This national park is kind of out of the way if based in Phoenix or Tucson, being a driving distance of 3.25hrs and 4.5hrs respectively. In my opinion, it is worth the drive.
This national forest gets its name from the fossils that are prevalent in this part of Arizona and can be found in only a few other areas in the United States (Washington, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas). More specifically, the name refers to petrified wood. As best as I can understand it, plant material somehow gets buried by sediment and then, some years later (I don’t know how long, I’m not a scientist!) water rushes through it and replaces it with minerals and inorganic matter, leaving behind the fossil we call petrified wood.
What’s even crazier than me trying to explain how petrified wood is made is how much it looks like actual wood! I went into this experience knowing nothing about petrified wood and, at first, I thought it was just a bunch of big tree trunks that everyone was cooing at. I didn’t even bat an eye because, well, it’s Arizona, maybe they’ve never seen big trees that aren’t trying to stab them before.
And then it happened. The light hit just right and the damn thing sparkled. They ask you not to touch, and especially not to take, so I did my best to get as close as possible and snap photo after photo to get a really good look at it’s surface. It’s not wood at all! That wood’s gon’. It’s just sparkly rock stuff.
If that’s not enough to knock your socks off, the views all around this national park are breath-taking. One disadvantage to the park is that it is primarily a driving park– meaning, to get from one vista to another you should drive. This seems to be a theme for Arizona’s national parks. But there’s a new, beautiful vista what feels like every 5 minutes or so and it is nearly impossible not to stop and get out and take photos and bask in the view. I was sure my adventure friend was going to kill me!
If interested in purchasing some legally obtained pieces of petrified wood, there are plenty of stores around and a few national park gift shops to peruse. And for a cool $1500 you could buy a whole tree trunk, if you felt so inclined. I made due with a super cute coaster!
Highlights included Petrified Forest Scenic Drive, Blue Mesa Trail, Puerco Pueblo Trail, and Giant Logs Trail. We started at the Painted Desert Visitor Center and worked our way down!
Along the Scenic Drive 
Along the Scenic Drive 
Along the Scenic Drive 
Along the Scenic Drive 
Along the Scenic Drive– those lumps are petrified logs! 
Blue Mesa Trail 
Blue Mesa Trail 
Puerco Pueblo Trail 
Puerco Pueblo Trail 
Giant Logs Trail 
Giant Logs Trail 
Giant Logs Trail 
Giant Logs Trail 
Giant Logs Trail 
Giant Logs Trail