ConnectionInfo.phpselectStockphoto1.php Quick POD Gallery Viewer


facebook facebook facebook facebook facebook facebook
| view slideshow | view storyboard

select gallery display size
columns = 1 -- 2 -- 3 -- 4 -- 5 -- 6 ----------------- width = 600 -- 800 -- 900 -- 1080 -- 1280 -- 1900

slideshow: Petrified Forest National Park - A Painted Park - Gallery 1

Petrified Forest National Park is an American national park in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, the fee (chargeable) area of the park covers about 230 square miles (600 square kilometers), encompassing semi-desert shrub steppe as well as highly eroded and colorful badlands. The park's headquarters is about 26 miles (42 km) east of Holbrook along Interstate 40 (I-40), which parallels the BNSF Railway's Southern Transcon, the Puerco River, and historic U.S. Route 66, all crossing the park roughly east–west. The site, the northern part of which extends into the Painted Desert, was declared a national monument in 1906 and a national park in 1962. The park received 644,922 recreational visitors in 2018. Typical visitor activities include sightseeing, photography, hiking, and backpacking.

The Petrified Forest is known for its fossils, especially fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic Epoch, about 225 million years ago. The sediments containing the fossil logs are part of the widespread and colorful Chinle Formation, from which the Painted Desert gets its name. Beginning about 60 million years ago, the Colorado Plateau, of which the park is part, was pushed upward by tectonic forces and exposed to increased erosion. All of the park's rock layers above the Chinle, except geologically recent ones found in parts of the park, have been removed by wind and water. In addition to petrified logs, fossils found in the park have included Late Triassic ferns, cycads, ginkgoes, and many other plants as well as fauna including giant reptiles called phytosaurs, large amphibians, and early dinosaurs. Paleontologists have been unearthing and studying the park's fossils since the early 20th century.

audio control: G

click image to enlarge

5h0255-101w.jpg
5h0255-102w.jpg
5h0255-103w.jpg
5h0255-104w.jpg

5h0255-105w.jpg
5h0255-106w.jpg
5h0255-107w.jpg
5h0255-108w.jpg

5h0255-109w.jpg
5h0255-110w.jpg
5h0255-111w.jpg
5h0255-112w.jpg

5h0255-113w.jpg
5h0255-114w.jpg
5h0255-115w.jpg
5h0255-116w.jpg

5h0255-117w.jpg
5h0255-118w.jpg
5h0255-119w.jpg
5h0255-120w.jpg

5h0255-121w.jpg
5h0255-122w.jpg
5h0255-123w.jpg
5h0255-124w.jpg

5h0255-125w.jpg
5h0255-126w.jpg
5h0255-127w.jpg
5h0255-128w.jpg

5h0255-129w.jpg
5h0255-130w.jpg
5h0255-131w.jpg
5h0255-132w.jpg

5h0255-133w.jpg
5h0255-134w.jpg
5h0255-135w.jpg
5h0255-136w.jpg

5h0255-137w.jpg
5h0255-138w.jpg
5h0255-139w.jpg
5h0255-140w.jpg

5h0255-141w.jpg
5h0255-142w.jpg
5h0255-143w.jpg
5h0255-144w.jpg

5h0255-145w.jpg
5h0255-146w.jpg
5h0255-147w.jpg
5h0255-148w.jpg

5h0255-149w.jpg
5h0255-150w.jpg
5h0255-151w.jpg
5h0255-152w.jpg

5h0255-153w.jpg
5h0255-154w.jpg
5h0255-155w.jpg
5h0255-156w.jpg

5h0255-157w.jpg
5h0255-158w.jpg
5h0255-159w.jpg
5h0255-160w.jpg

5h0255-161w.jpg
5h0255-162w.jpg
5h0255-163w.jpg
5h0255-164w.jpg

5h0255-165w.jpg
5h0255-166w.jpg
5h0255-167w.jpg
5h0255-168w.jpg

5h0255-169w.jpg
5h0255-170w.jpg
5h0255-171w.jpg
5h0255-172w.jpg

5h0255-173w.jpg
5h0255-174w.jpg
5h0255-175w.jpg
5h0255-176w.jpg

5h0255-177w.jpg
5h0255-178w.jpg
5h0255-179w.jpg
5h0255-180w.jpg

5h0255-181w.jpg
5h0255-182w.jpg
5h0255-183w.jpg
5h0255-184w.jpg