Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park - October 11, 2003

Crystal Forest

The Petrified Forest. I have actually divided this place up into 3 distinct areas in my mind. The Painted Desert, the place where the Indians lived, and the actual Petrified Forest. The Crystal Forest, where the above picture was taken, is part of the Petrified Forest.

I actually only spent about 3 hours in the National Park. I was on my way to my next stop, Holbrook, from my last stop, the Hubbell Trading Post, and did not want to arrive after dark. I entered at the North end of the Park, and visited the Painted Desert First. After crossing over I-40, I entered the Indian dwellings portion of the park, ending with the Petrified Forest part of the park.

A couple of notes here. First, there are a lot of pictures on this page. Turns out, I really like the Petrified Forest National Park, and I have decided that it deserves more time than the measly 3 hours I spent there. Second, even though I have categorized a portion of the Park as the "Petrified Forest", the entire park is actually very old and "petrified". The environment is ideal for preserving anything that lived there a very, very, very, very.... long time ago. Literally thousands upon thousands of fossilized remains of practically any- and every- thing can be found there. Even though the area was ravaged by unknowing and unthinking human beings about one hundred years ago, looking for treasure and souvenirs and who knows what else. One is not permitted to remove anything (and I do mean anything) from the park - you will be fined!

Painted Desert

I encountered the Painted Desert almost immediately after I entered the Park (and completed my shopping at the gift store). The Painted Desert is very similar to the hills of the South Dakota's Badlands, Eastern Utah, and the Colorado National Monument. The hills are slowly eroding due to the wind, leaving the underlaying sand exposed. The sand may or may not have minerals, which is the cause of the wonderful colors. It was very hazy on the day I visited, so the pictures are not all that clear. However, it seemed as if those colorful hills went on forever.

Painted Desert

Indian Dwellings

Indian Ruins, Puerco Pueblo

The place I have designated as the where the Indians lived within what is now the Park is not that large. It encompasses only two stops on the scenic drive. And, in actuality, the Indians lived pretty much everywhere within the confines of what is now the Park. However, the only ruins one can visit are the Puerco Pueblo ruins, which are soon after you cross over I-40 (or, if you are coming up from the south, just prior to the crossover).

Petroglyphs, Puerco Pueblo

Petrified Forest

The Tepees

In my mind, this part of the park begins after Newspaper Rock. With, of all things, hills called The Tepees. The above picture does not do them justice - the colors are just incredible. The literature states that the hills are a combination of sandstone (the white portion) and clay. Darker layers are the result of a high carbon content. The dark red is/are iron-stained siltstone. The clay also came in bluish and purple colors.

I did not really stop too much along this part of the drive. I stopped at the Agate Bridge, which is a huge petrified log which spans a small crevice, and then again at the Crystal Forest.

The Crystal Forest is an area of the park with many fallen logs. When a log "petrifies", the inside core of the log becomes crystalized. The resulting crystal can be many different colors as a result of the silica-saturated waters. Other minerals, such as iron, carbon, manganese, cobalt, and chromium, sometimes combined with the silica to produce a wide variety of colors and patterns.The results can be very appealing.

Travelers at the turn of the 20th-century did a lot of damage to this area of the park. They cut down the trees and removed much of the crystal. The trees were also used for commercial ventures, although I am not sure exactly what is meant by that. Someone, however, realized the supply of trees was not endless; the area was designated a National Monument in 1906 and it became a Park in 1962.