On this trip we were staying in a KOA camp just north of Flagstaff. It had been a while since we last visited Petrified Forest National Park, so we dedicated this day to a thorough visit. It's about a 90 minute drive along I-40, from Flagstaff to the Park entrance.

9:13 a.m.
To get to the Visitor Center, take Exit 311 off of Interstate 40. We stopped to look around and used the restrooms, then we drove on through the Painted Desert Loop. There is also a small grocery store and gift shop in this area. Drinking water is available as well.

Our first stop was Tiponi Point where we viewed the subtle colors of the local badlands. The recent rains had brought out the colors and made them more vivid. And since the air was also clear, we got some really nice photos.

From there we drove on to Tawa Point, where we viewed more of the Painted Desert and hiked the one mile round trip Rim Trail to Kachina Point and the Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark. The scenery was wonderful, but we really fell in love with the Inn. We spent some time there looking around because it has been renovated and is a very nice adobe building, with lots of levels and rooms and patios. We would like to use it as a model for our home or an inn if we ever win the lottery. We can dream. There are restrooms at the Inn.

Then we hiked back to Tawa Point and then drove on to Chinde Point, where there are restrooms and picnic tables. From there much of the badlands started looking the same, so we only pulled into Pintado Point, Nizhoni Point, Whipple Point, and Lacey Point. Then we continued on south into the petrified forest part of the Park. On the way we passed a small monument to the old historic Route 66, just before the Park road passes over Interstate 40.

Our next stop was Puerco Pueblo, where we walked the short paved loop trail around the hill top ruins. These ruins are not as impressive as at some other places, and remind me of the ruins at Tusayan within the Grand Canyon National Park. But what I enjoyed the most was the rock art carved onto several of the large boulders along the edge of the canyon below. Of course, probably due to vandalism, we could only get so close, so it was difficult to really see some of it. And it was even more difficult to get a good photo. But it was still an enjoyable jaunt around the site. There are restrooms at this stop.

From there we drove on to Newspaper Rock, where we spotted a couple of crows hamming it up for us tourists. They let us get pretty close and I took a couple of photos. It was getting kind of windy by this time, but the sky was still clear.

This stop has a short walk out to an overlook, where you can view the rock art covered boulders down below. It’s a shame that we can’t get down to them, but, once again, selfish individuals make it tough for the rest of us. There are quite a few large stone surfaces covered with petroglyphs just below the overlook, and visible on may of the other stones. Without a good zoom or telephoto lens I wasn’t able to get many good shots.

From there we drove through an area called The Tepees, where there are several cone shaped formations made up of white clay, looking a bit like a Native village.

From there we drove on to Blue Mesa.

12:18 p.m.
There are a couple of pull-outs along the loop portion of the Blue Mesa road, where there are many reddish colored petrified logs scattered about. Many form the top of the eroding landscape, as they are the hardest substance among the softer clays and shales. There are pieces of petrified wood scattered all over the hillsides.

There were also lots of tourists along this loop, especially around the Blue Mesa trailhead. We stopped briefly and got to see a herd of about 15 pronghorns, including males and females and young ones. We both in need of a restroom (too much tea for breakfast), so we drove on down to the Agate Bridge area. We figured that we would view that area, eat our lunch, then drive back up to Blue Mesa to do the hike.

1:07 p.m. (Arizona Time)
There were quite a few tourists at the Agate Bridge site as well. The Bridge is a long petrified log that is suspended over a small creek. The soft soil beneath it has washed out, leaving the log as a natural bridge. Years ago the Park Service build a concrete support beneath it to give it support. Although the concrete diminishes the effect of the log, without it the log would be long gone and we would not have gotten to witness this amazing bridge.

It was 74 degrees and really windy, so we had to prepare our lunch (sandwiches) in the backseat area of the cab. Then we opened the cover over the back to act as a bit of a wind break so that we could keep our chips from blowing off of the plates.

After we ate we headed back north to Blue Mesa where there were fewer people than before. We took the short hike down into the gullies surrounded by purple banded clays. It’s a small badlands area with lots of color and lots of petrified wood scattered about. There is a loop trail that requires a short but steep climb out. It’s kind of a fun little hike.

From there we drove on to the Jasper Forest, where there are tons of petrified wood pieces scattered across a shallow basin. Apparently there had been more in the past, but selfish tourists collected tons of the stuff for their private enjoyment.

From there we drove on to Crystal Forest, where there is a short loop trail around another area covered by petrified wood. There were a lot of people out along this trail, but there are some amazingly large petrified trees along the way.

From there we drove through an area known as The Flattops, below Puerco Ridge, and on to the Rainbow Forest Museum. There is a large parking lot here, with a grocery store and gift shop, restrooms, drinking water, and access to several trails.

We passed through the Museum and hiked around the Giant Logs area first. Then we walked over to the trailhead for the trail that leads out to the Long Logs and Agate House. This is a two mile long round trip, with the first half over a paved path that used to be a road. The second half of the hike, from the Long Logs out to Agate House, is over a natural surface.

We skipped the Long Logs on the way out and went directly to the Agate House. There was only one other couple out on the trail, so we had the place to ourselves. This is a pueblo on the top of a hill that is built completely of chunks of petrified wood. There is one room that has been reconstructed, including the roof. The other rooms are just sketched in so that you can see the floor plan. It’s pretty interesting and quite different from the usual adobe and stone dwellings that we usually see.

On the way back in we took the Long Logs Loop trail. There are some amazingly long specimens of petrified logs along this paved path. We were out there by ourselves.

From there we walked back to the parking lot, visited the museum one final time, then headed back to Flagstaff through the south entrance to the Park. The time was about 4:15 p.m. It was 72 degrees out and windy. We headed west on Highway 180, toward Holbrook. We arrived back at our cabin in Flagstaff at 6:02 p.m.