"LOGS OF ..." a Petrified Forest National Park Travel Page by mtncorg

Once upon a time, a forest of pine grew high up in the headwaters of a mountain stream. Some cataclysmic event knocked them down and many washed down swollen streams onto a large floodplain where they were covered quickly by mud, silt and volcanic ash. Lack of oxygen, due to rapid burial, shut down the decay process. Silica from groundwater eventually seeped into the wood and over eons, crystallized into quartz, thus petrifying the logs. This occured 225 million years ago. In the intervening period, the land sank, flooded with freshwater and then rose high above the sea level, stresses which broke the petrified logs and continues to break them today. Other fossils remain buried in a layer that is in some spots up to 300 feet deep.

As with many areas in this region, evidence of human habitation exists - up to 2000 years ago until about 1400 - in the form of ruins, pictographs, rubble.

To protect the fossilized deposits, the Federal Government, as early as 1906, established a National Monument here. Teh Painted Desert to the north was added in 1932 and the Monument becam a Park in 1962. This is a car park for the most part. A 27 mile drive goes past many exhibits and turn-outs. WE drove through the Park from north to south and this is how the tips are arranged. There are no campgrounds in the Park, only wilderness camping for which you need a backcountry permit from a ranger station. There are motels in nearby towns and at the Painted Desert Inn - built originally in the 1920's, rebuilt in the 1930's and restored in the 1990's - there is both gas and food.

It goes without saying, pieces of petrified wood are not there for the taking. Rangers warn you not to take any, but recent studies show that 20% of pre-placed pieces disappeared within a short time. That is erosion on an exponential curve! If you have to have a piece, there are several commercial concessions just outside the park.

The map shows that the Park is pretty much devoted to the Park road with little backcountry beyond.