Park Hours: 8am to 5pm, MST. Don't forget that Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings. Petrified Forest is best known for its Triassic fossils. It's like having two parks in one, an ecosystem over 200 million years old with plants and animals now represented in the surreal landscape of the Painted Desert. There is also a living park with its own denizens adapted to a demanding environment.
Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area
Sunrise and sunset are favorite times to view the colorful Painted Desert of the Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area
Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark
Sunset lights up the Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark west side.
Agate House
Agate House was built over 900 years ago out of pieces of petrified wood
Puerco Pueblo
Masonry wall remnants are all that are left of a hundred room pueblo.
Blue Mesa Trail
Visitors enjoy the otherworldly walk along the Blue Mesa.
Jasper Forest
Jasper Forest has some of the most colorful logs in the park.
Summer Solstice Petroglyph at Puerco Pueblo
A petroglyph at Puerco Pueblo interacts with the sunlight on the summer solstice.
Mountain Lion Petroglyph
This ancient petroglyph of a mountain lion has become an icon of the park.
Paleontological Excavation
Researchers dig for fossils in the badlands.
Colorful Piece of Petrified Wood
Iron oxide is one of the many trace minerals that create the color of petrified wood.
Milky Way Over Blue Mesa
Petrified Forest is now an International Dark Sky Park!
