Celebrate Route 66 Month, August 2006

Date: July 26, 2006
Contact: Hallie Larsen, [phone] x274

Petrified Forest, AZ – Petrified Forest National Park celebrates its 100th Anniversary during 2006. On June 8, 1906, the Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities (better known as the Antiquities Act) was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. This law gives presidents the authority to proclaim and reserve "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest" on lands owned or controlled by the United States as national monuments. Petrified Forest was one of the first places set aside as a national monument through the use of this Act.

August celebrates a unique feature of Petrified Forest: the park protects the only segment of historic Route 66 within a national park unit. Route 66, long decommissioned, still fires the imagination in people around the world. Travelers try to follow the old route cross country, often discovering the alignment lost in weeds and dust. Once, Route 66 offered travel from Chicago to L.A. Today, the memory of the Mother Road offers the romance of the past. Celebrate Route 66 Month at Petrified Forest National Park!

Activities in the park include:

• A special temporary display at the Painted Desert Inn.
• Special Behind the Scenes programs in the park’s Museum Collection – please check at the visitor facilities for details.
• Special Off the Beaten Path programs going with a ranger into areas most visitors don’t see – please check at the visitor facilities for details.
• A take home story of Route 66 at Petrified Forest; ask at the information desk.

For more information call [phone] weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time; or write to the Superintendent, Petrified Forest National Park, P.O. Box 2217, Petrified Forest, AZ 86028; or e-mail the park Superintendent at e-mail us.