When my friends have visited Petrified Forest National Park, they all said pretty much the same thing: it’s a disappointment.
This is a bit unfair to the national park, if you ask me. Sure, the landscape isn’t all that exciting, and the petrified wood loses its “wow” factor pretty quickly, but come on, it’s a national park. That’s gotta be worth something, right?
Truthfully, we probably wouldn’t have visited Petrified Forest except that it was an easy stop to get out of the car and stretch our legs on our drive from Albuquerque to the Grand Canyon. We had a national park pass that needed to be put to good use and figured why not. We ended up having a fantastic time at Petrified Forest National Park, and I’m pretty certain it’s because we found the single best hike in the park.
We arrived in Petrified Forest National Park, and made a quick stop at the Painted Desert Rim Trail, just to warm up our legs and get a few photos. It was fine, but not that exciting, especially since we have our fair share of desert vistas in New Mexico, so the landscape didn’t have the same impact on me as it might for some people.
The real star of Petrified Forest was definitely the Blue Forest Trail.
Not to be confused with Blue Mesa Trail (although you’ll get to see that too), Blue Forest Trail is a practically unknown trail in the national park. I read a blog post about this trail that had only good things to say, and decided to give it a try. The trail is not marked, which can make navigating a little tricky, but it was worth the effort!
I found a map for this trail on the national park website, and thank goodness I did because Ben kept vocalizing his doubts that we were walking on a legitimate trail. It is legitimate; it’s just not very popular. That’s part of its appeal! You can find the trailhead on Google Maps, and the trail itself is on AllTrails, so I’m not going to give specific directions for how to find it, and am going to trust that you have internet and can figure out how to find the trail if you want to.
The Blue Forest Trail is about 3 miles if you include the trek out, a quick loop around Blue Mesa, and the return. Along the way, you’ll scramble through amazing rock formations and discover more petrified wood than you could ever imagine! The hike is pretty easy (I did the whole thing in a dress) but does involve climbing up some loose dirt, so make sure you have the right shoes.
A quick note on the petrified wood. You’ll see signs everywhere saying this, but please don’t take any petrified wood out of the park. Sure, there’s lots of it, but imagine if everyone took a piece. The rules apply to everyone equally, including you, so don’t steal any. If you really want some petrified wood, there are tons of places to buy some in Holbrook.
The most popular area of Petrified Forest National Park is Blue Mesa, and to make the Blue Forest Trail even better, it dumps you out right onto the Blue Mesa Trail. We definitely got some weird looks from people who imagined we were hiking off trail, but we knew we were allowed to be there. Do make sure to make a note of where the trail ends, though, so you can find it again when it comes time to hike back to your car. Blue Mesa is very impressive, but honestly, I thought most of Blue Forest Trail was more scenic.
Our quick hike through Blue Forest Trail was a perfect stop in the middle of a long drive, and a great way to experience a national park that often gets a bad rep. I wouldn’t go out of your way to go to Petrified Forest, but if you are in the area and decide to stop by, this trail is definitely the best thing to do in the national park.
Leave a Reply