Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park On my trip, I was able to visit Petrified Forest National Park with my mama and grandmother! Petrified Forest is a beautiful park in northeast Arizona, home of the Painted Desert (which you can see behind me) and many deposits of petrified wood.  My family drove a few hours to spend the day there so I could earn my Junior Ranger badge.

Petrified Forest National Park

After we stopped at the Visitor Center to pick up my Junior Ranger booklet and watch an orientation video, we drove along the park loop road. There are little outlooks all along the painted desert so you can stop and look at the beautiful scenery. We made sure to stop at some to take pictures. I thought the landscape reminded me of Mars, because of the beautiful red and pink colors.

Petrified Forest National Park

Though the sky was sunny while we were driving near the Painted Desert, a storm started started to roll in as we drove through the park. Luckily, we had time to walk the short Puerco Pueblo trail before it began to rain. In this photo, I'm waiting for my family to hurry up so we can start hiking the trail. I loved seeing the remains of the ancient Pueblo. There was a trail extension with petroglyphs, but we didn't get to see them because the extension was closed due to swarming bees!

Petrified Forest National Park After we drove through the rain, we stopped at the Rainbow Forest Museum, another of the museum's visitor centers. The center has several skeletons of ancient crocodilian creatures- awesome! Behind the center is the Giant Logs Trail, where you can see many beautiful petrified logs. Here I am with the storm off in the distance behind me.

Petrified Forest National Park

Here I am on one of the giant logs. Isn't it amazing? It's so cool to think that these logs used to be regular wood, but now are petrified. You can read more about the process, plus the animals and geology of the park, on the Petrified Forest National Park website.

Petrified Forest Here I am on the enormous petrified log called "Old Faithful." It was so big! I love its beautiful colors. I'm so glad I had the chance to go to Petrified Forest.

Petrified Forest National Park

At the end of the day, I stopped by the Rainbow Forest Museum, where Ranger Kait swore me in as an official Junior Ranger at Petrified Forest! Petrified Forest has a really nice badge and patch. Plus, if you do all the activities in the book, you can earn a free rainbow pencil! I had a great time at Petrified Forest. I hope I can go back someday and bring my friends. If you are ever in the Four Corners region, try to take the time to visit this awesome park! Have you ever seen petrified wood or fossils?

In this entry I'm wearing: homemade Junior Ranger tee (blank tee from American Girl Place), shorts from American Girl's 2009 Outdoor Play outfit, and sporty sandals from American Girl.

11 comments

  1. I love the pictures Inky, I wish I could travel like you do! :)

    ~Sissy

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    1. Thanks Sissy! I hope someday I can come visit you- then you won't have to travel!

      ~Inky

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  2. Love the pictures! Looks like such a fun trip, Inky!

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  3. Dia duit, Inky!

    Wowzers, that Petrified Forest looks awesome! I love history--both American and natural, and really liked reading about how the logs got to be that way. I can't believe their actual atoms got replaced by stone? That's super cool!

    ~Saoirse

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    1. Privyet Saoirse!

      Petrified wood is pretty awesome. They had some for sale, but I didn't get any.

      ~Inky

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  4. Sounds Cool Inky! Love the pictures!
    XOXO
    ~ McKenna

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  5. Hi Inky!
    That place is beautiful! The rocks look red!
    I have never seen petrified wood before but once I went to a museum and saw some fossils. They were dinosaur bones arranged to make the skeleton of a dinosaur. The museum had a picture of what the dinosaur might have looked like when it was alive. It looked kind of scary but also a little bit cute, haha. I have weird tastes in cuteness.
    This is unrelated to fossils, but I just got a bunny! I don't know what to name him, though. On my blog there is a post where you can leave what you think would be a good name in the comments. I will pick my favorite name once enough people have commented.
    It looks like you are having a great time! I like your new paragraph on what you're wearing, too. I have a question, though: how do you make those t-shirts?

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    1. Hi Callie!

      Whoa, dinosaur bones are really cool. I got to see some at the American Museum of Natural History here in NYC. I love your bunny! I think you should name it Henry!

      I make my tees by buying blank tees from American Girl Place. They sell tees in white, pink, and blue in both short and long sleeves. Then, I use ink jet transfer paper to print the images onto special paper that I then iron onto the tees. I hope that helps!

      Inky

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  6. Salut, Inky!
    Beautiful park! You definitely had a great trip out West. I'd love to go out west someday...
    Bisous,
    Sabine

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    1. Hi Sabine!

      You should definitely visit the west if you have the chance. The west is so beautiful, plus there are even materials in French at many of the parks.

      Love,
      Inky

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