painted Desert camping trip, make sure that you have a map, compass and a sufficient amount of water. In terms of Petrified Forest National Park activities, this one was my personal favorite.
2. See the Old Studebaker on Old Route 66
Fun fact: Petrified Forest National Park is the only national park in America that’s home to a section of Old Route 66.
Although there’s no actual road anymore, its outline is still visible in the form of old telephone poles and an old roadbed. When driving the park’s main road southward, you’ll intersect Old Route 66 shortly after leaving the Painted Desert rim.
The main attraction here is the Old Studebaker, a rusty shell of a car that characterizes the demise of this once-thriving highway.
It’s quite a photogenic spot and it’s just cool to stand in a national park and on the remains of one of the world’s most iconic roads.
3. Visit Puerco Pueblo
Like so many other places on the Colorado Plateau, this area, too, has a rich Native American history. The best example of this is Puerco Pueblo, the ruins of ancestral Puebloan homes.
Situated near the Puerco River, this site consisted of more than 100 individual rooms, possibly housing more than 200 people in its heyday.
That heyday was between 1250 and 1380, after which climate change forced the Puebloans to leave their homes and move to more livable regions. Nowadays, only sandstone bricks, the outline of the structures, earthenware, stone tools and petroglyphs remain.
4. See Native American Petroglyphs
This brings us seamlessly to the next of these things to do in Petrified Forest National Park. Near Puerco Pueblo, a 0.3-mile (500-meter) hiking trail leads to a couple of overlooks where you can see petroglyphs.
Images carved into rocks, petroglyphs are found all over the American Southwest. You can also see them in other national parks like Joshua Tree, Capitol Reef and Mesa Verde.
They mark everything from astrological events such as solstices and equinoxes to everyday activities, migratory routes and clan or family symbols.
Just south of Puerco Pueblo, Newspaper Rock features over 650 petroglyphs, some of which date back more than 2,000 years. The huge concentration of these prehistoric rock carvings makes this an extraordinarily significant historic site.
5. Drive Through the Teepees
After the red landscapes of the Painted Desert, the Teepees announce your arrival in a quite different area of the park. These striking rock formations, shaped like teepees or haystacks, are made up of bands of red, grey, blue, purple and white rock.
The park’s main road runs right through them, a rather unique sight that’s worth stopping for.
6. Explore the Blue Mesa
One of the greatest things to do in Petrified Forest National Park—my second favorite, after camping in the Painted Desert—is hiking in the Blue Mesa.
A richly varied palette of colors, including reds, blues, purples and pinks, makes this one of the most striking desert landscapes anywhere in America. No exaggeration!
You can explore the Blue Mesa by car on a 3.5-mile (5.6-kilometer) loop drive off the main road, stopping at several scenic viewpoints on the way. The better option, however, is to go for a hike.
A one-mile hiking trail dives down toward the mesa’s floor, looping around, through and underneath these spectacular rock formations. If you’re driving from north to south, this is also most likely where you’ll spot your first collections of petrified wood.
7. Hike the Crystal Forest, Long Logs and Giant Logs Trails
The southern part of the park is where you’ll find most of the petrified wood, the park’s namesake feature and one of the main Petrified Forest National Park attractions. There are a few different, short hiking trails through fields of petrified logs. I suggest you do them all.
My personal favorite was the Crystal Forest Trail, an easy 0.75-mile (1.2-kilometer) loop. Of all these things to do at Petrified Forest National Park, this one is the most essential to really understand why this park is so exceptional.
Petrified wood is literally a tree that’s been turned into stone. These fossil are ancient, dating back an incredible 225 million years—that’s basically when the dinosaurs first appeared.
Mighty rivers carried huge numbers of trees to floodplains, where volcanic ash buried them before they had the chance to decompose. Silica-rich groundwater found its way into the wood, over time crystallizing into all kinds of colorful minerals such as iron, manganese and quartz.
This resulted in the kaleidoscope of bright colors in the hundreds of broken petrified logs that line these hiking trails. Petrified Forest is easily one of the best national parks to see fossils.
Petrified Forest National Park is a place that’ll surprise you, fascinate you, educate you and inspire you. Simply put, it’ll put you in your place.
It’ll make you realize how insignificant you—and humans as a species—really are. There were many worlds before humans came along and there will be worlds we can’t even imagine after we’re gone.
In my opinion, this is one of the best national parks in America for some historical and natural perspective. That’s exactly why I loved this park so much and why I think you will, too.
Accommodation Near Petrified Forest
There is no accommodation inside the park’s boundaries. The only way to spend the night in Petrified Forest National Park is on an overnight backcountry hike.
I can’t recommend this enough.
It’s the absolutely perfect way to get a feel for this unique park. Consider heading into the wilderness in the Painted Desert for a night under the stars, in complete solitude.
Remember that you need to get a free backcountry permit if you want to go wilderness camping. You can get those at the two visitor centers.
If you’re looking for “actual” accommodation near Petrified Forest, the surrounding towns have their fair share of motels and hotels.
Other Southwestern U.S. National Parks to Explore
- Death Valley National Park Attractions
- Canyonlands National Park Attractions
- Joshua Tree National Park Attractions
- Mesa Verde National Park Attractions
- Grand Canyon National Park Attractions
- Capitol Reef National Park Attractions
- Arches National Park Attractions
- Great Sand Dunes National Park Attractions
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