Petrified Forest National Park

As we left Arizona this spring, we stopped for a day to visit Petrified Forest National Park, located along I-40 near Holbrook, AZ.

This piece of American heritage was set aside in 1906 to protect and make available for public viewing one of the largest petrified wood deposits in the world.  Millions of years ago this area of Arizona was once a steamy, swampy, equatorial forest. The tall trees that inhabited the area eventually fell, and raging rivers washed them into the floodplains. Silt, mud, and volcanic ash covered the trees. As they were buried, silica-laden groundwater seeped into the wood fibers and changed the logs to rock.  Over the next millions of years the logs were uplifted due to shifting of the earth's underground.  Wind and water eroded the sands away and exposed the ancient logs.

Humans inhabited the area at some points in time; a large petroglyph wall called "Newspaper Rock" contains etchings from the past.   Archaeologic remains of a 100 room village built between 1250 and 1380 are located within the park.  And fossils of some of North America's earliest dinosaurs are being discover there.

In 1932 another 50,000 acres of land formations called the "Painted Desert" were added to the park. Sediment deposits from the past are now exposed as distinct colored bands in the landforms surrounding this area. 
The 28 mile drive through the park offered many overlooks and trails to give visitors a chance to stop and see the beauty of this massive area.