Petrified Forest National Park

Route 66 crosses a landscape where stone logs, painted badlands, Indigenous history, and the road’s own ruins share one national park. Drive the 28-mile park road between the Painted Desert and Rainbow Forest, choosing overlooks and short trails rather than trying to “complete” the park in one rush. Near the northern entrance, the preserved 1932 Painted Desert Inn and a line of telephone poles mark the former highway corridor; farther south, dense fields of petrified wood reveal trees carried by ancient rivers more than 200 million years ago. Entrance is ticketed and the gates close nightly—Petrified Forest is not a 24-hour drive-through. National Park Service hours change seasonally and can contract with staffing or extreme weather, so check the official alerts and current closing time before entering; Arizona remains on Mountain Standard Time. Carry water, fuel before the park, stay on open roads and trails, and never remove petrified wood, pottery fragments, or any other object. Respect petroglyph barriers and Tribal histories. The essential Route 66 stop is the landscape itself: far older than the highway, yet one of its defining western chapters. More

Route 66 crosses a landscape where stone logs, painted badlands, Indigenous history, and the road’s own ruins share one national park. Drive the 28-mile park road between the Painted Desert and Rainbow Forest, choosing overlooks and short trails rather than trying to “complete” the park in one rush. Near the northern entrance, the preserved 1932 Painted Desert Inn and a line of telephone poles mark the former highway corridor; farther south, dense fields of petrified wood reveal trees carried by ancient rivers more than 200 million years ago. Entrance is ticketed and the gates close nightly—Petrified Forest is not a 24-hour drive-through. National Park Service hours change seasonally and can contract with staffing or extreme weather, so check the official alerts and current closing time before entering; Arizona remains on Mountain Standard Time. Carry water, fuel before the park, stay on open roads and trails, and never remove petrified wood, pottery fragments, or any other object. Respect petroglyph barriers and Tribal histories. The essential Route 66 stop is the landscape itself: far older than the highway, yet one of its defining western chapters. More