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The Majestic Petrified ForestBehind the museum you will find the Giant Logs Trail which is about a third of a mile in length you will come across logs that are part buried indicating that more of these bejewelled logs lay buried beneath, some experts believe up to thirty feet deep. The fact that these trees were a species of conifer some of them up to 200 feet tall suggests that this park was once much closer to the equator and had a very wet humid climate. Old Faithful probably the biggest log in the entire Petrified Forest rests here, this 35 foot long giant weighing roughly 44 tons was struck by lightning and repaired in 1962. Nearby a trail through Long Logs will get you to Agate House if you decide to walk the entire Long Logs trail the round trip is approximatly two and a half miles, there are logs in abundance here so have a good look. This building is made of Petrified Wood and was constructed by pueblo indians and is made up of eight rooms. Holbrook is the closest location to find a hotel room near to the Petrified Forest where there is a Holiday Inn but the city of Flagstaff is not too far away and has more amenities if you are visiting other sites nearby.
When finished at long logs jump back into your car and drive north, you can view the flattops which are huge remains of sandstone that once capped most of the area, please say you have your camera with you. If you continue north and drive past Crystal Forest the next viewpoint awaits. Jasper Forest... there are Petrified logs everywhere here scattered across its wide valley but you wont be able to get to them as no trail provides access, pretty scenic though. Discover how the resin of these fascinating trees becomes beautiful
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Agate Bridge... A little further up the road its worth paying a visit to this long complete log which has been supported by concrete to stop it from falling into the stream it spans, of course one day mother nature will see that it does.
The Tepees... Just past the Blue Mesa pull over and take a look at the different colours of these wig wam shaped structures. The red at the bottom is made by iron oxide, the white above is sandstone with iron stained siltstone laying above, on the very top of the Tepees is carbon rich clay.
We are going to drive past Newspaper rock as I need a whole page for that viewpoint but for now its off to the last spot before the north entrance. Puerco Indian Ruin... in its heyday around 1300AD it is estimated you would have seen about 100 rooms here probably being the home of roughly 200 or so inhabitants and you can reach the ruins by taking a one third of a mile looping paved trail. Some distance south of here lies the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation where mining feeds the countries appetite for
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Past the north entrance and across Interstate 40 follow the road around to the Painted Desert Inn which is now a bookstore and museum and the visitor centre and I truly hope that you enjoyed the Petrified Forest as much as I did. Return from Petrified Forest to Painted Desert
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