The park has, as the name alludes to, lots of petrified trees. In fact, it has the world's highest concentration of them. Still, the most fascinating thing to me were the multicolored badlands that lay scattered along the way (the park partially runs together with the Painted Desert).
The trees are appx. 225 million years old, from a time when Arizona was almost at the equator. In addition to the trees and the badlands, they have found dinosaur bones in the area. I highly recommend a visit!
Petrified wood just outside the visitor center.
This skeleton looks almost like a prehistoric crocodile.
Inside the visitor center they also have this corner where kids can play paleontologists. Or make sand castles, what do I know.
The desert has colors.
It looks a lot like the Badlands up in South Dakota, doesn't it?
If you look closely you can just make out lightning slightly to the right of the middle.
Purdy hills and long, long views.
Colors.
This is the Inn just north of I-40, which functions as a museum today.
The walls inside are decorated by some injun artist whose name and tribal affiliation has escaped my tiny mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment