Giant Logs Trail

The Giant Logs Trail is part of the Rainbow Forest in Petrified Forest National Park. This area used to be a huge logjam in a Triassic river system, but as tectonic plate movement and sediment deposits changed the land, the trees were fossilized in place. Giant Logs was the heart of the original national monument designated in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. This trail is home to some of the largest, most complete, and most colorful fossilized trees in the park.

The majority of the wood fossilized in the park dates between 219-213 million years ago. Because of this immense archeological significance, taking any amount of petrified wood from the park is considered theft. Leave each piece as you originally found it.

If you can get a trail guide from the visitor’s center, this makes for the best, most informative experience possible. From the visitor center, head out to where the loop meets (you can hang a right if you want to see the Mather Memorial Plaque on the way). Take your time examining each log and fossil, uniquely crystallized into their own patterns and colors. The loop eventually doubles back on itself and returns to the visitor center as you bear right.