Petrified Forest Itinerary: What to See in 1, 2, or 3 Days

By David Sanchez · Data: National Park Service · ← Complete guide Petrified Forest

Petrified Forest is organized around a single 28-mile road that crosses the park from north to south, from I-40 to Highway 180. The visit follows a straightforward route: enter at one end, stop at each viewpoint or trail at your own pace, and exit at the other. Plan on a full day for a thorough visit, or two days if you want to hike in the wilderness areas or wait for dusk at the Painted Desert viewpoints. For an overview of the park before you start planning, see our complete Petrified Forest guide.

How Long Do You Need to Visit Petrified Forest?

A half day is technically enough to drive the main road and stop at three or four viewpoints. In practice, that's too short to get out of the car, walk around, and take in what you're seeing.

A full day (7 to 8 hours) is what we recommend. It gives you time to cover both entrances, stop at eight to ten main sites, and hike at least one trail, either Giant Logs Trail or Crystal Forest Trail. Both are less than 0.9 miles.

Two days give you time to hike in the wilderness areas: Painted Desert Wilderness in the north and Petrified Forest Wilderness in the south. These areas have no marked routes or established trails, so you'll need to prepare carefully. They offer complete solitude, even in peak season.

Three days or more only makes sense as part of a larger Arizona road trip. The park itself doesn't require more time.

Access, Entrances, and Getting Around the Park

The park has two entrances at opposite ends of its main road: the north entrance (Painted Desert Visitor Center, accessed from I-40 at Exit 311) and the south entrance (Rainbow Forest Museum, accessed from Holbrook via Highway 180, about 19 miles away). The full drive covers 28 miles inside the park, with no reservation or special permit required. Plan on another 19 miles on Highway 180 to reach Holbrook from the south, or 17 miles to I-40 from the north.

There is no shuttle. You'll need your own vehicle to visit the park. The road is closed at night, and hours vary by season. For detailed directions and traffic rules inside the park, see the Petrified Forest Access guide and the Getting Around the Park page.

The Areas of Petrified Forest

The road crosses three distinct areas, each with its own atmosphere and sites.

The Painted Desert: Viewpoints and Archaeology in the North

The first 10 miles from the north entrance follow the rim of the Painted Desert cliffs. Layers of pink, purple, blue, and white silt and clay stretch for miles. These layers preserved fossilized trees beneath the surface for 225 million years.

Eight consecutive viewpoints line this stretch. Tawa Point and Kachina Point are the easiest to reach. Chinde Point offers the clearest panorama of the Painted Desert basin. Pintado Point is often less crowded than the others, with an equally open view.

Puerco Pueblo, about 12 miles from the north entrance, is a stop you shouldn't skip. This ancestral Puebloan village, occupied around A.D. 1100 to 1400, contains several hundred petroglyphs visible from a flat 1,640-foot trail. It's free and takes less than 20 minutes.

Newspaper Rock features more than 650 petroglyphs carved into a red sandstone surface. You can view them from a platform equipped with fixed binoculars. The rock isn't accessible on foot from the main road.

The Central Area: Badlands and Driftwood

Blue Mesa is the park's most surprising stop, in our view. The 1.4-mile trail descends into a maze of bluish and lavender clay hills, sculpted into conical shapes by erosion. You'll walk among petrified logs that slid down the slopes as the ground collapsed beneath them. Allow 45 minutes to an hour for the round trip.

Agate Bridge is a 118-foot petrified log spanning a ravine, still intact despite centuries of erosion that carved away the ground beneath it. A metal support installed in the 1910s has held it up ever since. The story behind that intervention is worth reading on the interpretive panel.

Jasper Forest offers a view across a landscape scattered with colorful logs and fragments strewn across the slopes of an ancient riverbed. There is no trail here, just a viewpoint along the road.

The Rainbow Forest: The South's Largest Concentrations of Petrified Wood

The final few miles before the south entrance contain the largest concentrations of petrified wood visible to the naked eye.

Crystal Forest Trail (0.7 miles, flat, and stroller-accessible) winds among logs whose quartz, amethyst, and chalcedony crystals catch the light differently throughout the day. This is the trail we recommend for visitors short on time. It's short, dense, and impressive.

Giant Logs Trail (0.7 miles) starts at Rainbow Forest Museum and passes "Old Faithful," a log 3 feet in diameter at its base, with especially vivid colors. The trail climbs slightly in one spot, but there's no technical difficulty.

Rainbow Forest Museum (included with park admission) covers fossilized tree species, the geological history of the Triassic Period, and ongoing paleontological excavations in the park. Allow 30 to 45 minutes.

Absolute rule: you can't take any petrified wood, not even a fragment the size of a fingernail. Rangers check vehicles as they leave. Violators face a federal fine. There are no exceptions.

A Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1: Full North-to-South Drive

Arrive at the north entrance when it opens. Buy your pass ($25 per vehicle), or show your America the Beautiful Pass at the entrance station.

Drive the Painted Desert viewpoints in order: Tawa Point, Kachina Point, Chinde Point, and Pintado Point. Give yourself 10 to 15 minutes at each stop, depending on how much time you want for photos. Take a longer break at Puerco Pueblo, allowing 20 to 30 minutes for the trail and petroglyphs.

Stop at Newspaper Rock for 10 minutes to see the platform.

Lunch: Painted Desert Inn sells snacks and drinks, but options are limited. Most visitors bring their own picnic. For a full meal, Holbrook is the most convenient base. Our Where to Eat page lists restaurants around the park.

In the afternoon, hike Blue Mesa Trail (one hour round-trip), then visit Agate Bridge and Jasper Forest (30 minutes total). Finish with Crystal Forest Trail and Giant Logs Trail (1.5 hours total, including Rainbow Forest Museum).

Exit through the south entrance onto Highway 180 toward Holbrook.

Day 2 (Optional): Wilderness and Morning Light

Return to the north entrance at dawn. Kachina Point at sunrise has a different quality of light than the rest of the day. The layers shift from blue-gray to orange in less than 20 minutes.

From Kachina Point, you can access Painted Desert Wilderness on foot without a marked trail. Choose a direction, move away from the road, and head into the badlands. There are no signs, no water, and no shade. Bring at least 3 liters of water per person, a paper map, and a GPS device or offline app. Our Hiking page covers the conditions and precautions for these unmarked areas.

Spend the afternoon in Petrified Forest Wilderness in the south, accessed from the Rainbow Forest parking area. The same rules apply: no trail, no water, and careful preparation required.

Options Based on How Much Time You Have

Express (3 to 4 hours): enter through the south entrance. Visit Giant Logs Trail, Crystal Forest Trail, and Blue Mesa, then exit north onto I-40. You'll see the densest concentrations of petrified wood, but not the Painted Desert viewpoints.

Classic (a full day): follow the north-to-south drive described for Day 1. This is the format we recommend for anyone traveling through Arizona.

Regional road trip (2 days or more): add Petrified Forest to a route that includes Canyon de Chelly (62 miles north via Route 191), Monument Valley, or Grand Canyon South Rim (143 miles west). The Region and Road Trip guides lay out these combinations with realistic distances and drive times.

Itinerary Map

The NPS provides an official Unigrid map free of charge at both entrance stations, included with park admission. It shows all viewpoints, parking areas, and trails, with distances in miles. Our Map page reproduces the viewpoints and distances in miles.

Where to Stay Along the Route

There is no lodging inside the park. Holbrook, about 19 miles from the south entrance, has nearly all of the area's motels and hotels, including budget chains and a few independent properties. Winslow, 40 miles west on I-40, offers additional options, including the famous La Posada Hotel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Backcountry camping is allowed in the wilderness areas with a free permit obtained at Painted Desert Visitor Center or Rainbow Forest Museum. Our Camping page covers the requirements and sites.

For price comparisons and detailed addresses, see our Where to Stay page.

Extend Your Trip: What to See Around Petrified Forest

The park sits at a useful crossroads for an Arizona-New Mexico road trip. To the north, Canyon de Chelly (Chinle, AZ) and Navajo lands offer a look at the ancestral culture of the Colorado Plateau. To the west, Historic Route 66 leads to Winslow, Flagstaff, the gateway to the Grand Canyon, and Sedona. To the east, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, are about a three-hour drive away. The Region and Road Trip guides offer complete itineraries with stops and realistic drive times for each route.

The Ideal Itinerary for Your Schedule

Less than 4 hours: focus on the south area, including Giant Logs, Crystal Forest, and Blue Mesa, entering via Highway 180. One full day: drive north to south with Puerco Pueblo, Newspaper Rock, Blue Mesa, and Crystal Forest, in that order. Two days: add the wilderness hikes and enjoy sunrise over the Painted Desert. More time: add Petrified Forest to a larger Arizona road trip.

Frequently Asked Questions