Painted Desert or Petrified Forest?
 

Due to time constraints, my husband and I have a choice between visiting the Petrified Forest or the Painted Desert.

Advice welcome.

MoMeck

If you go to the Painted Desert you will be only 40 minutes away from the Hopi First Mesa with the ancient clifftop village of Walpi (circa 900 A.D.), and which serves as a major center for authentic Hopi pottery, paintings, and carvings.

It was a long time ago, but I found the Painted Desert more interesting than the Petrified Forest. But as mentioned above, both can be done in the same day.

If you are short on time, I recommend visiting Petrified Forest. You will find stone trees and great views all in one spot, so you can see a lot even on a brief visit.

If you like finding petroglyphs there are some nice ones very close to the road through petrified Forrest