Sunset at Pintado Point - Petrified Forest National Park

Below are numerous views of the landscape, clouds, rain, and setting sun from the overlook at Pintado Point on our May 2015 visit to Petrified Forest National Park.

An entry fee of $10 per private vehicle is good for seven consecutive days. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($10 for lifetime), Access Pass (free with documented disability) and Military Annual Pass (free for active duty personnel).

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm.

Storms along Park Road - Petrified Forest National Park

During our May 2015 visit to Petrified Forest National Park, several storms popped up. While the clouds provided striking shadows across the landscape, the wet weather also meant that we missed a few hiking opportunities. On the whole, it evened out.

Dark clouds overhead, sunshine in the distance

Gray skies couldn't mask the beauty of the badlands

Rain on The Flattops

Rain mutes the mesa colors at Lacey Point

Thunderstorms on the horizon

Rain and a rainbow from Newspaper Rock

Rain brackets Interstate 40

Virga: wisps of precipitation evaporating before reaching the ground

Water flowing in Lithodendron Wash

Rainbow over Interstate 40

Another day, another squall line

An entry fee of $10 per private vehicle is good for seven consecutive days. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($10 for lifetime), Access Pass (free with documented disability) and Military Annual Pass (free for active duty personnel).

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm.

Giant Logs Trail - Petrified Forest National Park

The Giant Logs Trail a 0.3 mile paved multiple-loop trail located behind the Rainbow Forest Museum in Petrified Forest National Park. We purchased a trail guide and followed the numbered posts around the loop. The trail has numerous stairs and steep inclines, so it is not handicap accessible. An early season storm kept us from walking the other segments of the trail when we visited in May 2015.

Tree rings

Was a branch sprouting off this odd shaped section?

A small cholla cactus with buds

Logs scattered across a sandstone cap rock

Cracks radiate from the heart of this section

Brightly colored sections have rolled across the landscape

Evening Primrose

A nearly intact tree rests atop the sandstone

Vegetation has nearly engulfed this section

Steps along the trail

Looking back at the gift shop and Rainbow Forest Museum

Another nearly intact specimen

Mesas on the horizon above the Stephen Mather plaque

The trail surface has worn over the years

The underlying mudstone erodes more rapidly than the quartz of the petrified wood

The storm approaches

An example of a sandstone cap rock

Several intact trees atop the hill

Another large tree along the path

The varying colors are a result of environmental conditions when silica replaced carbon

There are numerous steps along the trail

Old Faithful is one of the largest trees in the park

The base of the log has been supported since a 1962 lightning strike

The remaining portion of Old Faithful is 35 feet long

Another view of Old Faithful

This segment displays a rainbow of colors 

Another rainbow in stone

Petrified wood seems littered across the landscape

Another pedestal created by erosion

Another look at the trail and the incoming storm

A cholla cactus seemingly stands guard over the petrified wood

An animal has made a nest inside this section

The trees break into sections due to the brittle nature of quartz

An entry fee of $10 per private vehicle is good for seven consecutive days. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($10 for lifetime), Access Pass (free with documented disability) and Military Annual Pass (free for active duty personnel).

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm.