Is Petrified Forest Worth Visiting? Yes! Here’s Why

Petrified Forest National Park, a picturesque desert loaded with crystallized petrified wood, painted hills, and colorful badlands, is one of the most underrated National Parks in the USA.

So after exploring this amazing National Park in eastern Arizona, I was asked, Is Petrified Forest worth visiting? Yes, yes it is! Petrified Forest National Park is 100% worth visiting.

hiking the blue mesa trail in petrified forest national park

I’m going to tell you exactly why you should visit Petrified Forest on your next Arizona road trip! Here are 5 reasons why Petrified Forest is worth visiting.

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PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK AT A GLANCE

Before diving in, here are a few highlights for planning a trip to Petrified Forest National Park.

Getting There: The closest major airports to Petrified Forest are Phoenix Sky Harbor International and Albuquerque International, which are both about 3 hours from the park. Find affordable flights here.
Entrance Fee: $25/vehicle or FREE with an America the Beautiful Pass
Where to Stay: Camp in the park’s backcountry (there are no frontcountry campgrounds) or stay right outside the park in the town of Holbrook.
How to Get Around: You’ll need to rent a personal vehicle to get around Petrified Forest.
Best Time to Visit: September – May
How Long to Visit: 1 day (One Day Petrified Forest Itinerary)

Table of Contents

Is Petrified Forest Worth Visiting? Yes! Here’s Why

giant logs trail in petrified forest national park

1. The geology and landscape are extremely interesting.

With colorful badlands, painted hills, and ancient petrified wood sprinkled throughout the park, Petrified Forest is a geology fanatic’s heaven.

crystal forest trail at petrified forest national park

On top of that, two contrasting landscapes seem to collide inside this park. As you drive from north to south (or south to north), the landscape slowly changes outside your window.

Below, the image on the left is from the north end of the park, and the image on the right is from the south end of the park. Vastly different!

The bright pink and red Painted Desert region rolls on seemingly endlessly in the north while the petrified-wood-invaded Rainbow Forest region overtakes the south. And sandwiched between these two strikingly different regions are ancient ruins and cryptic petroglyphs.

Truly spectacular!

2. The hiking trails are easy and incredibly scenic.

The frontcountry hiking trails in Petrified Forest are mostly easy and paved. This means that a bigger chunk of the park is accessible to a wider range of visitors.

Unlike many other National Parks, you don’t need to walk very far or gain a ton of elevation to see some truly epic views. The surrounding landscapes on these trails are spectacular throughout.

My favorite hiking trails are Blue Mesa and Crystal Forest. Both are paved, low-effort hiking trails with uninterrupted stunning views.

READ NEXT: 5 Best Hikes in Petrified Forest

3. The park doesn’t get very crowded.

Often overshadowed by other popular Arizona destinations like Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and Sedona, Petrified Forest is one of the least-visited parks in the USA.

In 2025, Petrified Forest only received 315,951 visitors for the entire year. Compare those statistics to the Grand Canyon, which saw 4.4 million visitors in 2025.

So what does that mean? It means that crowds in Petrified Forest are rare! At least rarer than in other popular Arizona destinations like Grand Canyon and Sedona.

So you shouldn’t have trouble finding parking spaces at the trails and overlooks. And you might even get some of these points of interest all to yourself! We did!

4. It’s one of the most dog-friendly National Parks in the USA.

dog waste station at dog-friendly petrified forest national park

Petrified Forest is one of the most dog-friendly National Parks in the USA! Dogs are allowed everywhere the public can go except inside buildings. This means, yes, they are welcome on all hiking trails!

It’s quite rare for a park to allow dogs on all of its hiking trails, so respect the land and wildlife by cleaning up after your pet, keeping them on a 6-foot (or shorter) leash, and never leaving them unattended.

5. The frontcountry can be explored in a single day.

tawa point near the painted desert visitor center in petrified forest national park

Another perk of Petrified Forest National Park is that it can be explored in a single day!

Without dipping into the backcountry, you can easily hike all the trails and drive all the park roads in one day. This makes it super convenient to squeeze this park into a bigger road trip to either Sedona, Antelope Canyon, or the other Arizona National Parks.