28 (D-103) [Day 5] The Petrified Forest; National Parks and National Monuments

On the morning of the fifth day of our trip, we'll leave Flagstaff to go to The Petrified Forest and The Painted Desert, 124 miles (200 km) east of Flagstaff. Take a look at the google map: http://www.maplandia.com/united-states/texas/walker-county/arizona/ Use the arrows and the zoom to move around the map. Double click on places on the map to see them better.

28 (D-103) The Petrified Forest area was designated a National Monument on December 8, 1906. The Painted Desert was added in 1932. On December 9, 1962, the whole monument was made a national park.

A National Monument in the United States is a protected area that is similar to a National Park except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a National Monument without the approval of Congress. The United States has 100 protected areas known as national monuments. In 2006, there were 58 officially-designated national parks. Arizona has 3 national parks and 15 national monuments. (New York’s Statue of Liberty is a national moment and New Jersey’s Ellis Island is also a national monument!)

The Petrified Forest National Park consists of the petrified remains of the trees of the Late Triassic period, dating back 225 million years! The Petrified Forest National Park contains some of the largest and best-preserved petrified wood sites in the world. The park also has thousands of prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs, which are rock carvings and cave paintings left by ancient peoples.

For more information and lots of photos, go to: http://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/PetForest/PetForest.html

Jane