Parking
Use the Jasper Forest overlook parking lot and start at its south end. The separate Jasper Forest walk along the old road starts at the north end of the same lot.
Overview
About First Forest Point
Why go
- Scattered petrified wood in the washes and a mesa-top view.
Heads up
- The suggested line is unmarked, and wash forks can be hard to follow.
In the 1890s and early 1900s, this was the first petrified-wood area that many tourists reached after arriving by train at Adamana and traveling in by wagon. The colorful logs were their introduction to the deposits. The wood is fossilized, and the park dates the fossils and geology along this route to about 217 million years ago. Sandstone buried the trees; erosion is still exposing them in the washes and across the mesa.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy it's called First ForestMap & elevation
The route
Loading the Petrified Forest map
Full mapElevation5,463–5,591 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Petrified Forest alerts
- ClosurePainted Desert Visitor Center closed for constructionThe 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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Petrified Forest Tour Guide
Your drive to First Forest Point, 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 tourRecorded for this trailhead
Jasper Forest from Above0:00 / 0:33
“Jasper Forest Overlook is coming up, with a broad view across a basin scattered with petrified wood. This is a good quick stop for the scale of the fossil field; the accessible viewpoint stays above the logs.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Petrified Forest Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Agate Bridge's Supported Span
- How a Log Became Stone
- Crystal Forest's Quartz-Filled Logs
- A Nose Near the Eyes
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking First Forest Point
Is this your kind of walk?First Forest Point is a backcountry out-and-back to a mesa west of Jasper Forest.
First Forest Point is a backcountry out-and-back to a mesa west of Jasper Forest. The park gives it as 4.2 miles round trip, an approximate figure. From the south end of the overlook parking lot, the route drops below the bluff, follows washes past scattered petrified wood, and climbs a gentle slope to the mesa. Allow about three hours. The climb is not especially steep; finding the route is the real commitment. If you want a marked path, take the separate 2.5-mile Jasper Forest walk along the old road instead.
Finding the wayThis is a suggested route, not a built trail.
This is a suggested route, not a built trail. Pick up the route sheet at a visitor center before setting out; the park warns that route-finding skills are needed. Follow the mapped line from the lot's south end, down into the basin, across washes and a dirt service road, then stay south of the small formation as you climb onto the mesa. The route turns slightly north near the top. Reverse the same corridor, and remember where you first dropped into the wash. The route sheet's distances are approximate, and wandering to find the right wash can add mileage.
At the mesaThe mesa is the payoff: a wide look across the badlands and the plain beyond.
The mesa is the payoff: a wide look across the badlands and the plain beyond. The park's route map points out petrified logs eroding from the east side near the mesa's north end. Take a few minutes there and look closely at the broken wood among the pale sandstone. For a photo, use a log on the east side of the mesa as foreground with the badlands beyond. A few petroglyphs may be out here too, but they are easy to miss and never guaranteed. Leave fossils and rock art where they are; don't climb the fragile badland walls to get a closer look.
Make it workThere is little shelter on this open route and no on-route water stop was found, so carry what…
There is little shelter on this open route and no on-route water stop was found, so carry what you need from the car. The park warns that footing can be difficult when wet and says not to hike here during lightning. Its pet rules cover paved roads and trails and designated wilderness, but this suggested off-trail route is not clearly classified on the pet page; check with the park before bringing a dog.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Petrified Forest
185 sightingsPronghornMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
172 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
100 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
33 sightingsWapitiMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
35 sightingsGunnison's Prairie DogMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
56 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Petrified Forest. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
