Petrified Forest National Park is a
United States national park in
Navajo and
Apache counties in northeastern
Arizona. Named for its large deposits of
petrified wood, the fee area of the park covers about , encompassing semi-desert shrub
steppe as well as highly eroded and colorful
badlands. The park's headquarters is about east of
Holbrook along
Interstate 40 (I-40), which parallels the
BNSF Railway's
Southern Transcon, the
Puerco River, and historic
U.S. Route 66, all crossing the park roughly east–west. The site, the northern part of which extends into the
Painted Desert, was declared a
national monument in 1906 and a national park in 1962. About 800,000 people visit the park each year and take part in activities including sightseeing, photography, hiking, and
backpacking.