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A land where time stands still: See petrified trees and a vintage hotel on a classic road trip to Arizona's Painted Desert - Travel and Recreation

Matthew Jaffe

From the early years of the railroad, through the glory days of Route 66, and into our modern interstate era, the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert have been popular stopping-off points for travelers through northeastern Arizona. A world-class roadside attraction, the complex geology of the landscape begs exploration. Side trips just beyond the tepees and ersatz dinosaurs that line Interstate 40 near Winslow are all you need to make a long weekend out of this classic Southwest road trip.

The don't-miss stop is, of course, Petrified Forest National Park. The low, rounded hills, banded with red and white, color the landforms north of the highway in shades that inevitably recall Native American pottery Pull off the interstate, and from the park's overlooks you can peer into the labyrinth of clay hills and drainages.

You have to head deeper into the park to find the stone trunks of petrified wood. Scattered all about the landscape--and in especially large concentrations at Rainbow Forest and Crystal Forest in the park's southern end--the formations are the 225-million-year-old remnants of a semitropical forest that once flourished here. It flourished, that is, when here was 1,500 miles to the south, before continental drift gradually moved this now-desert land from the latitude of present-day Central America.

The petrified wood was created after volcanic ash buried the trees as they lay submerged beneath a muddy swamp. Minerals from the ash and the silicon-rich water replaced the trees' organic material and, over the eons, assumed their form as quartz. Even small fragments reveal swirling roses, blues, and greens. In places huge logs, the pattern of their bark still plainly visible, rest on the desert floor, some broken into regular segments as if they had been split by a Triassic lumberjack.

While the desert landscape may look harsh, it is not forbidding, and in spring it offers pleasant hiking. Stop at the Rainbow Forest Museum for trail information and to see exhibits on petrified wood and dinosaur fossils. Giant Logs Trail begins behind the museum and features the largest log in the park on an easy 0.4-mile walk. Other good hikes include Blue Mesa Trail, a moderate-to-strenuous 1-mile loop through blue and gray badlands rich with petrified wood, and Rim Trail, which offers great views on a 1-mile rim walk between Tawa and Kachina Points.

Kachina Point is also the head of a trail that drops into the Painted Desert's 43,000-acre backcountry. There is color everywhere. The path switchbacks steeply, past scattered junipers and boulders crusted with orange lichen, then it goes through an alley of fractured rust-colored mud hills. Crumbled slabs of blue gray Chinle Formation sandstone lie scattered along the low slopes. There's petrified wood in this section of the park too; for all the panoramic beauty, you can spend an awful lot of time looking down.

Rock of ages

Looking down can indeed yield some pleasant surprises in many of the lesser-known sites in Painted Desert country. "That's the way it is around here," says rancher Brantley Baird. "You can be riding across a bald flat on an old horse, look down, and find a danged arrowhead. You just never know."

Baird and his ranch hand Clem T. Rogers are leading a trip out to the petroglyph site along Chevelon Creek that has earned Baird's 8,000-acre spread the name of Rock Art Ranch. Their cowboy hats are silhouetted through the back window of a dusty, bumperless Chevy pickup as they drive out a 100-year-old wagon road to the petroglyph site.

The men head down into a winding, steep-walled sandstone canyon filled with petroglyph panels, some of which may be 7,000 years old. Baird points out a few distinctive petroglyphs: one depicting a rare birthing scene, another showing a heron with a fish in its mouth. A few large panels portray ancient hunts, with a figure stalking herds of deer.

While it's only 20 to 30 minutes off I-40, visiting the ranch is like stepping back in time. Of course, in this country anything less than 200 million years old is just like yesterday.

RELATED ARTICLE: Winslow's grand hacienda is back

The first trains chugged through the Painted Desert in the 1880s, which was about the same time the area's two main towns, Winslow and Holbrook, were founded.

Luxury arrived in Winslow in 1930 with the opening of the Fred Harvey Company's La Posada Hotel, which was designed by legendary architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter. Colter didn't just create a structure, she built a legend--the hotel portrays the evolution of a Spanish hacienda from the 18th century to the year the hotel opened. With its suits of armor, beamed ceilings, and arched doorways, there's a definite sense of being in a grand house.

La Posada, which operated as a hotel until 1957, hosted such luminaries as Howard Hughes and Charles Lindbergh. The building languished for 40 years until it was purchased in 1997 by Allan Affeldt, his artist wife, Tina Mion, and their friend, sculptor Dan Lutzick. Painstaking renovations have been completed on 28 rooms; work on 10 more should be finished this year.

Today the hotel is a consummate northern Arizona experience, complete with a busy rail line just outside the door. Even if you don't stay here, it's worth stopping in and taking the self-guided tour.

Travel planner

April can be glorious here, or cold (even snowy) and windy. For information on the ample national chain lodging and dining in the area, contact Winslow Chamber of Commerce (928/289-2434 or www.winslowarizona.org) or Holbrook Chamber of Commerce (800/524-2459 or www.ci.holbrook.az.us).

Attractions

Barringer Meteor Crater. It's an easy side trip from I-40 to the 4,000-foot-wide, 550-foot-deep crater created by meteorite impact 50,000 years ago. Guided one-hour tours along the rim leave every hour from 9:15 to 2:15, weather permitting. 8-5 daily; $12. Six miles south of 1-40 at exit 233; (800) 289-5898.

Grand Falls. This 185-foot waterfall on the Little Colorado River is actually higher than Niagara Falls-when it's running (usually into May). From I-40, exit at Winona, then drive 2.3 miles west and make a right on Leupp Rd. Continue 15 miles to lust beyond milepost 0, then turn left on gravel Navajo Rd. 70 at the Grand Fails Bible Church sign. Continue 8.6 miles to the overlook.

Homolovi Ruins State Park. Along the Little Colorado River, remains from an Ancestral Puebloan village occupied from 1250 to 1425. 8-5 daily; $4 per vehicle. About 5 miles north of Winslow, just off State 87; (928) 289-4106.

Little Painted Desert County Park. Overlook at one of the desert's most beautiful spots. About 15 miles north of Winslow, lust off State 87; (928) 524-4250.

Petrified Forest National Park. Although the park straddles I-40, its southern end is also accessible via U.S. 180. The visitor center is located lust north of I-40 and shows a 20-minute film every half hour. $10 per vehicle. (928) 524-6228.

Rock Art Ranch. Main tour program is the three-hour outing to the Chevelon Creek petroglyph site. Closed Sun, from $10. Reservations required. (928) 288-3260.

Lodging

La Posada Hotel. 28 rooms with private baths. From $79. 303 E. Second St., Winslow; (928) 289-4366 or www.laposada.org.

Wigwam Motel. One of the last classic Route 66 motels, it's well maintained and still owned by the original family. Take a room in your very own wigwam. From $41. 811 W Hopi Dr., Holbrook; (928) 524-3048.

Dining

Casa Blanca Cafe.

This is a great local spot for delicious Mexican food. 1201 E. Second, Winslow; (928) 289-4191.

Romo's Cafe.

Of Holbrook's Mexican restaurants, this one is definitely the best. Closed Sun. 121 W. Hopi, Holbrook, (928) 524-2153.

Turquoise Room. The restaurant of the La Posada Hotel is the classiest local dining establishment. Chef John Sharpe offers updated versions of classic Fred Harvey dishes as well as modern Southwestern cuisine. Closed Mon. 303 E. Second; (928) 289-2888.

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