Blue Mesa Trail at Petrified Forest

The Blue Mesa Trail is a 1 mile paved interpretive loop into a Painted Desert Badlands environment at Petrified Forest National Park in north Arizona.

The badlands are areas of mudstones and siltstones that are easily eroded and sculpted by wind and water. The first part of the trail descends steeply through the sandstone caprock layer that is described as a conglomerate, containing gravels that were deposited by a moving stream.

Small cracks form in the steep slopes that catch water and eventually form pipes that lead below the surface of the ground. The water caught flows out at the base of the hills. At the base of the eroded hills, pieces of petrified wood start to appear. Bentonite clay in the formation swells with water then shrinks and cracks as it dries, creating an elephant skin looking surface.

The badlands areas are rich with fossils and clues to the past. Teeth and bones of long extinct reptiles have been found. The fossils aren’t very apparent from the trail but there are many pieces of petrified wood visible. In some spots the hard petrified wood sits on a pedestal.

The Blue Mesa Trail takes about 0:45 minutes to walk. The climb back up to the parking area at the end of the hike will get your heart pumping. I walked on a pleasant 55 F early March day. This area can get very hot in the summers. The Tawa Point and Rim Trail also gives good views of the Painted Desert and Badlands areas.

Tawa Point Trail in the Painted Desert-Petrified Forest National Park

The Tawa Point and Rim Trail is at the north end of the Petrified Forest National Park. It is a 1.2 mile round trip along the rim and is also a botany trail, the local plants identified with signs.


Widespread through north Arizona is the Painted Desert, the colorful eroded clays and shales of the Chinle layer. Besides the color and the lack of anything growing on it, the Chinle layer gives up some dinosaur fossils and petrified wood.

There are some whitish layers visible that are volcanic ash and silt. Steps are visible along some of the clay slopes. These are caused when the surface gets wet enough for the material to slump down the slope. Along the surface of the trail there is a stable layer of volcanic agglomerate that provides a richer surface for growing plants.

At the west end of the trail is the historic Painted Desert Inn, built in the 1930s and now a visitor center.

One of the highlights inside the Inn is the large mountain lion petroglyph that is something of a mascot for the park. On the west side of the Painted Desert Inn there is a trail head for visiting the Painted Desert Wilderness area.