During your visit to the Arizona Petrified Forest National Park, you can enjoy breathtaking vistas, wilderness and beautiful vast landscapes as you work your way along the park’s scenic road. At the Painted Desert Visitor Center, gather useful information about the U.S. national park and enjoy its many amenities.
Scenic Drive through Petrified Forest National Park
Start your time in Petrified Forest National Park with sightseeing along the park’s 28-mile scenic road; you will see everything from petrified logs to Painted Desert vistas. Heading toward the Painted Desert Visitor Center, you’ll pass by unusual formations known as Flattops, caused by the erosion of softer mineral deposits from beneath a harder and more erosion-resistant layer of sandstone. Next is a .75-mile loop that winds around an area known as Crystal Forest, named for the beautiful amethyst and quartz crystals once found in the cracks of petrified logs. Continuing on, you will come to Agate Bridge. Here a petrified log forms a natural bridge. As you continue on the route, you will reach Blue Mesa where you can see pieces of petrified wood that have formed capstones over easily eroded clay soils. Heading into the park’s badlands, you’ll discover how erosion has played a major role in the formation of the Painted Desert as you journey through the fantastically formed hills of sandstone and clay known as the Teepees. Newspaper Rock and nearby Puerco Pueblo explore the history and heritage left behind by Native Americans who are thought to have occupied the land around A.D. 1400. As you approach the Painted Desert Visitor Center, the Painted Desert’s vistas come into view. Enjoy vivid colors of the soil and stone that cover the land. The Painted Desert is a dreamscape of pastels washed across a barren expanse of eroded hills.
Painted Desert Visitor Center
After sightseeing in Petrified Forest National Park, enjoy time in the Painted Desert Visitor Center. Here you’ll find information about the park, hands-on exhibits and Timeless Impressions, a 20-minute movie about Petrified Forest National Park. Books, postcards, posters, maps, slides and videos are also available to purchase in the Painted Desert Visitor Center’s bookstore.
- Next to the Painted Desert Visitor Center is a restaurant where you can enjoy casual fare. A convenience store is also located on the premises and sells snacks.
- A Gift Store is located adjacent to the Painted Desert Visitor Center and sells gifts and keepsakes.
- Removal of petrified wood or other natural and cultural artifacts in the park is prohibited by law. Visitors who wish to take home something to remember their time in the Petrified Forest National Park are encouraged to purchase petrified wood from the Gift Store, collected from private land outside the park boundaries.