Backpacking the Petrified Forest National Park & the Painted Desert
We have put off going to the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert for quite a while now. To be perfectly honest, every time I looked at pictures of them, I thought “Eh. We can find something more interesting.”
The time finally rolled around and we went, not expecting much….And yet again, we were pleasantly surprised. The simple fact of the matter is that this place does not really photograph well. It’s tough to convey exactly how incredible it is. I know the word ‘desolate’ isn’t normally associated with beauty, but this place has what I can only describe as a uniquely beautiful desolation to it.
Night one we got in a little late, immediately packed up our gear and backpacked out into the northern section of the Petrified Forest National Park. After about a mile of hiking, you can basically set up camp anywhere. We picked a remote mesa and set pitched the tent. I pictured some petrified logs here and there, but in this location every square inch of ground was covered in petrified wood splinters. It felt like being on the moon.
The next day we packed up and went back to the truck to check out the overlooks and the south end of the park. After several brief stops at overlooks, we came up to the Petrified Forest Blue Mesa Trail. It’s a short, paved trail into greyish/blue badlands, with petrified logs scattered throughout. But there’s a much lesser known trail if you know where to look; the Blue Forest Trail. An old trail that is no longer maintained, the Blue Forest Trail allows you to get off the paving and onto the ridgelines of the badlands. Nothing like a narrow trail with a couple hundred foot drop on either side! Unfortunately, it was extremely windy that day, and the trail proved to be a little too dangerous under those conditions. (But we will be back!) So we turned around and kept heading south. A couple more quick stops - the coolest of which was the Crystal Forest - and we were at the south exit and on our way home.
Overall, it was a great time. There’s something about the badland ridgelines and the quiet desolation that I absolutely love. If you’ve been on the fence about the Petrified Forest National Park and surrounding Painted Desert, start planning your trip. You’ll love it.
Or maybe you won’t. Hey, I don’t know you. But we thought it was cool.