Agatized wood - the wood, cell by cell, has been replaced by chalcedony, jasper, or agate; Silicified wood - the cellular structure of the wood has been replaced by any form of silica, including opal and agate. Over 200 million years ago, the logs washed into an ancient river system and were buried quick enough and deep enough by massive amounts of sediment and debris also carried in the water, that oxygen was cut off and decay slowed to a process that would now take centuries. 200-million-year-old fossils tell the tale of the prehistoric earth and its inhabitants in Arizona’s Painted Desert. Built in the late 1920s from petrified trees taken from the petrified forest that existed near Roma with some pieces weighing between 400 to 500 pounds. We were able to stay at a gift shop just outside the entrance to the park which was great because it was so close and had power for us! Petrified wood is found worldwide in sedimentary beds ranging in age from the Devonian (about 390 million years ago), when woody plants first appeared on dry land, to nearly the present. We are committed to earning customer loyalty by offering the highest level of customer service as well as competitive products and services by employees who are fair, responsive, and professional. About 225 million years ago, this area was a lowland with a tropical climate and covered by a dense forest. Rare Blue Forest Petrified Wood Slice Ring Size 7 Petrified Wood Ring Size 7 Sterling Silver Ring Size 7 Often times complete forests can be covered with ash, mudflows or pyroclastic debris. Caches of petrified wood can be found all over the world, from New Zealand to Greece to Argentina. The rainbow of colors is produced by impurities in the quartz, such as iron, carbon, and manganese. Each piece is like a giant crystal, often sparkling in the sunlight as if covered by glitter. N 7th Avenue, Suite 400 Experience one of the world’s largest and most vibrantly colored assemblies of petrified wood, historic structures, and archaeological sites at Petrified Forest National Park. Petrified Wood. There are no signs and the wood is not really obvious unless you are looking for it. Today the area is known as Connecticut’s Petrified Forest, named in 2009 by Yale Peabody Museum scientists Shusheng Hu and the late Leo Hickey. Petrified Forest, AZ Semi-petrified kauri wood is considered to be "the oldest workable wood in the world." * Hours vary throughout the year, please visit the website for hours. Within the United States, there's an especially-famous motherload in eastern Arizona. It is a one mile hike to the petrified wood. The brown park signs can be hard to see. Rivers flooded by tropical rain storms washed mud and other sediments into the lowlands. Gemstone-grade petrified wood is typically rare: this is the spot where it is concentrated in much higher quantities than usual. When visiting, the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, folks are enamored by the beauty and uniqueness of the petrified wood. As the logs eroded out, from gravity and ice wedging, the cracks widened and segments separated. It almost seems to cast a soothing spell. Here large jewel-like crystals of clear quartz, purple amethyst, yellow citrine, and smoky quartz formed. During the gradual uplifting of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 60 million years ago, the still buried petrified trees were under so much stress they broke like glass rods. Petrified Forest National Park #2217 The Petrified Forest National Park is a natural wonder containing one of the world’s largest collections of petrified wood. You can also stay further west in Winslow or Flagstaff, or south in Show Low or Pinetop-Lakeside. The logs are very hard (7.8 on the 1-10 Mohs hardness scale! Polished petrified wood closeup - click to enlarge - Image credit to Petrified Forest - CC BY 2.0 Sometimes if you are out hiking, if you are lucky, you will stumble across a gemstone which feels like rock, but looks like wood. Sometimes crushing or decay left cracks in the logs. So, over time, minerals seeped into the log forms and hardened into the stone fossils you find today. 1 Park Road The trees “turned to rock,” or became petrified. You can see remnants of more than 13,000 years of human history at the park, including Puerco Pueblo – a nearly 800-year-old, 100-room dwelling, a diverse, extensive collection of prehistoric pottery fossils and even a protected section of historic Route 66. Petrified wood is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. Find a Forest Near You. Petrified trees today lie strewn across clay hills and within cliff faces; each log broken into large segments. But volcanic lava destroyed the forest, and the remains were embedded into sediment comprised of volcanic ash and water. A petrified forest becomes such over the course of million of years. 225 million years ago, the land that makes up the Park was located about where Costa Rica is now, part of the massive Pangea continent. 1 Park Road Many trunks and other pieces of petrified wood have since been recovered from this area. Experience one of the world’s largest and most vibrantly colored assemblies of petrified wood, historic structures, and archaeological sites at Petrified Forest National Park. ), but brittle. The wood didn’t decay, since oxygen could not reach it. A petrified forest is a forest where the trees have turned to fossil or petrified wood. Eventually, the wood rotted away and the only the minerals remained. One of the largest Petrified forests still existing today is located in Arizona (United States) and is even open to the public! Erosion set the logs free millions of years later, revealing the petrified wood – made mostly of quartz – that Arizona visitors gather to see. Most are so large that there’ Petrified Forest National Park is filled with— you guessed it— petrified wood in a rainbow of colors. Hand sanitizer is provided when entering the park. Over time, minerals seeped into the wood of the trees depositing minerals. Ginkgo Petrified Forest is a registered National Natural Landmark. Petrified Forest National Park is about an hour's drive away from Winslow. 86028. Petrified Wood Forest. Minerals, including silica dissolved from volcanic ash, absorbed into the porous wood over hundreds and thousands of years crystallized within the cellular structure, replacing the organic material as it broke down over time. The park is host to numerous types of plant fossils including complete logs, upright stumps, delicate ferns and gymnosperm leaves, and pollen spores. (866) 275-5816 | (602) 364-3700, Copyright © 2021 VisitArizona.com | Privacy Policy. Designated hiking trails range in length from less than a half-mile to three miles, and each trail promises you a breathtaking view of the surrounding Painted Desert. But there’s more than wood to the Petrified Forest’s history. Huge placers of the best quality petrified wood were … A decade ago, visitors at Petrified Forest National Park were stealing the park’s petrified wood at the rate of 12 tons a year. You may remember, we’ve already visited a national park in Arizona, but it’s a big place and there’s plenty to see! Petrified wood formed from ancient walnut, Myrtlewood, sycamore, and birch. Some of the world's largest ones are an estimated 100 million years old. The Petrified Forest is a stop along the loop. Hike among this vast landscape of rocks in... Four seasons of fun is what Flagstaff is all about. The Mississippi Petrified Forest is a place of beauty and fascination. Petrified wood is the result of trees being buried by either sediment or water, and cut off from the decomposition processes found in oxygen-rich conditions. Petrified Forest National Park. Volcanic ash is sometimes a key step in the process of petrification. Petrified wood forms when trees that die millions of years ago fell and became covered in mud, sand and water. Petrified wood is, in essence, a fossil. Petrified wood is mostly silica—quartz. With displays of fossils that are 225-million-years old, the park is as fascinating archaeologically as it is aesthetically. For an unforgettable encounter with Arizona nature, enter into The Painted Desert, a living painting. The Arizona petrified forest is probably the best known in the world due to its vibrantly colored “rainbow wood” and the Petrified Forest National Park. Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park is comprised of three primary locations. Petrified wood is a special type of fossilized wood that occurs when the organic molecules in the wood are replaced by minerals, usually quartz. Now Available on our online store, purchase Blue Forest limb casts and slabs, Eden Valley, Arizona Rainbow, Acacia Pine, Pine Cones, Metasequoia leaves, Palm, Gary Green Swamp Bogwood, and more! Sign up for our newsletter to receive all the latest news, travel tips and special offers. Take I-94 north to exit 23. You can visit the Petrified Wood Forest and explore its 346 square miles with an elevation of around 5,400 feet above sea level. This petrified forest extends over a huge area, around 100k acres, but only a small portion is located within the national park. For the Petrified Forest area, you have to go out of the park west then north. Put the waypoint on a smartphone or keep a very close eye to the right of the trail. The quartz within the petrified wood is hard and brittle, fracturing easily when subjected to stress. Petrified Forest National Park More than 200 million years ago, flourishing trees and vegetation covered much of this area of Northeastern Arizona. 85007 Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park is a 7,124-acre park with camping at Wanapum Recreation Area. You can also head out into the Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area by horse, burro, mule or llama, or you can do an overnight backpacking trip through the park. There are plenty of places to stay near Petrified Forest National Park – including nearby Holbrook, Arizona, around 20 miles west of the park along I-40. Go to our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information about petrified wood! Over 200 million years ago, the logs washed into an ancient river system and were buried quick enough and deep enough by massive amounts of sediment and debris also carried in the water, that oxygen was cut off and decay slowed to a process that would now take centuries. But architecture in Arizona goes... From dinosaur museums to roadside attractions, see some of Arizona's earliest inhabitants—the dinosaurs. It has been that way for centuries since the first explorers came through the area, the first routes were blazed through the region in the mid-1800s, and up until today. Sometimes crush… The oldest known petrified forest is The Gilboa fossil forest, in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. Most of the petrified trees have been given the scientific name Araucarioxylon arizonicum. 100 Petrified Forest National Park, near the town of Holbrook, has petrified wood, 13,000 years of human history, plus hiking, camping, and horseback riding. It is not the only place that petrified wood can be found; however, it is the largest concentrated area of petrified wood in the world. Birds sing a musical interlude. Amethyst Ridge at Yellowstone National Parkshows 27 successive forest ecosystems buried by eruptions, while Petrified Forest Nation… The most famous petrified forest (petrified forest in Holbrook) is located in the northeast part of Arizona State (USA). This is a gorgeous, polished piece of Petrified Wood from the Texas Yegua formation, between 50 and 40 million years old. The area was in a tropical climate and covered in dense forest. Sometimes the scale of these parks can be deceiving. Petrified Forest, AZ 86028(928) 524-6228. At times there will be a sweet scent of wildflowers and honeysuckle vines, or the more pungent fragrance of the pine and cedar. Open daily, year-round. Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, one The park features 27,000 feet of freshwater shoreline on the Wanapum Lake along the Columbia River. The most famous locality for observing petrified wood is Petrified Forest National Park near the community of Holbrook in northeastern Arizona. After petrification, but while the logs were still encased in matrix rock, the logs cracked under stress. How much petrified wood is still leaving the park remains anybody’s guess. Obviously, they are not worth the magnificent colored logs of Araucarioxylon arizonicum of Arizona, that it is for example strictly forbidden to take home in the Petrified Forest National Park : Araucarioxylon arizonicum Coll MJX. Walk our trails to witness the splendor of unearthed petrified redwood trees that date back to the Pliocene Epoch, 3.4 million years ago. The Petrified Forest National Park is a natural wonder containing one of the world's largest collections of petrified wood. Woodforest Commitment Woodforest is a community bank built upon the needs of the customers we serve. Interestingly, evidence of humans in the Petrified Forest dates back 13,000 years. Petrified Forest National Park, near the town of Holbrook, has petrified wood, 13,000 years of human history, plus hiking, camping, and horseback riding. From Wild West towns and goat farms to Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a lot to offer families. Subscribe, Admin Offices Petrified Forest National Park provides access to many outdoor activities, and the best way to enjoy and experience it is on foot. Follow Forest Service Road 730. When you think of grand American architecture, you probably think of Chicago, New York, or maybe even Seattle. These early hunters used petrified wood … Step back in Time, over 3 million years, and walk among majestic petrified redwood giants. Arizona Closed Christmas Day. Petrified Forest National Park is an American national park in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. While buried for millions of years, the organic tissues and voids in the wood are replaced by quartz via a process called permineralization. Petrified Forest National Park is a very unique place. Unlike most fossils which are only found in sedimentary rocks, petrified wood is often found in volcanic deposits. Petrified "forests" tend to be either entire ecosystems buried by volcanic eruptions, in which trunks often remain in their growth positions, or accumulations of drift wood in fluvial environments. With displays of fossils that are 225-million-years old, the park is as fascinating archaeologically as it is aesthetically. The crystal nature of the quartz created clean fractures, evenly spaced along the tree trunk, giving the appearance today of logs cut with a chainsaw. Petrified wood found in the park and the surrounding region is made up of almost solid quartz. Phoenix, 200-million-year-old fossils tell the tale of the … Minerals, including silica dissolved from volcanic ash, absorbed into the porous wood over hundreds and thousands of years crystallized within the cellular structure, replacing the organic material as it broke down over time. The park's headquarters is about 26 miles east of Holbrook along Interstate 40, which parallels the BNSF … Hotels near Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Co.: (0.99 mi) Wigwam Motel (0.81 mi) Brad's Desert Inn (1.78 mi) Baymont Inn & Suites by Wyndham (2.74 mi) Econo Lodge (3.33 mi) Days Inn by Wyndham Holbrook; View all hotels near Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Co. on Tripadvisor Warning signage, hefty fines, legal purchase options, and other countermeasures have done some good, but losses continue to mount. Petrified Forest National Park is the most revered and absolutely exceptional locality for observing petrified wood completely exposed on the surface in a large variety. 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