Here on day two, we are going to see a lot of stuff that isn’t necessarily that close together. One thing that Charlotte gets aggravated with me about when we travel is packing too much into one day. But you can’t check into a motel until after 3 so I stay out on the road until then or usually well after. I mean what are you going to do sit in a room when you can be seeing stuff you have read/heard about all your life. And think about it as you head west you gain time…well clock time because they are behind the east coast on the clock….. And Arizona does not observe daylight savings time, so you gain the Pacific coast time very early in this trip.
This park is a twofer. Not only is the Petrified Forest here but the Painted Desert as well.
This has to be one of the easiest National Parks to get to as Interstate 40 runs right through it, and it has its own exit.
Petrified Forest National Park lies 26 miles east of Holbrook Arizona along Interstate 40, old US 66, BNSF Railroad’s Southern Transcon and the Puerco River all running through the park roughly east to west along a similar route. Petrified Foerst National Park contains 221,000 acres and has roughly 1/2 million visitors a year. This surprises me as it is so easy to get to from a very major highway. The park lies at an average elevation of just over 5400 feet. The climate is dry and windy. Summer temperatures get well over 100 and winter temps well below freezing. And it’s windy.
The Painted Desert Inn was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1937-1941. Today it is a museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places due to some of the construction actually using local petrified wood. Notice that flag standing straight out. That’s because it’s windy.
We went into the visitor center to watch the park film, a must for Charlotte and do some shopping. It’s best to do this now as when you drive through the park you are going to end up near Holbrook with a short drive back to I -40. There is a small Visitor Center there, but this is the main one.
We spent the most time in the Painted Desert.
The Painted Desert is a badlands in Arizona running from the east end of the Grand Canyon into the Petrified Forest. It was named by Coronado’s expedition who called the colorful area ‘El Desierto Pintado’. The desert covers roughly 7500 square miles.
As you leave the visitor center you are beginning a 28-mile drive through this wonderland. There are many viewpoints and a couple short hikes especially at the Blue Mesa and in the Petrified Forest.
The Petrified Forest National Park was established as a National Monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt at the urging of John Muir who came to the area in hopes that the dry desert heat would be beneficial to his ailing daughter’s health.
In 1962 John F. Kennedy upgraded the area to National Park status during his presidency.
This is the only National Park that celebrates US Route 66. Besides the car, you can trace the old route by following the telephone poles on the left side of the picture.
One of our favorite parts of this park was the Blue Mesa area. Here we got out to hike the Blue Mesa trail. It was so windy that it blew momma off the trail about a 1/4 mile in, so we gave it up. It was a very pretty area. Oh, did I mention it’s WINDY. 💨
We also liked the Tepees.
By the time we got to Jasper Forest which has a lot of petrified trees we had seen so much that it wasn’t all that exciting except for the vast amounts of petrified trees that were there.
The petrification process occurs when the wood is buried cutting off oxygen. Tree cells are invaded and replaced over time by silica rich fluids creating a quartz like material. Different colors come from different silica such as opal, calcite, pyrite, native copper, agate etc.
According to the ranger this area was once a log jam on an ancient river. After our stop at Jasper Forest, we finished our tour of the beautiful area and headed for Holbrook and our next adventure. And to get out of the WIND!
