Hiking At Petrified Forest National Park In Arizona

The stony trees, felled millions of years ago, are scattered across Petrified Forest National Park, a geological reminder of eons past when the high desert was a lush and green landscape. The rough bark fools the touch. Rather than the warm, yielding feel of wood, fingertips sense a sharp-edged, impenetrable surface.

Petrified Forest welcomes backcountry hikers

Many visitors don’t realize that the park’s backcountry is open for exploring. I sure didn’t. The park has always been more of a windshield experience. A beautiful 28-mile drive cuts from the Painted Desert north of Interstate 40 to the Petrified Forest south of it. There are pullouts, overlooks and a few short, paved trails, which visitors are admonished to stay on. Although the scenery is spectacular… Read more at AZCentral.com

The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona is famous for its beautiful and stunning, rainbow-hued remnants of a Triassic forest that is preserved within its boundaries. Also, it has been regularly portrayed as a sad example of fossil theft. In the past, park rangers lamented that a ton of 225-million-year-old wood gets stolen from the park every month, and visitors were viewed with suspicion when they ventured into the national park.

Protecting Arizona’s Petrified Forest Can Be as Easy as Taking a Hike

The vision is “a trip that’s enjoyable, that’s safe, and that protects our resources as well,” Traver says. So far the program has been drawing a greater number of visitors into the desert each year. And other park programs have even benefitted science. During a supervised public dig earlier this year, amateur paleontologist Stephanie Leco found the jaw of a long-snouted fish, the first known occurrence of… Read more at SmithsonianMag.com

On The Trail: Petrified Forest National Park

At Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, there can be found an abundance of fossilized wood dating back hundreds of millions of years, lining the trails and topping the hillsides. Although it’s illegal, many visitors steal this beautiful wood from the park. But surprisingly, a lot of it has been returned, with apologetic notes… Watch here