Petrified Forest NP - Crystal Forest

I liked the Crystal Forest Trail much more than the supposedly prettier the Giant Logs Trail. As the name suggests the logs at Crystal Forest are full of crystals and, therefore, shine in the sun. All that due to the presence of silica, colored with oxides of iron and manganese, that permineralized the logs thousands of year ago...

The Crystal Forest Trail is only 0.75 mile long, it is paved and wheel-chair accessible, so it makes for a nice and easy hike. Even on an extremely hot day.

A few pics from the trail:

Petrified Forest NP - Painted Desert

Petrified wood can be found in many places in the world, so if it were only for it, the Petrified Forest NP would not be anything special. What makes this park special is its beautiful location in the Painted Desert.

As you can see on the photos below, the Painted Desert is full of badland hills, tepees, flat-topped mesas, and sculptured buttes, all in beautiful pastel colors. It unique beauty was attracting Route 66 travelers, who were happy to take a break at The Painted Desert Inn, the two-story inn located in the northern part of the park, on a high perch overlooking the nearby landscape. The Inn opened in 1924 and was nicknamed the "Stone Tree House" as it was built mostly from petrified wood.

In 1948 Painted Desert Inn was bought by the National Park Services and got converted to the Petrified Forest NP northern headquarters, featuring a shop and restaurant operated by the Fred Harvey Company (the same company that built and operated landmark hotels e.g. on the South Rim and the bottom of the Grand Canyon). Mary Colter, the company's architect and interior designer, was responsible for remodeling the Painted Desert Inn. She hired Fred Kabotie, a Hopi Indian artist, to paint murals in the lunch room and dining room. (Similarly, Mary Colter and Fred Kabotie team was responsible for the construction and murals, respectively, at the Watchtower located at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.) I am a big fan of their work, as they always took into account the historical context of the places they were designing.

Beautiful Painted Desert:




Painted Desert Inn:


The Buffalo Dance mural in the lunch room:


The Salt Lake mural:

Petrified Forest NP - Newspaper Rock

Aside from petrified wood and other fossils, the park is also known for having thousands of prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs. One of the most famous and easily accessible places in the park is the Newspaper Rock.

Can the raven read?

The Newspaper Rock:

Petrified Forest NP - Giant Logs trail

From the Grand Canyon we drove to the Petrified Forest NP, which is located close to the border with New Mexico, on both sides of interstate I-40 that is a major west–east highway in the US.

As we were getting closer to the park, we could enjoy more and more motels/hotels/ranches/shops advertising themselves with huge dinosaurs and "petrified" tree logs... It felt like we got transferred to the land of kitsch :) Luckily, as soon as we crossed the gate leading to the park, the landscape changed completely. All of a sudden we found ourselves in the land of peace, quiet and pastel colors.

The first thing that we did in the park was to go to the visitor's center and then for a short walk (0.4 mile loop) on the Giant Logs Trail, located directly behind the visitor's center. The walk was a bit disappointing (even though on the park's webpage advertised as the one featuring "some of the largest and most colorful logs in the park.") and I would recommend skipping it in favor of hiking elsewhere in the park, e.g. on the Crystal Forrest Trail.

Petrified logs:








Not-petrified husband: