Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [321]
Also see the section on the Painted Desert Inn Museum under "Historic & Man-Made Attractions," below.
FEES & PERMITS
Entrance to the park costs $10 per vehicle, $5 per visitor on foot or bicycle. Backcountry camping permits are free and are issued at visitor centers.
SPECIAL REGULATIONS & WARNINGS
Because an estimated 25,000 pounds of petrified wood are stolen from the park every year, the National Park Service has adopted a zero-tolerance policy for visitors who remove even the smallest pieces. Violators are subject to fines starting at $275. If rangers suspect you of removing any wood or other resources, they may detain you and search your car.
There are long stretches between water sources at the park, so fill containers at either visitor center before starting on the scenic drive.
SEASONS & CLIMATE
With an average of just 92⁄3 inches of precipitation annually, the park couldn't get much drier. Because it averages a lofty 5,800 feet in elevation, however, it's not as hot as many other desert areas. Even in July, daily highs average in the mid-80s (30s Celsius), with nightly lows in the low 50s (10s Celsius). Of course, the park occasionally heats up—temperatures sometimes top 100°F (38°C) in midsummer. The hottest months, July and August, are also the wettest, with afternoon monsoons cutting the morning heat and depositing nearly a third of the yearly precipitation. Storms continue into early fall, but the weather dries out as it cools. By winter it can get very cold, and snowstorms occasionally close the park. In January, daily highs average 42°F (6°C) and lows 19°F (-7°C). Spring tends to be blustery and dry, with daily highs increasing from the mid-50s (lower teens Celsius) in March to about 80°F (27°C) in June—the driest month of all, with just one-third inch of rainfall.
SEASONAL EVENTS
During March, special events mark Arizona Archeology Month. Call the park office for details.
For about a week both before and after the June 21 summer solstice, rangers meet with visitors from 8 to 10am daily at Puerco Pueblo. The sun shines through a natural crack, directing a beam of light onto a smaller boulder beside it. The beam gradually moves down the edge of the rock to a small, circular petroglyph; it touches the center of the petroglyph on the summer solstice. Archaeologists believe the ancestral Puebloans used this petroglyph to monitor the summer solstice.
If You Have Only 1 Day
The most obvious and easiest way to see the park is to first stop at one of the visitor centers and then take the 28-mile scenic drive, stopping at the pullouts and taking some of the short trails to get close-up views of the petrified wood. With a bit of extra time, you might consider a hike into the Painted Desert Wilderness. Combine this with a pre- or posthike picnic at the Chinde Point Picnic Area.
Exploring the Park by Car
The direction you choose for the scenic drive depends on which way you're traveling on I-40. If you're coming from the west, take U.S. 180 east from Holbrook to the park's south entrance, drive through the park, then rejoin I-40 at the park's north entrance. Coming from the east, do the opposite, driving through the park from the north entrance and exiting onto U.S. 180 at the south end. Trails mentioned here are discussed more fully in "Day Hikes," below.
1. If you enter the park from the south entrance, you'll start at the Rainbow Forest Museum. Behind the museum is the Giant Logs Self-Guided Trail, the first of several easy trails through the forests of petrified wood.
2. Leave your vehicle at the museum parking area. Just past the museum, you'll see an access trail to the Long Logs and the Agate House trailheads. The Agate House Trail ends at a prehistoric pueblo made of petrified wood. Forking to the left, the Long Logs Trail winds among some of the longest and most spectacular petrified trees in the