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Petrified Forest National Park Review

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Petrified Forest National Park

Address: North Entrance: I-40, Milepost 311, 27 mi east of Holbrook, Petrified Forest, AZ
Phone: 928/524-6228
www.nps.gov/pefo

Category: Parks
Location: The Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert

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Fodor's Review:

A visit to the Petrified Forest is a trip back in geological time. In 1984 the fossil remains of one of the oldest dinosaurs ever unearthed—dating from the Triassic period of the Mesozoic era 225 million years ago—were discovered here; other plant and animal fossils in the park date from the same period. Remnants of ancient human beings and their artifacts, dating back 10,000 years, have been recovered at more than 500 sites in this national park.

The park derives its name from the grounds that are covered with petrified tree trunks whose wood cells were replaced over centuries by brightly hued mineral deposits—silica, iron oxide, manganese, aluminum, copper, lithium, and carbon. In many places, petrified logs scattered about the landscape resemble a fairy-tale forest turned to stone. The park's 93,000 acres doubled to nearly 186,000 acres with new land acquisition in 2005, but most of this new area will remain as backcountry. Included in the park are portions of the vast, pink-hue lunarlike landscape known as the Painted Desert. In the northern area of the park, this colorful but essentially barren series of windswept plains, hills, and mesas is considered by geologists to be part of the Chinle formation, deposited at an early stage of the Triassic period. At midday the park may seem bland; to appreciate the colors visit before 10 AM and after 2 PM.

Visitors can begin the 28-mi drive through the park either from the northern Interstate 40 entrance or the southern entrance off U.S. 180. Those continuing on to New Mexico should enter from the park's south entrance, ending up with Interstate 40's straight shot over the border toward Albuquerque. Visitors with accommodations in Holbrook should tour the park from south end to north end, saving dramatic sunset vistas of the Painted Desert for last. As you leave the park, rangers will question you to be certain you haven't been tempted to collect a souvenir of petrified wood.

Cost: $10 per vehicle or $5 per person on foot, bicycle, motorcycle, or bus, valid for seven days
Open: Daily 8-5 except for Christmas Day. Extended summer hours; call for information.

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