Old Jasper Forest Road

Old Jasper Park Road is one of the more lightly traveled hikes in Petrified Forest National Park. It loosely follows an old park road built in the 1930s, although there isn’t much that remains of the road today. The hike shows you impressive fossils of petrified wood and ends at Eagle Nest Rock, the top part of which fell in 1941.

It’s very easy to get off-trail on this hike. The trail map provided by the visitor center for this route isn’t completely reliable or clear, so we definitely recommend downloading the GPS track for this hike before you go. Keep in mind that you cannot touch or take any of the petrified wood in this park, no matter how big or small. Theft of fossils is taken extremely seriously by park rangers and diminishes the hike for future visitors.

The trail begins at the Jasper Forest Overlook, which has a nice view over the surrounding desert. Hike down into the Jasper Forest, where hunks of petrified wood glitter with their crystallization. Inspect them closely; each one is unique. At the end of the trail, turn around and retrace your steps, referring to your GPS if needed at any point.