Petrified Forest National Park

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Somehow this one slipped through the cracks. As I was planning our route through this part of the country a few months ago, I completely missed this park. I don't know if I saw it and figured we'd pick it up later or if I simply didn't realize it was right near where we'd be.

Whatever it was, I'm glad Asher did his own research and pointed out that we'd be driving right near it and should stop. Good call, Asher!


Like a lot of national parks, Petrified Forest National Park is built around a single concept (in this case, petrified wood) that takes up a small percentage of the park with the rest of the park consisting of some combination of wildlife, formations, and/or amazing views.

I remember petrified wood from other kids bringing back small pieces from vacation for show and tell. It always seemed cool in a "I don't really know why that 'wood' seems more like a rock, but neat!" sort of way. I'd be lying if I said I could tell you what petrified wood really was before this trip.

Turns out it's rock. It happens when a tree falls down and is instantly buried (usually because it fell near a river and gets buried in silt). This prevents rotting. Then over time, minerals leech into the wood and solidify. And just like that, the tree turns into a rock.

They really are pretty

Apparently this park has the largest collection of petrified trees in one place on the planet. I can't independently verify that, but I'll give it to them as a gesture of good faith.



Location: Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA

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