Petrified Forest National Park Self Guided Driving Tour

Stop at the visitor center for a quick bathroom break! These flush toilets are the cleanest you'll find until the Rainbow Forest Museum on the other end of the park.

This overlook is your first glimpse of the Painted Desert coming in from the north, with the colorful hills below you and a vast horizon beyond facing the east. Any relevant entry fees/requirements: Tiponi Point is the first stop after the north entrance booth for Petrified Forest National Park.

Stand nearly surrounded by the Painted Desert below from this overlook point. The easy Painted Desert Rim trail leaves from the overlook and takes you to the next overlook, Kachina Point. The hike is one mile round trip. If you hike the trail, expect to spend a total of about 30 minutes here.

The expanse of the Painted Desert is plainly viewable from the overlook, easily accessible behind the Painted Desert Inn via a short path from the parking lot.

This lookout faces the Painted Desert to the north for an expansive, unobstructed view. A semi-circle of covered picnic tables is the only picnic area outside of the visitor centers.

From this overlook on a clear day, you can see over 100 miles away including the San Francisco Peaks by Flagstaff, AZ.

These three overlooks are close to each other and offer another expansive view of the Painted Desert, though you may find the previous lookouts more colorful.

This is a small, vault toilet by the parking lot.

Generation after generation of Ancestral Puebloans left over 650 petroglyphs on these giant boulders. The petroglyphs are a little far away, visible from an overlook and a set of binoculars, but clearly visible without assistance.

These conical hills, banded with several shades of mudstones, are said to resemble Tepees. There are two pull-offs on the side of Petrified Forest Rd to park the car and get a good view--the North Pullout and the South Pullout, which is also the trailhead for the "Off the Beaten Path" Blue Forest Trail.

The Blue Mesa is one of the most beautiful parts of the park, with more opportunities to discover the strange, eroded badlands. Atop the Blue Mesa, the road splits and becomes a one-way loop. Stop at the first pull-offs for a glimpse of the badlands, and the first petrified wood deposit you see coming from the north.

This 1-mile loop trail is a paved path through the Blue Mesa badlands. Though rated as easy, there is an initial descent from the parking lot (and ascent as you finish) that may be difficult for those with limited mobility. A true highlight of the park, though, as it immerses visitors in a totally alien landscape.

This 100-ft long petrified log sits on top of a small chasm, forming a bridge. When the park opened, visitors could stand on top of it! Today, the log is off-limits and supported by concrete, but this is a quick, easy stop for an impressively long piece of petrified wood.

An overlook sits over a desert plain with a dense petrified wood deposit below. Want a closer look? Another ‘off the beaten path’ trail leads from the right of the parking lot down to the deposit following a well-worn path to the wash. Then it’s just you and the petrified wood–a truly astonishing and bizarre landscape.

This 0.75-mile hike makes a loop through one of the park's major petrified wood deposits. The paved trail and mostly flat topography make for an easy hike, and one accessible for those with wheelchairs or strollers.

If you only visit one visitor center in the national park, make it this one! In addition to the typical orientation video, gift shop, restrooms, and information desk, you'll find exhibits on the area's paleontology including fossils found in the park. Behind the building is the 0.4-mile Giant Logs trail, which passes some of the largest pieces of petrified wood in the park.

Just south of the park’s borders are two gift shops: Petrified Forest Gift Shop and Crystal Forest Museum and Gifts. These private stores focus on last minute petrified wood souvenirs that you put off within the park. They also feature Route 66-style dinosaur statues out front.