The stone forest

Petrified Forest National Park is a sight not easily forgotten

Starting week eight, on Monday we drove from Santa Fe to Grants, New Mexico. Going through Albuquerque was quite stressful. It was about 10 a.m. and the balloon fiesta was just finishing up for the morning. The traffic was very heavy, with lots and lots of RVs and trucks with trailers to haul the balloons and equipment.

One thing we noted was the many overpasses and interchanges in Albuquerque. They were all coloured an adobe sandy colour, with many unique native art designs on them. Very beautiful to look at. The drive to Grants was quite flat but we noticed the landscape changed from flat desert to small hills and red coloured rock cliffs. The change was constant and we didn’t know what to expect around the next corner, but it was interesting and beautiful.

Our next drive was through the Petrified Forest National Park. We started off by watching a very interesting 20-minute orientation video. We learned this land was once inhabited by dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. As the landscape changed, the animals died off and the trees and vegetation became covered with sand and silt. Over millions of years they fossilized and turned into the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. Driving through the Painted Desert was like looking at a red and white moonscape. The badlands-like landscape was extremely beautiful, multicoloured and it seemed to be endless. We looked at the same valley from three different vantage points and each view was different and breathtaking.

At some selected areas, overnight camping is allowed, although there are no facilities provided. Camping here would be a dream come true for backpackers, the area is so beautiful.

We then toured the Petrified Forest itself. Many whole trees lay strewn all over the ground. At a casual glance it was hard to tell these trees were solid stone. The giveaway was how the sections were broken into pieces. It looked as if they were neatly sawed from each other. The butt ends of the broken pieces are magnificent in colour with blue, green, amber and red. The number and size of the petrified trees looked like an entire forest was knocked over and turned to stone. Erosion of the clay and sand hills is still revealing more petrified trees. In addition to all this beauty, many small and large fossils have been found. The stunning colours in the highly polished displays of petrified wood are something that will not be easily forgotten. Visit the park website for more information.