Route 66 Gifts & Souvenir Shop - Immerse yourself in the Route 66 vibe with these two nostalgic gift shops offering local crafts, petrified wood mementos, and quirky dinosaur statues welcoming visitors at the entrance. Painted Desert Indian Center highlights local artists’ crafts, while Stewart’s Petrified Wood Shop focuses on petrified wood items.

Painted Desert Visitor Center - Take a quick restroom break at the visitor center! These flush toilets are the cleanest you’ll find until you reach the Rainbow Forest Museum at the other end of the park.

Tiponi Point - This overlook offers your first view of the Painted Desert from the north, showcasing colorful hills below and a vast horizon to the east. Entry fees/requirements: Tiponi Point is the first stop after the north entrance booth for Petrified Forest National Park.

Tawa Point - From this overlook, you are nearly surrounded by the Painted Desert below. The easy Painted Desert Rim trail starts here and leads to the next overlook, Kachina Point. The hike is one mile round trip, taking about 30 minutes.

Kachina Point - The vast Painted Desert is easily visible from this overlook, accessible via a short path from the parking lot behind the Painted Desert Inn.

Chinde Point - This lookout offers an expansive, unobstructed view of the Painted Desert to the north. It features a semi-circle of covered picnic tables, the only picnic area outside of the visitor centers.

Pintado Point - On a clear day, this overlook offers views extending over 100 miles, including the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, AZ.

Nizhoni Point - These three overlooks are close to each other, providing another expansive view of the Painted Desert, though previous lookouts may appear more colorful.

Puerco Pueblo - This site features a small vault toilet near the parking lot.

Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument - Generations of Ancestral Puebloans left over 650 petroglyphs on these large boulders. The petroglyphs are visible from an overlook and with binoculars, but can also be seen clearly without assistance.

The Tepees - These conical hills, banded with various shades of mudstones, resemble tepees. There are two pull-offs along Petrified Forest Rd for parking and viewing–the North Pullout and the South Pullout, which is also the trailhead for the “Off the Beaten Path” Blue Forest Trail.

Blue Mesa - Blue Mesa is one of the park’s most stunning areas, offering opportunities to explore the unique, eroded badlands. Atop Blue Mesa, the road splits into a one-way loop. Stop at the first pull-offs for views of the badlands and the first petrified wood deposit when coming from the north.

Blue Mesa Trailhead - This 1-mile loop trail is a paved path through the Blue Mesa badlands. Though rated as easy, the initial descent from the parking lot (and ascent at the end) may be challenging for those with limited mobility. It’s a park highlight, immersing visitors in an otherworldly landscape.

Agate Bridge - This 100-ft long petrified log spans a small chasm, forming a bridge. While visitors could once stand on it, today the log is off-limits and supported by concrete. It’s a quick, easy stop to see an impressively long piece of petrified wood.

Jasper Forest - An overlook provides a view of a desert plain with a dense petrified wood deposit below. For a closer look, an ‘off the beaten path’ trail leads from the right of the parking lot down to the deposit along a well-worn path to the wash. It’s just you and the petrified wood in a truly astonishing and bizarre landscape.

Crystal Forest Trail - This 0.75-mile loop trail winds through one of the park’s major petrified wood deposits. The paved trail and mostly flat terrain make it an easy hike, accessible for those with wheelchairs or strollers.

Rainbow Forest Museum - If you visit only one visitor center in the park, make it this one! Besides the usual orientation video, gift shop, restrooms, and information desk, it features exhibits on the area’s paleontology, including fossils found in the park. Behind the building is the 0.4-mile Giant Logs trail, which passes some of the park’s largest pieces of petrified wood.

Petrified Forest Gift Shop - Just south of the park’s borders are two gift shops: Petrified Forest Gift Shop and Crystal Forest Museum and Gifts. These private stores offer last-minute petrified wood souvenirs you might have missed in the park. They also feature Route 66-style dinosaur statues at the entrance.