Petrified Forest National Park Driving Tour
$14.99
Petrified Forest National Park Driving Tour
Petrified Forest National Park Tours
Explore an Ancient Forest Turned to Stone
Looking for the best Petrified Forest National Park tours?
Petrified Forest National Park is one of America's most unique national parks, where visitors can drive through 28 miles of colorful badlands, ancient archaeological sites, Route 66 history, and a fossilized forest that dates back more than 220 million years. Along the route you'll discover crystal-filled petrified logs, Painted Desert overlooks, Native American petroglyphs, and some of the darkest night skies in North America.
This self-guided driving tour follows the park's main road from the Painted Desert Visitor Center in the north to Rainbow Forest in the south, automatically guiding visitors through the park's most fascinating locations.
Why Take a Petrified Forest National Park Tour?
Few national parks combine geology, archaeology, paleontology, Route 66 history, and Native American culture in a single scenic drive.
Along the tour you'll experience:
The Painted Desert
Crystal Forest
Blue Mesa
Puerco Pueblo
Newspaper Rock
Historic Route 66
Agate Bridge
Rainbow Forest Museum
Ancient petroglyphs
Dark Sky viewing opportunities
The park protects one of the world's largest concentrations of petrified wood and preserves a remarkably complete record of the Late Triassic Period.
$14.99
What will you see? Here are the tour highlights
Tiponi Point
One of the best Painted Desert overlooks, showcasing colorful layers of badlands and millions of years of geological history.
Painted Desert Inn
A historic Route 66-era inn featuring Hopi murals, Civilian Conservation Corps architecture, and panoramic desert views.
Blue Mesa
The park's signature landscape of colorful badlands and exposed petrified wood.
Agate Bridge
A 110-foot petrified log naturally suspended across a wash and preserved with supports installed over a century ago.
Crystal Forest
The premier location to see petrified wood up close.
Top Things to Do in Petrified Forest National Park
Walk the Crystal Forest Trail
Crystal Forest features one of the densest concentrations of petrified wood in the park. Visitors can walk among fossilized logs filled with quartz, jasper, agate, and even purple amethyst crystals. The area was once heavily damaged by gem hunters searching for crystals before federal protection ended the destruction.
Explore Blue Mesa
Blue Mesa is often considered the park's most spectacular landscape. The colorful badlands feature blue-gray bentonite clay, purple hills, exposed petrified logs, and an easy trail through an otherworldly landscape.
Visit Puerco Pueblo and Newspaper Rock
Walk through the remains of a 650-year-old pueblo and view more than 650 petroglyphs carved into stone by ancestral Puebloan people. These sites reveal that the region supported thriving communities centuries before European arrival.
Drive Historic Route 66
One of the few national parks containing an original section of Route 66, Petrified Forest preserves a stretch of the Mother Road along with its famous rusted Studebaker.
Visit Rainbow Forest Museum
The southern visitor center offers exhibits on petrified wood formation, prehistoric animals, and the geology that created this remarkable landscape.
FAQ's
How long does a Petrified Forest National Park tour take?
Driving straight through the park takes about an hour, but most visitors spend 3–6 hours exploring overlooks, hiking trails, archaeological sites, and museums.
Is Petrified Forest worth visiting?
Absolutely. The park combines geology, archaeology, Route 66 history, and some of the world's finest petrified wood deposits into one unforgettable experience.
What is the best hike in Petrified Forest National Park?
The Crystal Forest Trail and Blue Mesa Trail are two of the most popular and rewarding walks in the park.
Can you take petrified wood home?
No. Removing petrified wood is illegal and damages the park's scientific resources. Rangers estimate about twelve tons disappear annually due to theft.
What makes Petrified Forest unique?
It preserves fossilized trees over 220 million years old, colorful Painted Desert landscapes, Native American archaeological sites, and a historic section of Route 66 all within one national park.
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