The sign at the Painted Desert overlook — our first stop in the Petrified Forest National Park — says that sometimes you can see 100 miles from this vantage point.
I’m not sure I’d know 100 miles away if I saw it. But it’s safe to say that, from where we stand, we can see a whole lot of the northeastern Arizona landscape.
The reds, oranges, browns and grays of the strata in the sculpted rock formations and the contrasting wisps of clouds floating above in the sky-dome are at once earthy and ethereal, sober and flamboyant, apparent and mystical.
It’s no mystery, though, why this is called the Painted Desert; Mother Nature’s paintbrush has given us a canvas worthy of the millions of photos that the 800,000 annual visitors here bring home to share.
In truth, this vast, flamboyant terrain looks unreal — more like the backdrop for an elaborate Broadway production.
It’s also hard to understand that what we see spread before us was formed between 227 million and 205 million years ago.
Thankfully, in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt saw its value and declared that it be preserved in perpetuity.
Originally a national monument, the Petrified Forest, which contains the Painted Desert, was named a national park in 1962.
It is early June, and we are especially lucky to be here because there are few visitors (the park reopened three days before our visit) and exploring it can largely be done while maintaining social distancing.
The visitors’ map clearly delineates all the stops along the 28-mile park road, which runs north and south of Interstate 40. For some years, the Petrified Forest was the only national park that included a portion of the old Route 66.
Today, a rusted-out 1932 Studebaker marks the portion of the Mother Road that crossed the park, which accommodates both the adventurous and non-adventurous.
For the latter, there is a multitude of photogenic vistas that can be captured from your car.
If you want to explore further, though, there are numerous, easily accessed, clean trails that measure from 0.3 to 3.5 miles that will take you close to some bizarre and colorful rock formations and lots of petrified wood.
As we follow some of these paths through the petrified wood areas (at the southern end of the park), we are buffeted by strong winds that challenge us to stay upright.
Scattered about are various sizes of 200 million-year-old petrified wood remnants — from chips to entire tree trunks, some of them glittering in the sun.
The wood-to-rock transformation took place when, after the trees were felled by wind or water and carried downstream (this area once was a hot, humid rainforest), the trees were buried by layers of sediment.
Over time, the logs soaked up ground water and silica from volcanic ash (eastern Arizona and western New Mexico were hotbeds of volcanoes), and over time, these elements crystalized into quartz.
Some logs hold multiple hues of orange, red, yellow, brown and even green and purple. It’s no wonder these specimens are highly prized, but don’t touch or take.
You can legally purchase petrified wood bookends, lamps and tchotchkes from the park’s gift shop.
Trails also take visitors close to sites of ancient settlements and petroglyphs, left by those who inhabited the area up to 2,000 years ago.
Don’t miss “Newspaper Rock,” which contains more than 650 petroglyphs.
Visit https://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm. For more photos and commentary, visit www.facebook.com/elouise.ondash.
