The Painted Desert

The Petrified Forest National Park includes the beautiful landscapes of what is called the "Painted Desert" of eastern Arizona.  Both are just off of Interstate 40 in the northeastern part of the state.  On a beautiful two-hour drive, you see the fallen trees of the Petrified Forest, turned to rock ages ago, and the incredible colors and landforms of the Painted Desert.  If it weren't so hot, you could just stay all day and look.

Petrified Forest Pics...

Painted Desert...

Petroglyphs scratched by Indians into rocks

 At an exhibit near the end of the drive, I discovered that I was roughly following the old Route 66 on this part of my journey.  A lot of the old "tourist traps" are now dried up, but they break the monotony of driving.  Still, like Wyoming, this part of the nation has a stark beauty and a vastness that's hard to explain to somebody from the East who hasn't seen it.