Our Jeep road trip across the United States brings us back to Arizona for the second time. A few weeks ago, we explored Arizona’s iconic landmarks: Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and we even had the incredible luck of being selected in the lottery to visit The Wave. This time, we leave the classic routes of the American West behind to continue our Arizona road trip off the beaten path, far from the ever-popular Grand Canyon. Because yes, despite its nickname as the “Grand Canyon State,” Arizona is full of lesser-known yet equally fascinating landscapes. We head toward the northeast of the state to discover preserved places where nature, history, and Navajo culture come together: from the stunning Canyon de Chelly to the exploration of Petrified Forest National Park and its millennia-old trees.
Visiting Canyon de Chelly: immersion in Navajo territory
Our road trip through Colorado in winter introduced us to lesser-known places like the incredible Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Mesa Verde National Park. But we also had to deal with snow and freezing temperatures. So we’re not unhappy to find milder weather again in Arizona. We begin our off-the-beaten-path Arizona road trip in the northern part of the state with a visit to Canyon de Chelly National Monument.
Friday, October 28, 2022
We are in the heart of a Navajo reservation in Arizona. Stray dogs and cattle roam the roads, and all roadside areas are fenced off. Whenever there is an opening in the fence, it leads to private land. Finding a wild camping spot was therefore quite difficult. We eventually ended up at the campground of Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Technically, the night costs $20. But we arrived after the gate had closed. And this morning, we don’t have any cash to pay. The ranger, slightly frustrated but without a card machine, lets us go. It’s 3°C, but the sun is shining brightly. The day is off to a great start! We head out to explore Canyon de Chelly. At this hour, the road is empty, and we enjoy the viewpoints without meeting anyone—except for one very furry local resident!
Canyon de Chelly National Monument lies on ancestral Navajo lands. Even today, some families still live at the bottom of the canyon, just like their ancestors before them. They live from farming and livestock. It is therefore not possible to enter the canyon without a Navajo guide. Here as well, like in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, we find the ruins of ancient Pueblo villages tucked into the canyon alcoves. They were inhabited until the late 1300s.
Visiting an old trading post at Hubbell Trading Post
Canyon de Chelly may not be the most beautiful or the most impressive of American canyons, but we still stop at every viewpoint to see it from all angles, from the South Rim to the North Rim. At midday, after a bit of driving, we stop at Hubbell Trading Post for a picnic. We eat outside in the sun, which feels amazing! A trading post is a historic commercial site between Native Americans and settlers. This one dates back to 1878. Even today, you can buy Native American crafts here. A handmade vase can cost around $600! A bit out of our budget 😅
We then camp in the middle of the desert near the small canyon of the Little Colorado River. It is so warm that we can finally wear T-shirts! Such a treat after the freezing days in Colorado 😊 Since we just gained an hour thanks to the time change, we take advantage of the late afternoon to do a quick cleanup, wash the stove, prepare tomorrow’s lunch, and do the dishes. What a pleasure! In recent days, all the everyday tasks of life on the road had been neglected because it was far too cold to stay outside for long!
Saturday, October 29
Heading south eventually pays off! We wake up under a bright sun and relatively mild temperatures for this early hour. The morning goes by quickly with Jeep tidying, airing out the bedding and pillows, breakfast, and dishes. Around 10 a.m., we hit the road to visit Petrified Forest National Park.
Petrified Forest National Park: a 220-million-year-old forest
What to see in Petrified Forest National Park?
Our visit to Petrified Forest National Park takes a full day. We explore the main highlights of the park through short hikes, scenic viewpoints, and a panoramic road. It is a relatively unknown national park in Arizona, off the beaten path and therefore very uncrowded.
Visiting the museum at the visitor center
As soon as we arrive, we stop at the Rainbow Forest Visitor Center. It’s a must for us whenever we visit a national park in the United States. We pick up a park map and get some advice from the rangers. Inside, we spend a few minutes exploring the Rainbow Forest Museum. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the park, its history, and the fascinating story of the petrified trees. There are also exhibits on paleontology and the geological history of the area.
A very, very long time ago, the hot and dry Arizona desert did not yet exist. If we stood in the same place around 220 million years ago, we would be in a tropical jungle on the banks of a river! At that time, there was only one supercontinent, Pangaea, and present-day Arizona was located just above the Equator, where Costa Rica is today. The petrified trees scattered across the ground, along with numerous plant fossils, are evidence of the lush forest that once covered this region. These fossilized trunks date back to the Triassic period, before the Jurassic era. In other words, these trees were already fossilized 135 million years before the T-Rex roamed the Earth! Mind-blowing numbers. Archaeologists have found—and continue to find—countless plant fossils and skeletons of some of the earliest dinosaurs in the park.
Admiring the fossilized trees of Petrified Forest National Park
The main attraction of Petrified Forest is, of course, the petrified trees. They are everywhere, right around the visitor center. The Rainbow Forest area is one of the most spectacular places in the park to admire these fossilized trunks. No need for long hikes: just walking around the visitor center already reveals impressive specimens.
These fossilized trees are fascinating. They are now completely rock-like, yet you can still recognize the shape of the tree, even the grain and bark, which have turned into stone. When they died millions of years ago, the trees were buried under layers of sediment rich in silica, which slowly replaced the organic material over time. Some trunks have retained their original colors, while others have crystallized into quartz!
Hiking in Petrified Forest National Park
There are many hiking trails in Petrified Forest National Park, starting directly from the visitor center. We chose the Giant Logs Trail loop, an easy paved path that allows close-up views of impressive fossils.
We are intrigued by the fossilized rock blocks we see on the ground. They look like they were cut by humans. Of course, that is not the case! Quartz, over time, naturally fractures. These cracks run perpendicular through the tree because it is the shortest path. Through repeated cracking and breaking, the trees end up resembling neatly cut logs. Several colors can be seen in these petrified trunks. White, sometimes shiny, is pure quartz. Red and orange tones indicate the presence of iron in the quartz.
Scenic drive and viewpoints
The scenic drive through Petrified Forest National Park offers access to several viewpoints. Beyond the fossils, it is especially an opportunity to admire the park’s arid landscapes and badlands.
Blue Mesa hiking trail
This 1.6 km loop trail allows visitors to discover Blue Mesa, a fascinating area of badlands shaped by erosion over millions of years. Here as well, numerous petrified trunks are scattered across the ground.
Newspaper Rock and Puerco Pueblo
There are also petroglyphs at Petrified Forest National Park! Although much younger than the surrounding petrified trees, the oldest date back 2,000 years. They were carved here by ancestral Pueblo peoples who lived in the region over 600 years ago. Newspaper Rock is a rock wall covered with more than 650 petroglyphs. These depict human figures, animals, and mysterious symbols, remnants of an ancient culture. To this day, they remain a true mystery for researchers, who still struggle to interpret them. Watch out for a few intruders in the mix 😂
Admiring The Painted Desert
The park’s scenic drive takes us to the northern section of the park. From the roadside viewpoint, we discover the Painted Desert area, a beautiful landscape of badlands. These colorful hills have been sculpted by erosion over thousands of years.
Painted Desert Inn museum
At the park exit, this adobe building catches our attention. It once served as a hotel for Route 66 travelers. Today, it is a museum telling the history of the region. We simply admire the building from the outside before getting back on the road.
We leave Petrified Forest National Park in the afternoon, amazed by this unique natural site in Arizona, famous for its millions-of-years-old fossilized forests. This visit to Petrified Forest National Park allowed us to dive into a fascinating geological history and discover one of the most extraordinary landscapes in the American Southwest. We continue east toward a lesser-known U.S. state in hopes of finding warmer weather. Spoiler alert: not only do we succeed on the weather front (🥳), but we are also completely won over by our discovery of New Mexico, a vastly underrated state in our opinion, with ancient petroglyphs, lava fields, and Breaking Bad filming locations.
