Visit date(s):         February 5, 2025

Nearby sites on trip: Grand Canyon 

Overnight locations: Flagstaff and Winslow. For people interested in the architecture of Mary Colter, there is a beautifully restored railway hotel in Winslow. It was a highlight of our week in Arizona. 

Location(s):

• Visitor Centers
• Giant Logs and Puerco Pueblo trails.                                                         (photo of petroglyphs at Puerco Pueblo)
• Almost all overlooks
• Blue Mesa drive
• Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark

Travel method(s):  car

Travel duration:  1-2 hours between overnight locations and the park 

Visit duration:  half day

OUV:  The abundance of petrified wood and other fossils provides information about the late Triassic period.  Aside from the fossils, there are pueblo sites, petroglyph’s and the remains of more recent human activity.  Maybe these remnants of other cultures are not as uniquely significant as in other locations, but they do show that people have been interacting with the fossils for a long time.

Best of:  Getting up close and personal with the giant logs.  They are extremely colourful up close.  The painted desert views are also spectacular.

Worst of:  Very open and exposed landscape that would be blisteringly hot in the summer.