On my trip, I was able to visit Petrified Forest National Park with my mama and grandmother! Petrified Forest is a beautiful park in northeast Arizona, home of the Painted Desert (which you can see behind me) and many deposits of petrified wood.  My family drove a few hours to spend the day there so I could earn my Junior Ranger badge.



After we stopped at the Visitor Center to pick up my Junior Ranger booklet and watch an orientation video, we drove along the park loop road. There are little outlooks all along the painted desert so you can stop and look at the beautiful scenery. We made sure to stop at some to take pictures. I thought the landscape reminded me of Mars, because of the beautiful red and pink colors.



Though the sky was sunny while we were driving near the Painted Desert, a storm started started to roll in as we drove through the park. Luckily, we had time to walk the short Puerco Pueblo trail before it began to rain. In this photo, I'm waiting for my family to hurry up so we can start hiking the trail. I loved seeing the remains of the ancient Pueblo. There was a trail extension with petroglyphs, but we didn't get to see them because the extension was closed due to swarming bees!

After we drove through the rain, we stopped at the Rainbow Forest Museum, another of the museum's visitor centers. The center has several skeletons of ancient crocodilian creatures- awesome! Behind the center is the Giant Logs Trail, where you can see many beautiful petrified logs. Here I am with the storm off in the distance behind me.



Here I am on one of the giant logs. Isn't it amazing? It's so cool to think that these logs used to be regular wood, but now are petrified. You can read more about the process, plus the animals and geology of the park, on the Petrified Forest National Park website.

Here I am on the enormous petrified log called "Old Faithful." It was so big! I love its beautiful colors. I'm so glad I had the chance to go to Petrified Forest.



At the end of the day, I stopped by the Rainbow Forest Museum, where Ranger Kait swore me in as an official Junior Ranger at Petrified Forest! Petrified Forest has a really nice badge and patch. Plus, if you do all the activities in the book, you can earn a free rainbow pencil! I had a great time at Petrified Forest. I hope I can go back someday and bring my friends. If you are ever in the Four Corners region, try to take the time to visit this awesome park! Have you ever seen petrified wood or fossils?