Rainbow near sunset over the Painted Desert in Petrified Forest National Park, AZ. © Jerry Ginsberg

After searching for new and fresh images on federal lands for more than two decades, I can say that there seems to be two types of national parks: those that are heavily visited and those that are too often overlooked in favor of the big names, such as Yosemite and Yellowstone.

One of the less well-known precious gems is Petrified Forest National Park on the eastern edge of Arizona. Weighing in at about 300 square miles, one can easily drive the single road in this compact national treasure from end-to-end in less than half a day. Ah, but then you would be missing all the fun!

President Theodore Roosevelt invoked the Antiquities Act to create Petrified Forest National Monument in 1906 to protect enormous fossilized trees that have actually been turned into brilliant multicolored stone by some 220 million years of water, heat and pressure. The Petrified Forest became a national park in 1962. The park is a treasure trove of the fossilized bones and remains of dinosaurs and other Triassic creatures—such as the recently discovered skull of a phytosaur named Gumby. A trip here can be a fascinating experience for anyone. Continue reading →