Day 2 Summer Road Trip!
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
I’m not going to lie, it’s HOT! 🥵 It was 95 when we arrived and almost 106 degrees when we finished hiking!!!
We arrived at the National Park about 11am, or noon or is it 1? I don’t know, time is a little weird here, but it’s definitely VACATION TIME!!! (See last picture).
Our first stop was the Visitor’s Center for a bathroom break, because we’re trying so hard to stay hydrated we have a potty stop every 30 minutes! We also refilled our water bottles, and picked up some cute stickers. We didn’t stop for lunch because I wanted to stop in Winslow, but we did break in the car for some salty snacks. The Visitor’s Center is also the place to get your National Park Passport stamped, if you have one.
The hikes to see the petroglyphs and the petrified logs are all short, from under a half mile to 2.5, so easy to hike and then get back in the car to cool off! Because the park is not open 24 hours, it’s hard to get an early hike in. It’s definitely a place I’d like to return to in cooler weather and do more exploring!
While it was just too hot to bring our dogs on this trip, it’s one of the few National Parks where well-behaved dogs are allowed on all the trails. Don’t forget to stop off and get their Bark Ranger certificate at the Visitor’s Center, if you do that.
We had hoped to see some of the park’s scaled quail but they were smart enough to keep cool somewhere in the shade! This was our first time to the park but definitely worth another visit, maybe when it’s not so hot!
Here’s a few tips, it’s a straight drive through the park, and out the other side back to I-40.
The National Park doesn’t have overnight options but they do have a grill, and several gift shops.
The nearby little town of Holcomb is cute with lots of gift shops, also.
Personally, I love this bird, but the most famous petroglyphs in the park is of a mountain lion. The petroglyphs are rock carvings, made by pecking away at the rock. These are made by “ancient Puebloan people … between 650 to 2000 years ago”, according to the Petrified Forest National Park website.
Keep Having Fun in the Texas Sun, or wherever you happen to be!
Michelle
