Tatáypi Point

Tatáypi Point is a small roadside pullout near the north end of the park road, about 1.25 miles from the north entrance. It looks east across red badlands and grasslands from a rim of black basalt, with a low wall at the turnout. This is a quick view stop, not a hike, and an easy first pause if the Painted Desert has your attention.

The nearby Owl Rock Member is about 205 million years old: purple-gray mudstone with hard limestone layers and scattered gypsum. The red and pale badlands belong to the Chinle Formation, more than 200 million years old. The dark Bidahochi basalt at the point is far younger, from volcanic activity about 4 to 8 million years ago. This short stop gives you a striking age contrast between the ancient lake and river deposits and the much later lava flows.

Tatáypi means “beautiful view” in Hopi. Look across for the purple-gray Owl Rock layers, then scan the turnout for skunkbush and pale wolfberry. Skunkbush turns yellow in spring and colors up again in fall; pale wolfberry flowers in spring, and its berries are for the birds. When clouds build, keep a strip of the layered red ridges under the sky; the changing light is half the scene.