On the homeward leg of our March 2018 trip to California, we took a short detour through Petrified Forest National Park. We exited Interstate 40 at Holbrook, Arizona and followed US 180 east about 20 miles to the southern entrance to the park. Since we had spent several days at the park in 2015, we just drove through the park from south to north along the 28 mile Petrified Forest Road with only a few stops. One of those stops was to hike the Blue Mesa Trail near the middle of the park. The paved, one-mile loop trail descends steeply from the top of Blue Mesa 120 feet to the base of the mesa. A sign at the beginning of the trail states that the grade is up to 35% on the descent and up to 18% on the loop at the base of the mesa. While the trail is five feet wide with no stairs and the pavement is in great condition, this is definitely not an ADA-compliant trail! A single bench has been provided about two-thirds of the way up the climb to the mesa top for those visitors needing to rest before continuing up to their vehicle. The very short trail to the picnic shelter is ADA-compliant and the view provided to the north showcases a great vista of the park.
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| Trail head |
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| Picnic shelter |
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| Crossing a gap in the mesa |
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| View northwest from atop the mesa |
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| View southwest to the trail 120' below |
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| Trail begins a steep descent |
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| Another view into the eroded mesa |
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| Bench at trail switchback |
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| Steep descent to the base of the mesa |
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| Beginning of the loop |
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| Blue Mesa |
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| Petrified logs beside the trail |
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| Layers of clay |
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| Side "canyon" |
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| People on the other side of the loop |
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| Another side canyon |
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| Overlook on Blue Mesa Scenic Road |
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| Blue Mesa |
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| Erosion around and below a petrified log |
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| Conglomerate cap rock slows erosion |
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| View southwest to the mouth of the "canyon" |
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| Gravel from the conglomerate layer is scattered across the ground |
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| More layers of clay and signs of erosion |
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| Looking back across the floor at Blue Mesa |
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| A geologist's paradise |
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| Like debris from a woodlot |
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| Evidence of flowing water |
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| More layers beside the trail |
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| Wayside exhibit provides the only sense of scale |
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| A very clear delineation between clay layers |
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| Another view of the trail |
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| More petrified trees |
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| A whole tree at the bottom of a ravine |
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| Colorful minerals |
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| Scattered piles of petrified wood |
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| Depth of clay layers varies in a short distance |
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| Colors seemingly change with the light |
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| Beginning the climb back up |
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| Note the stone retaining wall near the top of the ascent |
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| View north to Pilot Rock (6234' 16 miles) |
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| Erosion in the desert |
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| Very deep-rooted shrub |
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| View northeast from atop Blue Mesa |
Entrance to Petrified Forest National Park requires an entry fee of $20 per passenger vehicle for a 7-day pass. Any of the America the Beautiful passes may be used instead.
The park website is https://www.nps.gov/pefo.
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