Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

I've been working on a project in Petrified Forest National Park, northeast Arizona. This cover photo of one of the Park's planning documents struck me. Do you see the person standing among the rocks? It provides a scale of some of the outstanding vistas and mesas there.

The 93,533 acres of Petrified Forest contain America's largest deposits of petrified wood, a rich and colorful desert, many fossils of dinosaurs and other creatures, and more than 500 archaeological sites including amazing petroglyphs left by ancient cultures.

Photo: Blue Mesa, east central section.

In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt created the nation's second national monument in the southern portion of the current park. His friendship with famed conservationist John Muir influenced his decision. While Muir is better known for his work in California and Yosemite, he spent time exploring this area and called it "a kaleidoscope fashioned by God's hand. After 56 years as a national monument Petrified Forest was finally made a national park on December 9, 1962.

Theodore Roosevelt

John Muir

Find out more about Petrified Forest National Park at: http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm

Photos and research for this post also from this great "Park Vision" link: http://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/PetForest/PetForest.html