Petrified Forest National Park Things to Do Tips by jumpingnorman

Visit the Painted Desert Visitor Center

Upon entering the Petrified National Forest, you will find a gift shop which has a lot of petrified wood products. You will be amazed by how beautiful the wood appears once made nice and glossy --- they are unexpectedly more like stone!

And big ones are quite expensive. A saucer-sized one can off-set you by a hundred dollars. There are also books available about the forest, and even an orientation film which brings you back to the times of the dinosaurs – the Triassic period. The rangers are also very nice inside and will make you feel at home.

We were lucky enough to be on time for the movie presentation at the Painted Desert Visitor Museum. We learned that petrified wood is present in all 50 states, but then the Petrified National Forest was very unique in having such an abundance.

Petrified Hiking, Camping and Horsebackriding!

Hiking and Camping are available in the Petrified National Forest, especially since the park is best explored by foot. For one day-hikers, you don’t need a permit. You can walk trails like the Puerco Pueblo Trail or the Giant Logs Trail – I did not personally do these trails but the Museum has a trail guide which gives you ideas of what to do if you were to hike in the future! I might consider doing it someday when my son is bigger!

There are 50,000 acres of mesas, buttes, badlands, and grasslands. The north end is the Painted Desert unit and the south end is the Rainbow Forest unit.

There’s even horseback riding and pack animals permitted in the wilderness. But backcountry camping permits may only be obtained for a maximum of 14 consecutive days, with the campsite being relocated every 3 days to avoid impacts on the resource. Interesting note on camping: Bury Human Waste, Pack Out Your Trash!