Our first night found us in Las Vegas, New Mexico where the weather was a “bit” chilly – 20 F and snow! Our furnace worked overtime that night keeping us warm! The next morning was foggy when we got up, so we didn’t start driving until almost 9am. Destination – Petrified National Forest. The north to south route took us through a small section of the Painted Desert before the road curved back to the south. We were also delighted that the park is dog-friendly and Penny could even become a “Bark Ranger!”
It was a bit chilly! Petrified Forest is the only national park with a portion of Historic Route 66 within its boundaries. Just north of Interstate 40 where Route 66 used to cross the park road stands a 1932 Studebaker marking the location. Not much to see now, but in the 1920s there was a large roadside stand, complete with a viewing tower and lions! It it is always fun to learn a little bit of history along the way.
Our next stop was Rio Puerco, a prehistoric settlement built by Puebloan people. Inhabited from AD 1250-1380, the pueblo had over 100 rooms, with a possible population of 200 people. There are some great petroglyphs and a kiva at the location.
Continuing south we passed “the Teepees.” The Tepees are a group of small mountain peaks that resemble teepees in the southern section of Petrified Forest National Park. They are located in the badland areas of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks between Newspaper Rock and the Blue Mesa trailhead.
Because it was getting late in the day, we made a quick stop at the Blue Mesa trailhead and decided to come back the next day to actually take the hike.
Our last stop for the day was at Agate Bridge. Agate Bridge features sweeping views and a 110 foot long petrified log bridge spanning a gully.To be honest, this wasn't one of the most amazing sttops in the park because of human meddling. Originally, the massive petrified log sat on the ground, but centuries of flood waters and erosion washed out the gully beneath the petrified log to form a natural agate bridge. That would have ben amazing to see!
In 1911, visitors and conservationists, afraid the agate bridge would collapse, reinforced the fallen petrified tree with concrete. Masonry pillars supported the long petrified log for six years until the concrete slab that exists today was installed. Now the Agate Bridge isn’t really an Agate Bridge, but a petrified log laying on top of a concrete bridge. It was definitely a letdown.
Just outside the south gate of the park the Crystal Gardens Rock Shop offers free overnight RV parking. Perfect for us since we wanted to go back into the park the next day!
On Sunday morning we headed back to the Blue Mesa trailhead to take the mile hike at the bottom of the canyon. There was still frost on the plants and ground, so going down the trail was a little slippery. At the bottom, the trail took us by the interesting geologic formations. Penny loved it!
Next was the Crystal Forest Trail – another .75 miles. It was interesting to see and speculate what this area would have looked liked over 200 million years ago!
When we got to Giant Logs, Long Logs and Agate House, Penny said she would wait out these hikes! The half mile Giant Logs Trail is just by the visitor’s center and featured several “giant” logs! The centerpiece of the path is a log named 'Old Faithful', a piece of petrified wood some 35-feet in length and measuring 10-feet across at its base. It's estimated that Old Faithful weighs in at around 44 tons! The colorful variety of 'wood' seen along this hike was also quite incredible.
We also took the Long Longs/Agate House trails another 2-1/2 miles. The eight-room pueblo was built and occupied sometime between 1050 and 1300 in a location near agricultural fields and petrified wood deposits. The size of the structure and time necessary to build and maintain it indicates that this was likely a year-round residence for a single family, rather than the temporary residences or field houses common at that time. It may have even served as a meeting place for the surrounding community. The scarcity of artifacts found at Agate House suggest a relatively brief occupation.
Through excavations in the 1930s, hundreds of similar petrified wood structure sites have been found in the park. Although built using original materials, the 1930s reconstruction is not a completely accurate replication of the original structure.
We took the Long Logs leg of the trail on the return trip and saw hundreds of “long logs” along the way.
Tobey and I were both glad we took the time to stop and explore this park before completing our journey to Scottsdale! If you get the opportunity to visit this park, I recommend taking the time to do the hikes. We hiked about five miles total and enjoyed the diverse landscape and history of the region.
Tobey and I were both glad we took the time to stop and explore this park before completing our journey to Scottsdale! If you get the opportunity to visit this park, I recommend taking the time to do the hikes. We hiked about five miles total and enjoyed the diverse landscape and history of the region.
4 comments:
Wow! We really need to make a trip out west.
Yes - as many times as we have driven to Arizona (and I lived there!) it was the first time we took to explore!
One of the first cars I remember had the shape of the one in your picture. Ours wasn't rusty as it worked but we had to either start it with a crank or roll it down the hill to get it started. lol It was a 1927 Olds with shades in the back windows. lol
That would be fun to try ... except on a cold winter morning!
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