Every year, millions of tourists flock to Arizona’s most famous national park: The Grand Canyon.
Yet travel experts claim there is a lesser-known, but no less stunning, park in the copper state that could be even better.
Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park is home to breathtaking views and has plants and fossils that date back to the ‘Dawn of the Dinosaurs’.
But most miraculous of all is its petrified wood – hence the park name – which looks like sparkling gems in the desert sun.
Travel journalist, Monica Humphries, told Business Insider the park is her favorite of the 14 she visited in the US in 2023.
‘The park isn’t home to towering mountains or striking canyons like many of the more popular national parks, but it does have a natural phenomenon I had never seen before. The petrified wood amazed me,’ she said.
‘Between the impressive mesas, colorful fossils, and history, I left feeling thrilled by my decision to stop. And I left with a new favorite park’.
The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona is one of the few places in America where petrified wood can be found
Visitors can drive through the 218,000 acres of park in less than an hour, from either the north or south, seeing views of the petrified wood, badlands and the Painted Desert
Petrified Forest National Park was established in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt, and 56 years later in 1962, it was designated a national park
The national park is located in the northeast of the state, in Navajo and Apache counties about 50 miles from the New Mexico border on the Interstate 40.
It was established as a national monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt, and 56 years later in 1962, it was designated a national park.
Visitors can drive through the 218,000 acres of park in less than an hour from either the north or south, where they will be greeted by glorious views of the Painted Desert. It is the only national park site that contains a segment of Route 66.
But it is most famous for its brightly colored petrified wood that is made up of almost solid quartz.
The colors are produced by the impurities in the quartz, such as iron and carbon. Each piece is like a giant crystal, sparking in the sunlight as if covered by glitter, the park’s website explains.
The logs were preserved after they washed into a river system more than 200 million years ago and buried beneath large amount of sediment and debris, cutting off their oxygen and slowing the decaying process.
So stunning is the result that photos regularly go viral.
One picture showing a cross section of petrified wood appeared in at least 17 Reddit discussion groups, with thousands of comments and votes.
It was shared on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Pinterest by hundreds of people, according to AZ central.
The park has a long history of gem collectors dynamiting the wood logs in search of amethyst or quartz. But this was stopped when the area was designated a national monument and then a national park.
Some visitors have been known to still attempt to swipe a piece of the wood.
However, the park’s ‘Conscience Pile’ acts as a monument to all those who have since mailed the precious logs back with apology letters after finding the rocks to be ‘cursed’ and bringing nothing but bad luck.
Pictured: The Grand Canyon, which is a three-hour drive from Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified wood is made up of almost solid quartz, with each piece sparkling like a giant crystal
The Rainbow Forest Museum, near the park’s southern entrance, shows an introductory film about the park, displays skeletons of prehistoric animals and offers access to trails
Around half a million people visited the Petrified Forest National Park in 2022, compared to some 4.7 million who went to the Grand Canyon. And it ranked 39th out of 63rd for visitors, Business Insider reported.
However, there have been no deaths in the Petrified National Park since 2010 – whereas Grand Canyon averages around 12 fatalities per year, with roughly 2007 deaths since 2007.
The Petrified Forest National Park also attracts paleontologists from around the world, who have uncovered fossils more than 200 million years old – the age referred to as ‘The Dawn of the Dinosaurs’.
A recent dig yielded micro-fossils containing the jawbones and teeth of early reptiles, as well as fossils of phytosaurs, who were the early ancestors of the crocodile, according to AZ central.
Information about these fossils and the petrified wood can be found at the Rainbow Forest Museum, near the park’s southern entrance.
Here, you can watch an introductory film about the park, view skeletons of prehistoric animals and access trails within the park, according to USA today.
Insight into the history of the area is also available at the Puerco Pueblo, an archeological site that was previously a village around 600 years ago with as many as 200 residents.
The park draws in more than 600,000 visitors each year, with many attempting to swipe portions of the quartz for themselves
More than 650 petroglyphs, which are images etched directly into the rocks surface, can be found at Newspaper Rock
The petroglyphs were created by the Puebloan people who lived along the Puerco River, between 650 and 2,000 years ago
‘I’ve seen incredible mountains and lakes across the country, but I’ve never seen petrified wood,’ said travel journalist, Monica Humphries
Gem collectors used to dynamite the logs to try and find quartz and opal, but the practice was prevented after the petrified forest was named a national monument and later a national park
Paleontological digs have uncovered fossils more than 200 million years old, the age commonly referred to as ‘The Dawn of the Dinosaurs’, within the park
More than 650 petroglyphs, which are images etched directly into the rocks surface, can be found at Newspaper Rock.
They were created by the Puebloan people who lived along the Puerco River, between 650 and 2,000 years ago, according to the park’s website.
The logs that created the stunning sights of the park were washed into a river system more than 200 million years ago and buried quickly and deeply by large amount of sediment and debris cutting off their oxygen and slowing the decaying process.