Desert in arizona title. Petrified Forest (Petrified Forest) - how we went to Petrified Forest National Park. Here are the major cities and national parks closest to Petrified Forest

I left the story about the winter trip to Arizona without finishing it because of the new trip. But about him later.

Only the last day remained with the only planned place - Petrified Forest National Park (Petrified Forest). This park lies away from the clusters of attractions, although a large highway number 40 passes right through it, and next to it is the famous Route 66. There is no direct access to the park from any of these roads. There are only two official entrances.

The park certainly deserves a one-time visit, being very interesting geologically and paleologically and quite photogenic. For example, I had to break the pictures into three posts.

Unfortunately, it is arranged in such a way that almost everything that can be seen is located right next to the only paved road that pierces the park from north to south. There are very few hiking trails in the Petrified Forest, they are short (there are hard-to-reach exceptions!), very equipped and quite crowded.

Exploring the park from home, we chose a few one-mile walks: the Painted Desert Rim Trail - the colorful desert in the north of the park, the Blue Mesa Trail - the striped blue-purple hills in the center, and either Long Logs or Giant Logs - petrified trees in the south. It is not clear how I missed Jasper forest trail, limiting myself to the observation platform of the same name. It seems that it was there that the most spectacular photographs found on the net were taken.

We spent the night in the town of Holbrook near the northern entrance to the national park. The budget hotel Lexington Inn pleased with two things - four types of fresh berries for breakfast and Kachina Indian dolls in the lobby. Kachinas are not children's toys, but images of natural spirits and ancestral spirits - the traditional religion of the Hopi Indians. The kachinas are carved from Friemont Cottonwood poplar roots, painted and given various attributes according to their roles. The famous flutist Kokopelli is also a kachina. Here, on the site kachina.us, you can read more, of course, in English.

We tried to leave the hotel early in order to catch a good light on the hills of the colored desert. We could not get into the park at dawn, because it is closed for the night, and they start to let it in only at 8 in the morning. So the first rays of the sun were filmed on dolls and on a car that had become frosty during the night.

And so we left the car at the first observation deck of Tawa Point and walk along the path on the edge of the plateau. The colored desert lies below us. At the very bottom, very small chocolate cones are visible on purple placers. There are few of them.

The main colors are ocher of different saturation, pinkish ash, camouflage wormwood greens.

And dry herbs repeat the colors of the earth in reverse order.

At the "far" end of the trail, called Kachina Point, stands the historic Painted Desert Inn. The first hotel called Stone Tree House was opened here in the 20s of the last century, the building was built from petrified logs. In 1937-40 architect Lyle Bennett designed and built a new adobe-style building. And in 1947, Mary Jane Coltier (the one who built the watchtower in the Grand Canyon and the La Posada hotel in Winslow) renovated and expanded this hotel for the Fred Harvey Railroad. She also invited Hopi artist Fred Caboti to paint the walls of the hotel. We, unfortunately, did not see the frescoes because of too early time.

The hotel operated until 1963 and closed with the decline of the railroad. It was almost demolished in the seventies. In 1987, the building was declared a National Historic Landmark, and by 2006 it had been restored and opened to the public as a museum and book and gift shop.

Somewhere shortly before the intersection with Route-66, the park road leaves the colored desert.

Approximately in the middle of the park along the road are the bright striped hills of The Tepees (Tepees), so named because of their shape.

It is not allowed to get close to them, not to mention climb them - they are very dilapidated and loose, but you can admire them from a distance.

First, however, you can admire the rock-newspaper (Newspaper Rock) - a stone covered with petroglyphs. And you have to look at it from afar. Stationary telescopes installed on the observation platform help, or a longer lens.

And now - wigwams! From this side, however, they do not correspond to the name.

Correct angle.

And bigger.

But only in parts it turns out.

On the near ones, blue-purple stripes are clearly visible below. A very unusual color for stones. And not far from The Tepees, away from the main road, is Blue Mesa, all built from these ancient rocks. But about her separately.

The Colored Desert is part of the famous Grand Canyon and is part of the Petrified Trees National Park. A huge number of colored hills extend over an area of ​​​​almost 20,000 square kilometers. These places are located at an altitude of 1370 to 1980 meters above sea level.

We have already written about the Grand Canyon in a separate article, so let's go directly to the story of this amazing desert. Most of it is located on the territory of the Navajo Indian Reservation, who have lived in this area for many centuries.


The main distinguishing feature of the Colored Desert are multi-colored stripes stretching for tens of kilometers. Their color ranges from red, yellow and white to blue and lilac. Well, when hot winds raise colored dust, the most natural carnival of colors and a riot of flowers begins. Thousands of tourists and lovers of unusual places of our planet gather to look at these wonders.

The colored desert is barren, it is always very dry here, and once there was a lush coniferous forest, the fossilized remains of which are found by archaeologists. His death was caused by a volcanic eruption.


Together, all the colors form an amazing rainbow, stretched across the desert and its hills. As if colored waves shimmer over the hills and hills of these places.



It took nature millions of years to create this amazing canvas. Fracture of the earth's crust, ocean waters, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, erosion and the sun's rays - these are just a few of the messengers of nature who worked with this amazing picture and created one of the most unique landscapes on the planet.



It is also worth noting that each of the flowers was formed in a certain era, the layers overlapped each other like a pie, and this process is still ongoing. One can only guess how the Colored Desert will surprise our future descendants

The Colored Desert is part of the famous Grand Canyon and is part of the Petrified Trees National Park. A huge number of colored hills extend over an area of ​​​​almost 20,000 square kilometers. These places are located at an altitude of 1370 to 1980 meters above sea level.

Most of it is located on the territory of the Navajo Indian Reservation, who have lived in this area for many centuries. The main distinguishing feature of the Colored Desert are multi-colored stripes stretching for tens of kilometers. Their color ranges from red, yellow and white to blue and lilac. Well, when hot winds raise colored dust, a carnival of colors and a riot of flowers begins. Thousands of tourists and lovers of unusual places of our planet gather to look at these wonders. The colored desert is barren, it is always very dry here, and once there was a lush coniferous forest, the fossilized remains of which are found by archaeologists. The cause of his death was a volcanic eruption. Together, all the colors form an amazing rainbow, stretched across the desert and its hills. Allegedly colored waves shimmer over the hills and hills of these places. It took nature millions of years to create this amazing canvas. Fracture of the earth's crust, ocean waters, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, erosion and the sun's rays - these are just a few of the messengers of nature who worked with this amazing picture and created one of the unique landscapes of the planet. It is also worth noting that each of the flowers was formed in a certain era, the layers overlapped each other like a pie, and this process is still ongoing. One can only guess how the Colored Desert will surprise our future descendants.

But the park is not famous for this, but for the fact that dinosaur bones are found among its colorful badlands, and most importantly, trees petrified in antiquity! The states are famous for their passion for dinosaurs. Almost every city in the US has its own dinosaur museum. Everyone loves dinosaurs! So we decided to come to the Petrified Forest National Park and look at this miracle. And now I’m telling you how to get to the petrified trees, the best way to build a route through the park, what you need to see how long it will take to visit, where it’s more convenient to spend the night nearby and, of course, I will show photos of dinosaur skeletons and trees that turned into stones!

national park Petrified forest was founded in 1905, first as a national monument, and then in 1962 became a national park. Its territory is divided into two parts: the Petrified Forest itself (Petrifide Forest) and the northern part of the Painted Desert, that is, the Painted Desert. Just between them is the legendary route 66 ( Route 66) - the road that many tourists from those who travel dream of driving.

Park map

• One of the unusual attractions in Petrified Forest Park is an old cafe and hotel. Painted Desert Inn on the old Route 66 (I-40), where all travelers should definitely make a stop. In their well-preserved interiors, you can feel like in the 50s of the last century.
• It will also be interesting to admire from the observation platforms located on a hill, unusual red and pink hills in the desert right in front of them. This is a type of erosional landscape, unsuitable for agricultural activities, which, however, can be very spectacular.

The main part of Petrified Forest Park is located south of Route 66 and has not only found dinosaur skeletons, which are exhibited in the main visitor center Rainbow Forest Museum, but also trees buried in the Tertiary period. These trees are no longer trees at all, but stones. They have completely lost their cellular structure, but they still look like someone has spread logs across the fields. And here, too, there are badland hills, several Indian ruins and stones with petroglyphs.

Interesting to know: Many well-preserved dinosaur skeletons can be seen in the park of the same name in Utah -.

Petrified Forest Park, in my opinion, is one of the most unique national parks in the United States. There is no other like it. We can say that he is not even inferior to even the famous! And I think that it is a must to visit during your own.

stone block

You drive like this along the road, the stumps lie. Yes, but they are just nothing - a few million years. And then you realize that you are in the very heart of America, in the very place where people learn for years to be not who they are. The appearance is one, but the content does not match it.

So the petrified forest sins the same. These once powerful trees grew in Arizona at a time when there was a completely different climate. Since all the continents were united into one, and Arizona was just in the center of Pangea, and the equator passed here and the tropics reigned. Giant trees adorned the local forests, and dinosaurs roamed in search of food and entertainment.

Now we don’t have many giant and ancient trees left on earth: baobabs in Madagascar, or.

And now this is what is left of the former splendor

I think I've given enough reasons for you to come to Petrified Forest by now. So you can check the current and current situation in terms of weather or force majeure on the official website of the park, but for now I will tell you how we arrived at this park and other useful information.

How to get there

Petrified Forest Park is located on Highway 40 in the US state of Arizona, 26 miles from the city of Holbrook and 50 miles from the New Mexico border. To be more precise, the park is located between two highways - 40th and 180th.

Here are the major cities and national parks closest to Petrified Forest:

• Phoenix - 190 miles southwest
• Albuquerque - 230 miles east
• - 350 miles northwest
• - 120 miles west
• Tucson - 240 miles south
• — 170 miles to the northwest.
• - 350 miles west

We came to Petrified Forest Park from Holbrook. And before that, all day long they admired the landscapes of Arizona on the way to it in small national monuments, and which are located around Flagstaff. We spent the night in Holbrook and in the morning drove to Petrified Forest. It's only 17 miles from the city center to the south entrance, and we arrived just in time for the opening of the museum.

By the way, in October it was quite cold in the park, since its territory is located at an altitude of 1700-1800 meters above sea level.

But we left through the northern entrance and went further to the national monument.

Thus, the park has two entrances: southern and northern.

• South entrance located on highway 180 and suitable for those who first want to see the petrified trees. There is also Rainbow Forest Museum. Here you need to take a map of the park, you can get acquainted with the sights of the park according to the film, as well as see exhibits, dinosaur skeletons!
• north entrance located on Highway 40, accessed via exit 311 into the Painted Desert area. Here are located Painted Desert Visitor Center(where you can also get maps and watch a short film about the park) and Painted Desert Inn National Historical Landmark, an old hotel made of red unburned bricks.

To get from the northern part to the southern one, you need to drive along the road with viewpoints. Its length is 6 miles. And then under the bridge (highway 40) move to the main part of the park. This road is 22 miles long.

Opening hours

• Petrified Forest Park is open all year except for Christmas.
• Opening hours of the park and its visitor centers - 8:00 - 17:00
• The Painted Desert Inn is open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. There is also a cafe Painted Desert Diner(open 8:00 - 16:00). You can see the menu.

Cost of visiting

Like many other national parks in the United States (except), Petrified Forest Park is paid.

You can buy a ticket at the entrance. It will be valid for seven days.

• by car — $20
• on a motorcycle — $15
• by bike or on foot - $10

If you wish, you can purchase annual subscriptions:

• only to Petrified Forest - $30
• to all national parks and monuments of the USA - $80

Where to sleep near Petrified Forest

There are no lodges on the territory of Petrified Forest Park, like in or in. And there is not even a single campsite, as in almost all other national parks, since at night it is closed to visitors. By the way, there are also no campsites in another national park - in the state of New Mexico.

But only 42 km from the northern entrance and 27 km from the southern entrance to Petrified Forest is the city of Holbrook, where you can find good hotels.

• The best is considered Best Western Arizonian Inn for the price of only approx. $100 with a good breakfast if booked in advance.
• Cheapest place to stay 66 Motel behind $41 .
• And when we came to look at the Petrified Forest, we decided to spend the night in a new Motel 6(price $50 ), which we really liked.

We arrived in Holbrook late in the evening, spent the night in a comfortable room, and in the morning went to inspect the unique trees. Then in October it was quite cold there in the morning, so I do not regret that we lived in a hotel and not in a tent.

There are not as many interesting places and attractions in the Petrified Trees Park as in the more popular national parks or, and it is much smaller in size. However, there is also something to see here.

Attractions Petrified Forest (clickable, click to enlarge)

What to see in Petrified Forest Park

First of all, we went to the Rainbow Forest Museum ( Rainbow Forest Museum), which opens at 8:00. Here you can completely immerse yourself in the atmosphere of antiquity, wander with dinosaurs and learn about everything that happened in Arizona in ancient times and how, according to scientists, petrified trees were formed.

As always, volcanoes are to blame for everything, they destroy and create everything on our planet. Volcanic eruptions and subsequent rains and floods buried the trees in the soil layers, where they lay for many millions of years. And when the soil and the softer layers of the Earth's surface were scattered on different sides, when the local plateau sank, leaving stronger words above and forming, the treasures hidden underground were also revealed.

rainbow stump

And the former trees, which retained their shape, appeared before us already as a stone with a high content of iron or quartz crystals or even amethyst. They are really almost impossible to distinguish from ordinary fallen trees. And only by touching it with your hand, you can understand that it is a cold stone.

These are such terrible monsters

Trail Giant logs (Giant logs)

The trail starts right behind the museum. Giant log trail 400 m long, along which you can see giant logs.

Here are collected the largest and most colorful chumps and trunks of petrified trees. The largest of them even got a name - Old Faithful— An old servant. Quite like. Its width is almost three meters!

Some force scattered the logs, broke them

Trail Crystal Forest

Then we got into the car, drove deep into the park and stopped at the parking lot Crystal Forest parking are a to walk around Crystal Forest Trail through the crystal forest .

• Trail length – 1.2 km
• Time for a walk - 20-30 minutes

Here the stumps are lying right by the badlands

Some, like a sausage, are neatly cut and lie like that!

In this part of the park, massive stumps or collapsed trunks are mainly collected, in which you can see the sparkle of amethyst and quartz. That is why the forest got its name. In my opinion, here are the most beautiful stumps of Petrified Forest Park. They are more like giant gems. Although in the context you can see the annual rings!

We wandered around here for quite a long time and did not even notice that the time we had allocated for exploring the park had come to an end. And we quickly drove on, making a promise to ourselves to return to the Petrified Forest one day. This is a very interesting phenomenon!

Colored Desert

In the northern part of the Petrified Forest National Park, right on the historic route number 66 (leading to), there is a historic hotel built from adobe Painted Desert Inn from where the best views of the Colored Desert open. There is a small trail to stretch your legs and several lookouts. The desert will be far enough away, but its pink hues are still amazing.

A trail has been laid between the two observation decks Tawa Point and Kachina Point Painted Desert Rim Trail 1.6 km long. So you can either drive a car between the viewpoints and go out only at the observation platforms, or take a little walk.

Looking around the colorful desert from a distance with the naked eye, we decided that this was enough for us. But there is another option, go on a long trail, as they say on the poster, at your own peril and risk, where there is nowhere to wait for help, where insidious animals and spiders lie in wait, as well as the merciless sun. It is forbidden to walk there at night, and even more so to put up a tent. As you can see, the adventure should be interesting, but we didn't have time for it. Yes, and we already got to know the colored hills very closely in Oregon, in the national monument.

We stopped by this part to get an impression of the surroundings of the petrified tree trunks. As it turns out, the Colored Desert is a later layering, and even more interesting wonders can be hidden under its sands.

And here is our Video Painted Desert:

Our next stop was the Painted Desert Inn. It is possible that the builders of the hotel did not know about this, but it is located in a good place. Its interior has not changed since the 50-60s. There are posters for films from that era. Prices in the cafe are the same as before. True, you can’t drink coffee for 10 cents here!

Painted Desert Inn

The Painted Desert Inn has become a true museum of a bygone era that travelers on Route 66 try to recreate in their imagination. For Americans, the Wild West and freedom of movement of those years is the romantic image of true America, the American dream.

old menu

The walls of the hotel are decorated with works of Pueblo Indians.

Sun

An example of petroglyphs found in the Petrified Forest. Similar to drawings of Indians in

This concludes our visit to the park with petrified trees. But we realized that we did not have time to see many of its interesting parts, as we were in a hurry and just drove by. Therefore, we hope to return to Petrified Forest during our next trips to the USA.