In September/October 2009, Debra and I spent three days in northern Arizona. Our “base camp” was the Little America Hotel in Flagstaff. It was an ideal location from which to take day trips to several “bucket-list” scenic attractions. Click HERE to read a short introduction to these stories.
This story, which is part of a series, is about our day trip to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.
This story, which is part of a series, is about our day trip to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.
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Northeastern Arizona (October 1, 2009) This was the last full day of our trip, and it was awesome, as Debra and I visited two attractions we had not seen before – Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert. The weather was picture-perfect for our excursion – mid-60s and nothing but blue sky!
We left Flagstaff midmorning and drove east on I-40, past the exits for Canyon Diablo (a ghost town) and Winslow (Now I’m a-standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona…). Neither was on our itinerary this day – perhaps, though, in the future. We took the exit 285 off ramp for Holbrook, and as we drove through town, we passed the Wigwam Motel, part of a small chain built in the 1930s and 1940s. There are 15 wigwams, like the one in this photo, built of poured concrete (and not animal skins!). Opened in 1950 alongside historic Route 66 (where you can “get your kicks”), this is one of three Wigwams still operating. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. Quirky, huh?!
We headed south on Apache Avenue and turned left on US-180, the road from Holbrook to the Petrified Forest National Park. As we made the turn, Debra spotted Jim Gray’s Petrified Wood Company and suggested we stop and shop.
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Jim and Cathy Gray started this business in 1971. They owned mineral rights near the national park. There they dug for petrified wood, which they cut and polished to create one-of-a-kind products ranging from decorative small objects to beautiful tabletops. The Gray’s also sold rocks and minerals, Navajo-made pottery, stone carvings, pieces of meteorites, jewelry, and more. I purchased a piece of polished petrified wood to display on a bookshelf at home, while Debra bought a pair of stone earrings.
Wood That Turned To Stone
We continued east on US-180 for 20 minutes to reach the south entrance for the Petrified Forest National Park. A road runs through the park, roughly south-to-north about 26 miles. There are visitor centers at both ends.
The Petrified Forest was declared a national monument in 1906 and upgraded to “national park” status in 1962. But the history of this site – the largest concentration of brilliantly colored petrified wood in the world – goes back more than 225 million years to the Late Triassic Epoch, near the beginning of the age of the dinosaurs.
We continued east on US-180 for 20 minutes to reach the south entrance for the Petrified Forest National Park. A road runs through the park, roughly south-to-north about 26 miles. There are visitor centers at both ends.
The Petrified Forest was declared a national monument in 1906 and upgraded to “national park” status in 1962. But the history of this site – the largest concentration of brilliantly colored petrified wood in the world – goes back more than 225 million years to the Late Triassic Epoch, near the beginning of the age of the dinosaurs.
This region was once covered by a dense forest of thick conifers that grew as tall as 200 feet. These trees were uprooted by floods and rapidly buried in sediment. Ash from nearby volcanoes added another layer of blanketing material. The sediment and ash shielded the trees from oxygen and significantly slowed the decaying process. Silica, calcite, and other minerals in the water and mud seeped into and replaced the organic material (wood fiber) of the trees, and then crystalized over a period of a few million years. What remained was essentially a rock, albeit a rock that often exhibited the shape and woody structure of the trees – bark, rings, and grain.
The term “petrified wood” was derived from the Latin root “petro” (“rock” or “stone”).
The term “petrified wood” was derived from the Latin root “petro” (“rock” or “stone”).
The journey not the arrival matters.
~ T.S. Eliot, poet and essayist
~ T.S. Eliot, poet and essayist
Debra and I parked near the visitor center to explore the “Rainbow Forest,” home to the highest concentration of petrified wood open to the public. There were two nearby trails – the Giant Logs Trail (0.4 miles) and the Long Logs Trail (1.6 miles). Both were easy “hikes,” and there were plenty of specimens along both trails.
At first, we saw rock- and boulder-size pieces of petrified wood.
At first, we saw rock- and boulder-size pieces of petrified wood.
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Soon though, Debra and I spotted a giant log, and then another (and then another…). It looked as if Paul Bunyan had swung his mighty ax to fell tree after tree!
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Many of the pieces of petrified wood we saw were quite colorful – a function of the mix and quantity of various minerals. For example, the presence of hematite produced red and the presence of goethite produced yellow. Debra and I thought these multicolored specimens were quite pretty!
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From the visitor center we drove to the most famous petrified log specimen in the park – the Agate Bridge. This log, which is 110 feet long, spanned a gully created when nature eroded the sandstone around and beneath it. Soon after the park opened, conservationists were afraid this log would collapse, so they installed a concrete slab under it in 1917.
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Near the north entrance we stopped at Puerco Pueblo to visit the ruins of an ancient village. Named for the nearby Puerco River, this village was one story high with more than 100 rooms – living quarters, storage chambers, kivas for ceremonial practices, and other special use spaces. Built of hand-carved sandstone around a rectangular plaza, it was home to about 200 people at its peak in the early 14th century.
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Debra and I walked alongside the ruins, which in most places were little more than foundational stones. Aided perhaps by my grade school lessons in U.S. history, I imagined this once-thriving settlement: Earth-toned walls that surrounded a plaza filled with people, chickens, and other domestic animals. Groups of square-formed rooms, each with a door, pressed against the walls. The swirl of smoke from fires to cook food and heat the rooms. It was a beautiful sight!
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Puerco Pueblo was also a great place to view ancient rock art – designs and symbols that were carved (petroglyphs) or painted (pictographs) on boulders and canyon walls by early Native Americans. There were few remining pictographs (weathered by the elements), but thousands of petroglyphs. Debra and I saw a handful of the latter as we walked a short distance by trail.
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The images were varied – people, other animals, geometric patterns, and shapes we couldn’t discern. The meaning of these images? No one really knows. The age of these images? Possibly a millennium old, based on the dating of artifacts found at Puerco Pueblo. It was amazing to see this early form of communication.
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A Landscape Painting That Came to Life
In the middle of the 15th century, Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led an expedition to find the fabled Seven Cities of Gold. He didn’t find even one, but Coronado did “discover” a very colorful expanse of rock formations in the desert, which he named El Desierto Pintado (“The Painted Desert”).
In the middle of the 15th century, Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led an expedition to find the fabled Seven Cities of Gold. He didn’t find even one, but Coronado did “discover” a very colorful expanse of rock formations in the desert, which he named El Desierto Pintado (“The Painted Desert”).
The sandstone and mudstone formations – stratified layers of sediment - were created over millions of years (in the same period as the Petrified Forest) by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods. The minerals in the sediment gave rise to a palette of colors – red, pink, gray, blue, lavender, and orange – in many shades and tones. As we gazed out on some of the formations, Debra and I were reminded of a multicolored layer cake!
The Painted Desert is vast – a 160-mile long crescent shaped arc that runs from the east end of the Grand Canyon to the north end of the Petrified Forest. It varies in width from 10 miles to 35 miles wide.
The visitor center was located 12 miles north of Puerco Pueblo. There we picked up a park map, and with map in hand, we drove along the short loop road. There were several lookout points along the way. We stopped at the Pintado Point Lookout, where we enjoyed spectacular views and talked with a park ranger.
The Painted Desert is vast – a 160-mile long crescent shaped arc that runs from the east end of the Grand Canyon to the north end of the Petrified Forest. It varies in width from 10 miles to 35 miles wide.
The visitor center was located 12 miles north of Puerco Pueblo. There we picked up a park map, and with map in hand, we drove along the short loop road. There were several lookout points along the way. We stopped at the Pintado Point Lookout, where we enjoyed spectacular views and talked with a park ranger.
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The Painted Desert, with its stunning landscape, was truly a place where art came to life!
It was late afternoon and we were on the road to Flagstaff, a 90-minute drive west on I-40. We passed Holbrook, Winslow, Canyon Diablo – our morning route in reverse. Debra and I talked about our day of sightseeing at two of Arizona’s natural wonders. As we talked, we began to organize our experiences into “memory folders,” which we will dust off from time to time to reminisce about our day in two of the most awesome places we have visited.
It was late afternoon and we were on the road to Flagstaff, a 90-minute drive west on I-40. We passed Holbrook, Winslow, Canyon Diablo – our morning route in reverse. Debra and I talked about our day of sightseeing at two of Arizona’s natural wonders. As we talked, we began to organize our experiences into “memory folders,” which we will dust off from time to time to reminisce about our day in two of the most awesome places we have visited.