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Painted Desert Diner in Petrified Forest National Park

Restaurant · Petrified Forest National Park

Painted Desert Diner

A convenient diner with Navajo tacos at the park’s north entrance.

Type
Restaurant
Nearest trail
1.1 mi
Audio stories
10 nearby
  • Food
  • Restrooms
  • Parking
  • Store
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Painted Desert Visitor Center, Diner and Oasis

Overview

About Painted Desert Diner

Why stop

  • Navajo tacos on fry bread add a regional option to the menu.

Heads up

  • Waits and food quality can be inconsistent.

Map

Where it is

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RestaurantPainted Desert Diner35.06586, -109.78148
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Plan your stop

Before you go

2 active Petrified Forest alerts

  • ClosurePainted Desert Visitor Center closed for constructionMentions Painted Desert Visitor Center, referenced in this guideThe Painted Desert Visitor Center is closed for construction; visitor-center operations are at the Painted Desert Inn, two miles past the north entrance station.Official details
  • ClosureAgate House closed to visitorsAgate House is closed to the public because of physical safety concerns; stay at least 15 feet from the structure. - The closure remains in effect until terminated in writing by the park.Official details
Petrified Forest alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Petrified Forest Tour Guide

Your drive to Painted Desert Diner, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Petrified Forest National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

See the Petrified Forest audio tour

Recorded for this place

Painted Desert Visitor Center, Diner and Oasis
0:00 / 0:35
“You're nearing the Painted Desert Visitor Center, with the Diner and Oasis alongside it. This is a useful stop for a meal and fuel.”

Plays as you drive up to Painted Desert Diner in the Parkwolf Petrified Forest Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Camels on the Wagon Road
  • Tiponi Point’s Basin View
  • Nizhoni Point's Missing Time
  • Tawa Point and the Rim Walk
  • 35 audio storiesacross Petrified Forest’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Pronghorn, Mule Deer, Coyote, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 16 trails, 33 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
★★★★★
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
JMJamesApp Store review
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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Painted Desert Diner

A meal stop at the north entrancePainted Desert Diner is a casual restaurant in the Painted Desert Oasis complex, beside the…

Painted Desert Diner is a casual restaurant in the Painted Desert Oasis complex, beside the Painted Desert Visitor Center and just off I-40 at exit 311. It’s a useful place to add a meal before or after the park drive. Give the kitchen some slack if your schedule is tight; service speed varies.

What to orderThe menu covers breakfast, made-to-order lunch, and grab-and-go food.

The menu covers breakfast, made-to-order lunch, and grab-and-go food. The Navajo taco on fry bread is the distinctive pick; the menu also includes a Sonoran tepary-bean burger, chili, burgers, hot dogs, pizza, sandwiches, salads, and familiar breakfast items.

Nearby servicesThe same visitor complex has public restrooms, shared parking, a gas station, a gift shop, and…

The same visitor complex has public restrooms, shared parking, a gas station, a gift shop, and a picnic pavilion. It’s a practical service stop at the park’s north end, with a few useful errands close at hand.

restaurantfoodnavajotaco

Wildlife

Wildlife in Petrified Forest

All Petrified Forest wildlife maps
Pronghorn185 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapMule Deer172 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapCoyote100 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapWapiti33 sightingsWapitiMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapGunnison's Prairie Dog35 sightingsGunnison's Prairie DogMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapPorcupine56 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Petrified Forest. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Painted Desert Diner

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

EasyPainted Desert Rim Trail1 mi · 36 min · 1.1 mi awayA short rim walk to layered Painted Desert viewsEasyTawa Trail1.2 mi · 30 min · 1.1 mi awayA short prairie walk to a bright Painted Desert overlook.ChallengingWilderness Loop8.2 mi · 7 hr · 1.3 mi awayFossil forests and rock art on a serious route-finding loop.ModerateOnyx Bridge Hike4 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.3 mi awayAn unmarked wash route to a 210-million-year-old petrified conifer.ModerateDead Wash Overlook Hike4 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.3 mi awayA faint route across striped badlands to a wide wash view.

More stops nearby

Gas station · At the trailheadPainted Desert OasisA handy north-gate stop for fuel, snacks and Painted Desert souvenirs.Visitor center · At the trailheadPainted Desert Visitor CenterA Mission 66 visitor center within a desert community of 23 buildings.Entrance station · 0.1 mi awayNorth Entrance StationThe fee booth before the park's 28-mile drive south.Sight · 0.4 mi awayTiponi PointJust inside the entrance, your first sweep of the Painted Desert.Sight · 0.8 mi awayNizhoni PointA roadside overlook with a 192-million-year gap in the rock record.Scenic pullout · 0.8 mi awayTatáypi PointA quick pullout where red badlands meet a black basalt rim.Sight · 0.9 mi awayWhipple PointA quick pullout for Painted Desert layers under dark-capped mesas.Sight · 1.1 mi awayTawa PointA broad Painted Desert view with an accessible trail to follow.

Parkwolf’s Petrified Forest ranking

Top sights in Petrified Forest

All 33 places
  1. 1Blue Mesa OverlookSight
  2. 2Giant LogsSight
  3. 3Crystal ForestSight
  4. 4Painted Desert InnSight
  5. 5Rainbow Forest MuseumSight
  6. 6Kachina PointSight

Take Parkwolf to Petrified Forest.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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