Petrified Forest National Park - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Puerco Ruin and Petroglyphs are the ruins of a large Indian pueblo, which reached its peak around 1300 CE, containing over 100 rooms. It is the largest known archeological site within the Petrified Forest National Park.The site contains over 800 petroglyphs, incised on more than 100 boulders.

The Painted Desert is a United States desert of badlands in the Four Corners area, running from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park and southeast into Petrified Forest National Park. It is most easily accessed from the north portion of Petrified Forest National Park. The Painted Desert is known for its brilliant and varied colors: these include the more common red rock, but also shades of lavender.

Petrified Forest National Park near the southern margin of the Colorado Plateau in the Painted Desert area of east-central Arizona is an area of spectacular scenery formed primarily from the Chinle Formation about some 225 – 208 Ma during the late Triassic. The area within the park proper is 146 square miles , but, since 2005, additional land parcels have been acquired and placed under park administration, so that the entire protected area now totals 346 square miles.

Blue Mesa is a significant landform located on a spur road halfway through Petrified Forest National Park. The trailhead for Blue Mesa Trail is located halfway around the loop road at a sunshelter. The mesa consists of the Blue Mesa and Sonsela Members with petrified wood deposits. Spectacular views of blue, purple, gray, and peach banded badlands.

The Painted Desert is a United States desert of badlands in the Four Corners area, running from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park and southeast into Petrified Forest National Park. It has a beautiful array of colors from deep purple to verdant green, from dark rusty red to pale pink. The Painted Desert seems to go on for miles and miles into the flat Arizona landscape. You can walk along the edge of the Painted Desert for half a mile between viewpoints by using this trail.

Painted Desert Inn is a lodge in the Petrified Forest National Park , Arizona .It was built in the period 1937-1940 to a design by architect Lyle E. Bennett et al. In 1963 it was closed and there were plans to demolish it. In 1976 the lodge was reopened on a limited basis.The rustic building has been a National Historic Landmark since 1987. It has housed a museum and bookstore since 2006.