Petrified Forest National Park ⓘ

Petrified Forest has over 300,000 objects cataloged in its Museum Collection. And more are being added all the time. The collection is as varied as the park itself, containing fossils, ancient pottery, photographs, paintings, plant and animal specimens, superintendents' notes, stone tools, furniture, and much more. The objects are preserved and protected within special containers and cabinets, and taken care of by a professional curator. Some items are put out for display. In a park that celebrates its active research, the curator is kept very busy.

Every park site has a collection, making the National Park Service a huge repository of items important to the cultural and natural history of the country. You can virtually explore the NPS Museum Collections .

Do you collect snapshots and items from your travels? Perhaps you have albums full of childhood photos? Petrified Forest has many photographs in its collection, some taken by park staff and others donated by visitors. Check out a sample of park pictures at the Arizona Memory Project .

Paleoindian 13,500 to 6,000 BCE At the end of the last Ice Age, the Southwest region was very different than today: higher rainfall, cooler average temperatures, green grasslands, wooded river bottoms. Paleoindians were highly mobile groups who gathered food and hunted large animals like mammoth and bison. They found the Petrified Forest area a highly attractive, resource-rich setting.

Paleoindian groups are known for their large, well-made projectile points used for hunting game. At Petrified Forest, the people used petrified wood to create a range of different types of stone tools. Early Paleoindian groups, with their distinctive elegant fluting of projectile points, help define the Clovis and Folsom Cultures of these ancient people. Folsom, Clovis, and later Paleoindian camps have been found within Petrified Forest National Park.

Archaic 6,000 to 500 BCE The post-Ice Age climate became warmer and dryer, causing megafauna like the mammoth to go extinct. People had to broaden their food sources to include many different species of plants and animals. Though still mobile, they decreased how far they moved around the landscape. The decreased mobility and wider range of food sources set the stage for domesticating plants and animals. At the end of the period, corn was introduced from further south, starting a dramatic change in how people lived. Artifacts of this period are more diverse, including stone tools as well as one-handed manos and basin metates used to grind maize.

Basketmaker 500 BCE to 650 CE By this period the park's climate had become similar to what we experience today. The Basketmaker people built more permanent villages consisting of slab-lined pit houses. They focused on farming, growing corn, squash, and eventually beans. But the remains of small game (such as rabbits) show further diversity in their diet.

Sivu'ovi is the largest known Basketmaker II village in the park, consisting of at least 47 pit houses and numerous storage pits. It is currently thought that Sivu'ovi was occupied seasonally, when the surrounding lands could be farmed. Artifacts found there include Adamana Brown-style pottery, some of the earliest ceramics in northern Arizona.

Pueblo I 650 to 950 CE The transition into Pueblo Periods shows that people were becoming even more fixed to one place on the landscape. People began to build more substantial above-ground structures, moving out of their pit houses and into the clusters of stone structures we call pueblos .

The use of ceramics for cooking and storage was very important. Today, these are the most common artifacts found at Pueblo sites. Ceramics changed from plain brown and gray vessels to corrugated varieties for cooking and storage, and more decorative types with intricate black-on-white designs.

Pueblo II-III 950 to 1300 CE The Pueblo II and III periods span momentous times in the Southwest. The settlement at Chaco Canyon ushered a sphere of influence that spanned the Four Corners region, marked by increased village sizes, new architecture, and introduction of ceremonial kivas.

Ceramics during this period show increased diversity of designs, going from corrugated and black-on-white pottery to black-on-red and polychrome pottery as well. At Petrified Forest, the use of petrified wood as a building material became popular, creating the "agate houses" throughout the park.

Pueblo IV 1300 to 1540 CE The Petrified Forest lies at the crossroads of major migration and trade routes along the Little Colorado and Puerco Rivers. This leads to an unparalleled diversity of ceramic types dating to this period. Types have been traced to groups hundreds of miles away throughout Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

Puerco Pueblo, founded during the Late Pueblo III period, is a fine example of a large village of its time. Consisting of over 100 rooms located on the banks of the Puerco River, it probably had a population of around 200 people. The inhabitants farmed along the flood plain and traded with their neighbors up and down the river. Puerco Pueblo and the Petrified Forest area were largely depopulated in the early 1400s due to a long standing drought that affected the agricultural-based settlements. The park was never fully abandoned, but there was a large movement of people to nearby larger population centers (Zuni and Hopi, for example).

The end of this period in the Southwest coincides with the arrival of Spanish explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado. His was the first European expedition to see the Grand Canyon and Colorado River.

Whipple Expedition of 1853 After the Southwest became part of U.S. territories in the mid-1800s, the U.S. government continued to seek routes to the Pacific. U.S. Army Lt. Amiel Whipple led a route survey along the 35th parallel. Impressed with the Painted Desert landscape, Whipple named the seasonal river lined with petrified wood deposits Lithodendron ("stone tree") Creek--the large wash that bisects the Painted Desert Wilderness Area today. The Whipple Expedition crew provided the first published account of petrified wood in what would become Petrified Forest National Park.

E. F. Beale and the U.S. Camel Corps Can you picture a camel caravan at the edge of the Painted Desert? Experienced explorer, frontiersman, and retired military officer Edward F. Beale was hired by the U.S. Government to survey and build a wagon road following Whipple's route along the 35th parallel. Between 1857 and 1860, Beale made several trips, building and improving the road. As part of a government experiment in desert transport, Beale used camels as pack animals. Though Beale became convinced of the camels' value, the government did not choose to invest in camels. The old wagon road is still visible in spots across the Southwest, and part of it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Homesteading In the late 1800s, pioneers and private stage companies followed the routes of the 35th parallel and began to further settle the area. Homesteaders developed ranches that took advantage of the rich grasslands, which would forever after bear the mark of grazing. In 1884, the Holbrook Times noted: "...The whole northern portion of the territory seems to be undergoing a great change....Our plains are stocked with thousands of cattle, horses and sheep..." Cattle grazed in Petrified Forest until the mid-1900s. Some private ranches still neighbor park lands.

John Muir Having been told that Arizona would be beneficial to his daughter's health, Muir and his daughters Helen and Wanda moved to Adamana in 1905. He was one of the first to make a small collection the abundant fossils in the area, which ended up at the University of California at Berkeley. He also named the Blue Forest and other features. The Muirs were enthralled with the landscape and its colorful wood desposits. He was influencial in getting President Theodore Roosevelt to set the land aside as a national monument in 1906.

Annie Montague Alexander Philanthropist, zoologist, paleontologist, and heiress Alexander established the University of California Museum of Paleontology and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. In the summer of 1921, based on John Muir's small collection of fossils, Alexander and her partner Louise Kellogg initiated a fossil expedition to Petrified Forest. Their findings would inspire further research partnerships with the University of California in Berkeley.

Dr Charles Lewis Camp Camp was a vertebrate paleontologist who worked with Annie Alexander at the University of California Museum of Paleontology. After seeing the bones she found in Petrified Forest, he made his own trips spending nearly a decade studying Triassic fossil vertebrates in northeastern Arizona. He had several quarries in the Blue Forest (now Blue Mesa) and published a definitive study of phytosaurs in 1930.

H.P. Mera Mera, of the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, was director of an archeological project at Petrified Forest National Monument in 1933-34. During his field season he led a large scale survey of the monument. He recorded 87 sites within in the monument boundary. Mera was the first to describe Adamana Brown ceramics, suggesting it was the region's oldest ceramic type. Later studies would prove him right—Adamana Brown is the oldest pottery type in Petrified Forest and in all the northern Southwest. Mera supervised professional excavations during his time in Petrified Forest as well. Both Agate House and Puerco Pueblo were partially excavated and stabilized under the direction of C.B. Cosgrove (who Mera had appointed his assistant). The pair also excavated Basketmaker pit houses at other sites in the park.

The men that accomplished the work put more than mere employment into their work. These men were dedicated to a belief in the values of good accomplishment of a job given them. Without their initiative, ingenuity, ability to train young men, this building, which was literally built by hand without modern machinery, would not exist today. CCC Camp Superintendent Harold Cole in a 1975 report on Painted Desert Inn

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), established by Congress on March 31, 1933, provided jobs for young, unemployed men during the Great Depression. Over its 9-year lifespan, the CCC employed about 3 million men nationwide. The CCC made valuable contributions to forest management, flood control, conservation projects, and the development of state and national parks, forests, and historic sites. In return, the men received the benefits of education and training, a small paycheck, and the dignity of honest work.

Companies and Camps When CCC Companies arrived, the men lived in tents until buildings could be erected at their camps. When completed, each camp included a full complement of buildings: barracks, mess hall, recreational hall, bath house, latrine, supply, garage, and headquarters. The camp complexes also included their own classrooms, hospital, barber shop, post office, canteen, and sometimes a theater. The buildings were frame structures heated by wood and coal burning pot-belly stoves. The camps at Petrified Forest were located at the Puerco River and near Rainbow Forest, where the men actually made their own golf course. The Work The CCC sought to provide the maximum opportunity for labor at a minimum cost for materials and equipment. With little more than strong backs, shovels, and picks, the CCC built roads, trails, culverts, and structures. When building structures, the CCC utilized native materials, such as the local sandstone, which they quarried themselves with star drills, sledge hammers, muscle, and sweat.

The People The CCC was open to unemployed men ages 17 to 23.5 who were U.S. citizens. Enrollees served 6-month terms, and were allowed to re-enroll at the end of each term up to a maximum of two years. A CCC worker's salary was $30 a month, most of which the men sent home to their families. Meals, lodging, clothing, medical, and dental care were all free for enrollees. The men generally spent $5 to $8 of their monthly salary on toiletries, postage, haircuts, and occasional entertainment. While the CCC men lived and worked on a regimented schedule, there was time for continuing their education through evening classes and for leisure activities on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. Living and working together, the men learned to get along. Some formed life-long friendships.

At Petrified Forest, most of the company were young men from eastern states, notably Pennsylvania. However, there were a few local hires. Often a little older and having more work experience, these men helped train the boys who had never before used any tools. The Results Congress abolished the CCC on June 30, 1942, as the United States entered World War II. For nine years the program kept families fed, employed 3 million young men, and improved the country's infrastructure. Men from the Corps answered the call to war well trained, physically fit, labor skilled, and with the great CCC attitude of "We Can Take It!", changing the nation even after the program had ended.

As the generation who participated in the CCC passes, the legacy of their work lives on. When you visit Petrified Forest National Park and drive the roads, hike a trail, or explore the Painted Desert Inn, take a few moments to reflect on the CCC, the men who labored on these projects, and the investment America made during its most desperate economic period. The Civilian Conservation Corps' hard work all those years ago still continues to pay off today.

More photos can be found at the Painted Desert Inn Album . Check out the article “ The Many Lives of Painted Desert Inn ” at the National Trust for Historic Preservation site.

History of the Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark Stone Tree House Built of petrified wood and other native stone, the Painted Desert Inn was the vision of Herbert David Lore. While his family remembers the finished building prior to 1920, Lore registered the inn with the land office in 1924, fulfilling his responsibilities under the Homesteading Act. For almost twelve years, Lore operated the “Stone Tree House” as a tourist attraction. Visitors could eat meals in the lunchroom, purchase American Indian arts and crafts, and enjoy a cool drink in the downstairs taproom. Six small rooms—cubicles really—were available for two to four dollars per night. Lore also gave two-hour motor car tours through the Black Forest in the Painted Desert below the inn. The Stone Tree House was an oasis in the Painted Desert, and quite isolated. A shop containing a lighting-plant supplied electricity, as the inn was not connected to electrical lines. Water was hauled from Adamana, ten miles south on the Puerco River. Unfortunately, Lore had built his inn on a seam of bentonite clay. As the clay swells and shrinks in response to changes in moisture, the foundation of the inn shifts. Early on, the Painted Desert Inn began to show cracks in the walls and water damage.

Traces of an old roadbed and weathered telephone poles mark the path of the famous "Main Street of America." Petrified Forest National Park is the only park in the National Park System containing a section of Historic Route 66. From Chicago to Los Angeles, this heavily traveled highway was not only a road--it stood as a symbol of opportunity, adventure and exploration to travelers.

U.S. Route 66 was established in 1926, but it was after WWII that the road earned its place in pop culture. A trip from middle America to the coast could take about a week along swinging 66. No interstate speeds back then! For many, the journey was not just across miles, it was across culture and lifestyles, as each stop along the way offered local flair and regional flavor. Of course, getting to your destination was important, but the trip itself was a reward. Imagine the neon signs of one-of-a-kind motels, burgers and chicken fried steaks in a multitude of restaurants, filling stations that served as miniature oases, gaudy tourist traps, and more than 2,200 miles of open road.

Driving west on Route 66, in the heart of the Painted Desert, one could see a pink edifice glimmering in the clear air. After long hours of travel, here was a special place to take a break, stretch your legs, sip a cold drink, and admire the view. Painted Desert Inn welcomed all with an air of hospitality and allure.

It winds from Chicago to L.A., More than two thousand miles all the way. Get your kicks on Route Sixty-six! From the song "Route 66" by Bobby Troup

A series of droughts in the 1200s, during the Pueblo IV period, led ancestral Puebloan people to move away from small, scattered hamlets and instead build large pueblo communities. The Village on the Rio Puerco (or Puerco Pueblo, for short) is a 100+ room pueblo site located near the Puerco River, a major drainage that bisects the park. The river would have been a reliable source of water for crops. Farming of corn, beans, and squash took place on the floodplains and terraces along the river. The river also made a natural travel corridor, meaning travelers and traders frequented Puerco Pueblo, carrying new ideas as well as goods.

At its largest size, around 1300, Puerco Pueblo may have been home to about 200 people. The one-story high village of hand-shaped sandstone blocks was built around a rectangular plaza. The rooms were living quarters and storage, but most activity, like cooking and craftmaking, took place in the plaza. There were also several underground rooms, called kivas, where ceremonial practices took place. There were no doors or windows in the plaster-covered exterior walls of the pueblo. Entry into the village was by ladders over the wall and across the log, brush, and mud roofs of the room blocks.

Unable to adapt to the climate change of the late 1300s, the inhabitants of Puerco Pueblo systematically abandoned the pueblo in search of a more suitable area. It was all but empty by 1380. Only the sandstone bricks, potsherds, stone tools, petroglyphs, and other artifacts and features remain to tell the tale of these ancient people.

Would you like to visit Puerco Pueblo? The trail is accessed at the south end of the Puerco Pueblo parking lot. This 0.3 mile (0.5 km) loop trail is mostly paved as it runs through the partially excavated pueblo to views of petroglyphs.

Throughout the Southwest, some petroglyphs (images carved into a rock surface) and pictographs (images painted onto a rock surface) have been found to mark astronomical events during the year, such as the summer solstice, winter solstice, and both spring and fall equinoxes. One such petroglyph can be easily viewed at Puerco Pueblo. For about two weeks around June 21, an interaction of light and shadow passes across the rings of this small, circular design as the sun rises.

The archeological site known as Newspaper Rock is neither a newspaper nor a single rock. The site boasts over 650 petroglyphs covering a group of rockfaces within a small area. High concentrations of petroglyphs like this mark a place as hugely significant. Many generations of people saw these markings and contributed their own. The petroglyphs were created by ancestral Puebloan people living, farming, and hunting along the Puerco River between 650 and 2,000 years ago. Some of the ancient artists may have lived at Puerco Pueblo, located less than one mile north of this site.

With so many "writers" over so many years, it is impossible to "read" the rockface. There is no linear story, but we can still learn from the markings. Modern American Indian groups' interpretations include family or clan symbols, spiritual meanings, and calendar events. Some mark territory boundaries or migratory routes.

Petroglyphs are rock carvings made by pecking directly on a rock surface. When the dark "desert varnish" on the surface of a rock is pecked off, the lighter rock underneath is exposed. Petroglyphs tend to last longer than rock art paintings, known as pictographs. The thin red to black "varnish" is a natural occurrence common in arid regions. It is composed of clay minerals, oxides and hydroxides of manganese and/or iron, as well as other particles such as sand grains and trace elements.

Would you like to visit Newspaper Rock? Take the spur road off the main park road. Because of unstable hillsides around Newspaper Rock, you cannot walk down to the rocks. There is a catwalk and overlook for viewing. You can use free spotting scopes to get a closer view of the petroglyph-covered rockfaces at the bottom of the cliffs.

Dec 30 1931 On December 22, the Custodian was notified by the contractor, Mr. Norman P. Berber that the Administration Building, Employees Residence No. 6, the Tool &Implement shop, and the Employees Residences Nos. 2 &3 were completed and ready for inspection and acceptance. Having watched these bu8ildings grow stone by stone only a short inspection was necessary and they formally accepted. Residence no. 2 was assigned to Park Ranger Frank J. Winess. Park Ranger Phillip F. Murray was assigned Residence No. 3, and custodian Chas. J. Smith was assigned Residence No. 6. Preparations have been made to move into those buildings and they will be occupied the first of the year. It was thought wise to move into the new Administration Building and this is being done at this time. A party of 18 from the Santa Fe. R. R. via Clarkson Couriercars, (the largest for some time) were the first to be welcomed into the new Exhibit Room which was the evening of December 28 th . They then stepped out the back door and were in the heart of the Rainbow Forest. The party [was] much pleased to be the first in the new building and complimented the Service highly on the location and beauty of the structure."

The basic facts of Rainbow Forest Museum and area The building of Rainbow Forest occurred between June through December, 1931. The contractor worked under Thos. C. Vint, The Chief Landscape Architect, and his assistant Herbert Krienkamp who was onsite. The contract was for the amount of $21,094 which provide for an Administration Building, three residences, and one tool and implement shed. The contractor was Mr. Norman P. Berber. Rainbow Forest was not built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, although other buildings were added during their stay in the park. President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6101 on April 5, 1933 which established the CCC organization. They didn't even exist when the original RFM was built!

During Winter 1933-34, workers reconstruced a petrified wood structure under the watchful eye of archeologist Cornelius B. Cosgrove, Jr. The crew was a detail from the Civil Works Administration, which would become the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Cosgrove was an archeologist that specialized in the Southwestern United States and worked for the Laboratory of Anthropology at the Museum of New Mexico.

In his report "Report on Excavation, Repair, and Restoration of Agate House and Other Sites", Cosgrove says no previous work had been conducted at the Agate House site, though its location had been known for several years.

The excavation began with the removal of all loose surface petrified wood, which they set aside to be later used in reconstructing the walls. Under the surface materials, they discovered most of the foundations "were fairly good and easy to follow." He reported the walls to be one foot thick and the floors of the pueblo averaged 8-18 inches (20-45 cm) below the existing grade. Firepits were discovered in two rooms. Excavation began in rooms 2 and 3, continuing with 4, 5, 6, and 1. Rooms 7 and 8 were the last to be excavated.

Agate House was originally constructed using medium to large pieces of petrified wood, which were presumably carried to the top of the knoll. The petrified wood was held in place by mud mortar and chinked with smaller pieces of petrified wood.

The Petrified Forest National Park, like many national parks and protected areas for wildlife, provides habitat important to both resident and migratory bird species. The park’s rich cottonwood/willow riparian corridor along the Rio Puerco, thousands or acres of grassland and shrubland, juniper woodlands on mesa tops, and small areas of urban habitat provide for the needs of 258 bird species. There are many year-round resident species such as Common Raven, House Finch, Greater Roadrunner, Horned Lark, and Red-tailed Hawk, winter residents such as Dark-eyed Junco, Mountain Bluebird, and White-crowned Sparrow, and summer residents including Barn Swallow, Black-headed Grosbeak, Burrowing Owl, and Lark Sparrow. August and September are the best times to see migratory species including Rufous Hummingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and almost a dozen warbler species. Observing birds is a fun hobby, and opportunity to observe nature, and an important area of research to help us understand our world. To learn more about how Petrified Forest is a place for birds and to learn how the park is studying these amazing animals, please explore: http://go.nps.gov/pefobirds .

Not all plants at Petrified Forest National Park are fossils. Living plants are critical components within the grassland ecosystem found throughout the park. Plants capture particulate dust in the air, filter gaseous pollutants, convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, provide habitat for animals, and supply raw materials for humans. Plants of the Painted Desert Community Complex Plaza Painted Desert Inn Landscape Plants Rainbow Forest Landscape Plants--upcoming

Plants of arid climates have adaptations which enable them to survive the extremes of temperature and precipitation. These adaptations can be grouped in two basic categories, drought escapers and drought resistors.

Drought escapers are plants which take advantage of favorable growing conditions when they exist, but go dormant when those conditions disappear. They are usually annuals, growing only when enough water is available. Seeds produced under good conditions can lie dormant for years if conditions are not favorable for germination. Most grasses and wildflowers are drought escapers.

Drought resistors are typically perennials. They have mechanisms for reducing the damage a drought can cause. For example, some will drop their leaves if water is unavailable. Many have small, hairy leaves which reduce exposure to air currents and solar radiation and thereby limit the amount of water lost to evaporation.

Cacti, yuccas and mosses are examples of drought resistors. Yuccas have extensive taproots which can reach water beyond the ability of other plants. Mosses can tolerate complete dehydration. When rains return after extensive dry periods, mosses green up immediately.

Animal life at Petrified Forest includes amphibians, birds, insects, spiders, mammals, and reptiles. Birds, lizards and rabbits are seen most frequently, though seasons and weather play a large role in determining what animals are active. For many animals, activity occurs during a particular temperature range. Crepuscular animals are active at dawn and dusk, the coolest times of day. The half-darkness makes prey animals less visible, yet visibility is good enough to locate food. Activity can change with the season, too. Snakes and lizards are diurnal (active during the day) in late spring and early fall, but they become crepuscular during the heat of summer. Many animals in the park are nocturnal (active at night). This is an adaptation not only to avoid high summer daytime temperatures, but also to avoid certain predators. You are much more likely to see animal life in the park if you come as early as park hours allow and stay as late as allowed. These are also the times when the angle of the sun makes the views and colors of the Painted Desert most spectacular. Whenever you are in a national park, do not approach, feed, or harass any wildlife. Help your parks reduce the impact of human visitors to the homeland of many wild species.

Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates with hair, feed their young milk, and have a large, complex brain.

Birds are warm-blooded vertebrates (vertebrates have backbones) and are the only animals with feathers.

Reptiles are cold-blooded vertebrates. They have dry skin covered with scales or bony plates. They lay leathery eggs or give live birth.

Amphibians are cold-blooded vertebrates that don’t have scales. They live part of their lives in water and part on land.

The clarity of the high, dry air over the Painted Desert region is only interrupted by weather shifts and environmental factors. Wind plays a large role in shaping the terrain but does not often decrease visibility except in the spring and early summer. With an annual rainfall of ~10 inches (~25 cm), moisture seldom interrupts the majestic vistas.

When the rains do come, the conditions can be dramatic. Thunderstorms are most common during the monsoon season, July to September. Winters can bring cold temperatures, wind, ice, and snow. Spring is best known for its wind and dust storms. Fall is sublime, with temperate days and cool nights.

While automobile traffic and the passage of trains on the Santa Fe line can be heard from the road, the backcountry is still a refuge of profound silence. This relative isolation has also helped to preserve the night skies within the park.

Petrified Forest is one of the national parks that has Class I air. Class I National Park Service areas have the highest level of air quality protection under the law. These areas are defined as national parks larger than 6,000 acres or wilderness areas over 5,000 acres that were in existence when the Clean Air Act was amended in 1977.

Petrified Forest plays a role in the National Park Service's efforts to combat invasive species and restore the park's natural grasslands.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} The natural world of Petrified Forest is far more complex than it seems on the surface. Located near the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, the park is part of an amazing geological region. Some of the most famous geological parks are found on the Colorado Plateau, including Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and Arches—just to name a few. Each has its own character, including which layer of the geological story is featured by that park. Petrified Forest has two geological formations , the Late Triassic Chinle Formation and the Mio-Pliocene Bidahochi Formation. Ancient environments are represented by these layers. The fossils that are found here help scientists reconstruct those ancient environments.

Mammals are a diverse group of animals, ranging from the delicate white-footed mouse to the elegant mule deer. Mammals have fur or hair, produce milk for their offspring, and are warm-blooded.

In the often extreme climate of the plateau country, animals use such survival strategies as hiding in their burrows or migration as well as physiological adaptations, like hollow hairs for insulation or radiation of heat from body parts. Many animals in arid regions are nocturnal or crepuscular, using the cooler night to survive the heat of summer or the darkness of the late hours to escape notice of predators.

Early morning and dusk are the best times to view mammals while in the park. Do not approach, feed, or harass any wildlife in Petrified Forest or any other national park area. Some of the many species of mammals found in the park Coyote, Canis latrans Kit Fox, Vulpes macrotis Bobcat, Lynx rufus Mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus Pronghorn, Antilocapra americana Badger, Taxidea taxus Striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis Black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus Desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii Desert shrew, Notiosorex crawfordi Pallid bat, Antrozous pallidus Townsend's big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii (Plecotus townsendii) California myotis, Myotis californicus Fringed myotis, Myotis thysanodes Yuma myotis, Myotis yumanensis Canyon bat, Parastrellus hesperus Porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum Gunnison's prairie dog, Cynomys gunnisoni White-tailed antelope squirrel, Ammospermophilus leucurus Spotted ground squirrel, Spermophilus spilosoma Rock squirrel, Spermophilus variegatus Botta's pocket gopher, Thomomys bottae White-throated woodrat, Neotoma albigula Bushy-tailed woodrat, Neotoma cinerea Mexican woodrat, Neotoma mexicana Stephens' woodrat, Neotoma step hensi Ord’s kangaroo rat, Dipodomys ordii Silky pocket mouse, Perognathus flav us Northern grasshopper mouse, Onychomys leucogaster Brush mouse, Peromyscus boylii Canyon mouse, Peromyscus crinitis White-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucop us Deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus Pinon mouse, Peromyscus truei Western harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys megalotis House mouse, Mus musculus

Many people don't realize how much there is to do at Petrified Forest National Park! There is something to interest everyone here. Be sure to check our Calendar to see if something special is happening the day you will be here. Right now some things are limited due to safety considerations.

VIP David Denslow at the Temporary Painted Desert Visitor Center NPS Visitor Centers and Exhibits Stop at Painted Desert Visitor Center and the Rainbow Forest Museum to plan your visit, ask questions, get your Junior Ranger booklet, and discover exhibits.

Car driving through the mesas and badlands of the park. NPS Audio Tour Listen to an audio tour with multiple stops along the park's road that can be downloaded before hand to use if you don't have a connection. There are two versions, one starting at the north end, the other from the south. Transcripts are included.

NPS Stamping Collect dated and undated passport stamps for your passport book, map, brochure, journal, or forehead!

Preparing fossils NPS/Diana Boudreau Museum Demonstration Lab Open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 9 am-12 pm and 1 pm-4 pm. The Museum Demonstration Lab (Demo Lab) at the Rainbow Forest Museum is where you can see one-of-a-kind fossils from Petrified Forest National Park being prepared by trained paleontologists! Watch a live microscope feed on the TV and chat with the paleontologists as they remove rock from fossil bone.

Classic Cars at Crystal NPS Hit the Road A good starting point is a drive through the park, stopping at some of the overlooks.

Hikers on the Blue Mesa Trail NPS Hit the Trail There are maintained trails in the park that highlight topics like archeology, natural environments, and the famous petrified logs.

A guided hike into Devil's Playground. NPS Guided Activities Join a ranger—or scientist, volunteer, cultural demonstrator, reenactor, or other field expert—for a guided activity.

Backcountry Hike in Red Basin NPS Hiking The adventurous hiker will love wandering off trail in the Petrified Forest. For those that want guidance we have Off the Beaten Path routes as well.

Backpacking Hiking and camping in the Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area is a great opportunity for solitude and adventure. Enjoy colorful sunsets, the incredible night sky, and inspiring sunrises.

Bicycling in the park. NPS Bicycling The park road is great for exploring, but there are a few other routes you can take by bike.

Dog and Daddy on Crystal Forest Trail NPS Dogs and Other Critters Enjoy the park with your furry (feathered, scaled or…) friend or family member!