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On January 8th, 2010, Joleen and I spent the day at the Petrified Forest National Park. This was always one of those places that I’d been mildly curious about. It isn’t much of a Park for hikers, but the sights were cool, especially the Blue Mesa Trail. The wide-open desert on this cold winter day made for a subdued experience.

This area of the Park is called “The Crystal Forest”

The petrified wood seen here is actually the remains of trees that existed 225 million years ago. They were buried in silt, mud, and volcanic ash before they had the chance to decompose, and sediments worked their way into them. Over these millions of years of geological time, the sediments turned to stone, making the wood “petrified.” Add in the elements of erosion and earthquakes, etc., and we now have the exposed Petrified Forest in the desert of Arizona.

“Jasper Forest” Overlook

This natural bridge, called the “Agate Bridge,” is somewhat of a historical landmark within the park. The block of concrete underneath the log was constructed to support the bridge in 1917.

Above is an overlook near Blue Mesa, my favorite area of the park… though I have not explored the Painted Desert Wilderness.

The Blue Mesa Trail is a 1.1 mile paved loop. The walk was so crisp and quiet.

Like most areas of the Desert Southwest, Petrified Forest has its share of ruins and petroglyphs. This is the Puerco Pueblo site.

Finally we checked out some of the overlooks at the north end of the park, including Lacey Point, Nizhoni Point, Pintado Point, Chinde Point, and Tawa Point.

The Painted Desert Wilderness

click here to view a gallery and slideshow of all 68 photos from this day