Petrified Forest was about two hours from our camping spot, so we shot for a relatively early start. To break up the drive, we stopped just outside of Winslow, Arizona to see the Meteor Crater. Other than actually seeing the almost-mile across crater that was created 10,000 years ago (by a 150 foot meteor!), the stop was ridiculous.
Way down there, is a six foot tall cutout next to a flag. This is provided to give a sense of how deep the crater is.
After not being impressed, we continued our journey to the Petrified Forest National Park.
We had heard mixed reviews on the Forest. I was expecting very little and was very happy when my expectations were exceeded.
The scenery was beautiful.
Even the ridiculous kids thought the landscape was some of the most interesting we have seen.
I was worried we wouldn’t see much petrified rock, but it was everywhere we looked. The badlands areas had very little, but the “forests” were exactly what you would expect in terms of the amount of wood.
Some pieces were small and vividly colored.
Othe pieces were huge and littered the ground.
We managed to make a few smaller hikes to see some of the less discovered areas. I was surprised by how few of the visitors left the paved roads and walked down any of the unsaved paths. Behind the second visitors center on the south side of the park, we were able to see Old Faithful. This particular tree is approximately ten feet in diameter.
Old Faithful is huge!
The kids finished up their junior ranger badges at that visitor center as well. The park ranger happened to be a volunteer. He was pretty entertaining.
All in all, Petrified Forest was well worth a visit. When we left, Keali mentioned that it was her favorite of the parks so far due to the crazy changes in landscapes around every corner. The badlands to the cliffs, the reds to the whites, and all the layers of deposited rock as seen in the Grand Canyon made it interesting. The abundance of petrified wood was fun to learn about. (See Keali’s blog if you are interested in what causes the wood to petrify.) This park is a “must see”.