Two unhurried days based in Holbrook: the stone logs, crystals and a rebuilt pueblo at the south end, then the Painted Desert rim, petroglyphs and Blue Mesa at the north end. Every walk is short; the pace is the point.
Long Logs and Agate House: a pueblo rebuilt from petrified wood
Giant Logs and Crystal Forest: the park's densest, most colorful logs
Painted Desert Rim Trail and the Painted Desert Inn with its Hopi murals
Puerco Pueblo and the Newspaper Rock petroglyph overlook
Blue Mesa's banded badlands and a night in a Route 66 wigwam
The story
Petrified Forest is a 28-mile drive through two kinds of country. At the north end, the Painted Desert rolls out in red and white bands from the rim, and an old Pueblo-Revival inn watches over it. At the south end, thousands of 200-million-year-old logs lie in gray badlands, turned to quartz in colors no living tree has.
There is no lodging in the park and no car camping, so this plan bases you in Holbrook, a Route 66 town where you can sleep in a wigwam-shaped room. Day one works the south end: fossils at the museum, a morning on the Long Logs and Agate House trails, then the Giant Logs loop and Crystal Forest. Day two starts at the north end with the Painted Desert Rim Trail and the Inn, then lunch at the diner, the ancestral Puebloan village at Puerco Pueblo with the Newspaper Rock petroglyphs a mile beyond, and an afternoon walk down Blue Mesa.
Nothing here is a hard hike. The challenge is exposure: there is no shade, so start walks early, carry more water than you expect and plan around the 8-to-5 park road. Both days leave Holbrook in the morning and return in time for a long evening in town. Because the park road runs only 8 to 5, plan on daytime light rather than sunrise or sunset.
Day by day
1
Day 1 · 6 stops
The south end: stone logs and a rebuilt pueblo
Fossils, then the Agate House and Long Logs walks in morning cool, then Giant Logs and Crystal Forest, and a relaxed afternoon back in Holbrook.
Visitor center8:30 AM · 45 min
Rainbow Forest Museum: fossils first
Start at the south entrance, where the museum's exhibits explain how Triassic logs became stone and show some of the animals that lived beside them. Pick up the Giant Logs trail booklet here before you walk, and use the restrooms in the lobby. It opens at 8, the same time the park road does.
Photo: NPS Photo/Hallie Larsen
Time
About 30-60 minutes for the paleontology exhibits
Best time
First thing, before the walks
Rainbow Forest Museum
6618 Petrified Forest Road, Holbrook, AZ 86025
Hours: Typically 8:00 AM-5:00 PM daily; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day
Season: Typically open year-round; check current dates
Behind the museum lot, a paved start gives way to rougher ground as the trail drops among gray badlands and big concentrations of petrified logs. Agate House, a small pueblo rebuilt from pieces of petrified wood, is the payoff; the Agate House listing gives 2 miles round trip. Long Logs is a separate loop off the same lot, shown as a half-mile loop on one listing and 1.6 miles with its access trail on another. Do both in the cool of the morning and carry water. Allow about two hours.
Photo: NPS Photo/Stuart Holmes
Time
About 2 hours for both; the longest walk of the trip, with the Agate House out-and-back at 2 miles round trip and no sourced elevation gain
Best time
Morning, before the heat
Trailhead
Rainbow Forest Museum parking area
Agate House Trail
Hours: Park road typically 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Season: Typically open year-round; check current conditions
A butterfly-shaped loop of 0.4 mile round trip right behind the museum, passing some of the largest and most colorful logs in the park, including Old Faithful, the park's most massive log. The numbered posts match the booklet you picked up. Afterward, eat at the covered tables near the east end of the Rainbow Forest parking lot; the curio shop sells to-go sandwiches and snacks, so bring more from Holbrook if you want a full lunch.
Photo: NPS Photo/Hallie Larsen
Time
0.4 mile round trip; 30-60 minutes
Best time
Late morning; the one short, easy walk of the day
Giant Logs Trail
Hours: Park road typically 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Season: Typically open year-round; check current conditions
About 6 miles north of the museum, this loop winds through rolling gray and purple badlands strewn with petrified logs, some with visible quartz crystals in the wood. Wayside exhibits explain how the logs formed. It is a short, easy loop; leave the wood where it lies and report any removal to rangers. Afterward, drive back toward Holbrook.
Photo: NPS Photo/Andrew V Kearns
Time
Listed at 20-120 minutes depending on how long you linger at the exhibits; plan about 45
Best time
Early afternoon light, flat and easy
Crystal Forest Trail
Hours: Park road typically 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Season: Typically open year-round; check current conditions
A small, family-run Mexican restaurant on West Hopi Drive in a pink adobe building on old Route 66. Visitors know it for green chile, shredded beef and tacos. It is a short drive along West Hopi Drive from the Wigwam Motel; dinner hours are not published in the sources checked, so call ahead; if it is closed, Holbrook has other restaurants along West Hopi Drive and Navajo Boulevard.
Meal
Dinner
Cuisine
Mexican
Romo's
121 W Hopi Dr, Holbrook, AZ 86025
Hours: Not published in sources checked; call to confirm
The recommended base: Route 66 nostalgia in a family-run motel of wigwam-shaped rooms with original furnishings, plus more modern apartments for larger groups. It sits on old Route 66 in Holbrook, about 25 minutes from the south entrance and 30 from the park's north-end Painted Desert Inn. Check current rates and reservation terms on the motel's site; changes and cancellations follow a 24-hour policy.
The north end: Painted Desert, petroglyphs and Blue Mesa
A mid-morning start at the Painted Desert rim, the Inn, lunch at the diner, and a mid-park afternoon of Puerco Pueblo, Newspaper Rock and Blue Mesa.
Activity9:15 AM · 1 h
Painted Desert Rim Trail from Tawa Point
Park at Tawa Point and walk the unpaved rim trail through woodland to views over red badlands and white tuff. It is a 1-mile round trip, but the pace is yours: wayside exhibits, side viewpoints and birdwatching stretch it from 20 minutes to two hours. No real climbing.
Photo: NPS Photo/Andrew V Kearns
Time
1 mile round trip; 20-120 minutes depending on stops
Best time
Morning
Trailhead
Tawa Point
Tawa Point
Hours: Park road typically 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Season: Typically open year-round; check current conditions
A Pueblo-Revival landmark on the mesa edge, built originally of petrified wood, rebuilt in the 1930s by the CCC and now a museum, with restored murals by Hopi artist Fred Kabotie, Route 66 history and a view over the badlands. It also serves as the north visitor center, with information and restrooms. There is no overnight lodging or full food service.
Photo: NPS Photo/Stuart Holmes
Time
About 45 minutes
Best time
Open 9:00 AM-4:00 PM daily
Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark
Hours: Typically 9:00 AM-4:00 PM daily; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day
Season: Typically open year-round; check current dates
Two miles back toward the interstate, behind the gift shop at the north visitor center. Plan to eat before mid-afternoon; to-go items are sold until the gift shop closes, and picnic tables sit in the courtyard. The Painted Desert Inn also has an ice cream counter with soda and chips.
Meal
Lunch
Painted Desert Diner
Exit 311 off I-40, next to the Painted Desert Visitor Center, Petrified Forest, AZ 86028
Hours: Typically closes mid-afternoon (about 3 PM); seasonal hours, call to confirm
About 11 miles south of the entrance, a short loop trail passes the stabilized walls of a 100-room ancestral Puebloan village, petroglyphs and a mini museum in a CCC-built check station. About a mile further south along the park road, a spur leads to the Newspaper Rock overlook, where free spotting scopes bring more than 650 petroglyphs on two big boulders into focus. On the drive you pass a pullout with a 1936 Studebaker marking the old Route 66 alignment, about 6 miles in.
Photo: NPS Photo/Hallie Larsen
Time
Puerco loop 10-60 minutes (distance given as 1/3 mile on one listing and 3/4 mile on another); Newspaper Rock spur about 15 minutes
Best time
Midday is fine; little climbing
Puerco Pueblo
Hours: Park road typically 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Season: Typically open year-round; check current conditions
A 1-mile loop that descends steeply at the start into banded blue, purple and gray bentonite badlands scattered with petrified wood. Most of it is easy but the opening grade is steep, and there is no shade, so carry water. Then drive back to Holbrook, about 45 minutes, arriving around 15:45.
Photo: NPS Photo/Hallie Larsen
Time
1-mile loop; 30-120 minutes; one short steep section; no sourced elevation gain
Best time
In summer, do this first thing instead
Trailhead
Blue Mesa sun shelter
Blue Mesa Trail
Hours: Park road typically 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
Season: Typically open year-round; check current conditions
A budget-minded chain stay next door on Navajo Boulevard, with a heated indoor pool, whirlpool suites, free light breakfast and pets welcome. Check current rates.
Stay
Days Inn by Wyndham Holbrook
A budget-minded chain stay next door on Navajo Boulevard, with a heated indoor pool, whirlpool suites, free light breakfast and pets welcome. Check current rates.
Backcountry camping in the Petrified Forest Wilderness
The only camping in the park: hike at least one mile into the wilderness. A free permit is needed, available in person at the Painted Desert Visitor Center or Rainbow Forest Museum on the day of the hike until 4:30 PM, one per vehicle. Overnight access is limited to specific entry points; ask at the visitor center.
Stay
Backcountry camping in the Petrified Forest Wilderness
The only camping in the park: hike at least one mile into the wilderness. A free permit is needed, available in person at the Painted Desert Visitor Center or Rainbow Forest Museum on the day of the hike until 4:30 PM, one per vehicle. Overnight access is limited to specific entry points; ask at the visitor center.
Photo: NPS Photo/Stuart Holmes
Type
Backcountry
Location
Inside the park
Permit required
Yes
Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area: North Unit
Season: Typically open year-round; check current conditions
Painted Desert Visitor Center (I-40 exit 311) is closed for construction; the Painted Desert Inn serves as the north visitor center.
The diner, gift shop and gas station near the north entrance are open, with restrooms available during construction.
Park closed Thanksgiving (2026-11-26) and Christmas (2026-12-25). Road hours listed as 8:00 AM-5:00 PM.
Fee-free days remaining in 2026 for US citizens and residents: Oct 27 and Nov 11 (see nps.gov/pefo/planyourvisit/fees.htm). The entrance fee is $25 per vehicle (valid 7 days); the park does not accept cash.
Practical
Time: Mountain Standard Time all year. Arizona does not observe daylight saving time.
There is no lodging in the park and no car or RV camping; Holbrook is the nearest town with rooms and restaurants. The park road is 28 miles and takes about an hour to drive without stopping.
The south entrance is roughly 18-21 miles down Highway 180 from Holbrook, depending on where you start; the north entrance is at I-40 exit 311.
Carry food and water: the only in-park food is near the north entrance (diner, convenience store) and a curio shop with limited snacks at Rainbow Forest.
Weather: summers are hot and monsoon storms run mid-June to the end of September; winters can delay opening. Wind is strongest from winter into spring. The suggested months (Apr-May, Oct-Nov) avoid the summer heat and the mid-June to September monsoon. Go morning-first in warm months.
Leashed pets are allowed anywhere you can go except inside buildings.
Petrified wood: leave it where it lies.
Backpackers need a free permit in person on the day of the hike.
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Good to know: distances and drive times are typical figures without live traffic, and where routes are shown the route data comes from OpenStreetMap contributors. Toll amounts are estimates and change often, so check them in the DriftKin planner or with the toll authority before you plan around them. Opening hours, fees, prices, permits and closures also change, so confirm with the park or business before you go.
