I had honestly never heard of Petrified Forest before moving to Northern AZ. If you’re driving through Arizona on I-40, it is a fun easy stop that I am thankful to have visited now thrice! 

Petrified Forest is an awesomely uncrowded park that is definitely worth an afternoon. The area is littered with well-maintained fossil records of the Late Triassic Period.The main draw for me is the 200 million year old logs – pretty, crystallized, huge, and in really fantastic shape to be prehistoric. PFNP’s landscape is also really reminiscent of dinosaur times: the hills are huge, rolling, and go on as far as the eye can see. There is also pueblos and petroglyphs with the park, if you are interested more so in human history.

Petrified Forest is a relatively small national park. There are no major day hikes; all public trails are less than two miles long. There is also no campsites within the park. In fact, as of right now, the park closes at 5 PM. Three hours is plenty of time to drive through, walk the Crystal Forest loop, and stop at vistas. The Crystal Forest is the area most densely pack with fossilized logs; if you’re looking down at the ground, you’re walking on really beautiful crystals the entire trail (hence the name). The Blue Mesa Trail lets you walk amongst the funky rolling hills; highly encouraged experience!

While I haven’t yet, you can apply for backcountry permits or join a guided tour of the areas beyond marked trails. Here is the NPS’s suggestions for routes to take in the backcountry – again, not marked trails, but very likely worth your time. You could also camp overnight in the backcountry; you need a permit (but it’s free!) via the visitor centers.

There are two other great detours on the drive to PFNP: Holbrook, AZ – home of cool vintage cars; and Winslow, AZ – famous for one line in The Eagles’ Take It Easy. In my humble opinion, neither stop alone is worth a long drive, but they’re great additions to a trip to PFNP. Entrance Fee is $20/car, but I recommend to everyone always to become an America the Beautiful passholder for $80/year! National Parks are typically ~$30/car, so if you visit three parks, the pass pays for itself.