Petrified Forest and Painted Desert

About 60 miles (96 km) east of Winslow is the Petrified Forest National Park. It contains plant and animal fossils from the late Triassic period, about 200,000,000 years ago.

But what it’s best known for are the fossilized trees. Some of these trees are over 190 feet (58 meters) long. The Petrified Forest is very popular with tourists, and averages 645,000 visitors per year.

Most of the petrified trees consist of coniferous trees, tree ferns, and some gingkoes. It’s considered one of the largest concentrations of petrified wood in the world. The fossil bearing layer, the Chinle Formation, is about 1,968 feet (600 meters) thick.

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