Petrified Forest National Park Changes to Summer Hours 2010

Date: April 24, 2010
Contact: Lyn Carranza, 928-524-6228 x245

Petrified Forest, AZ―Park Superintendent Cliff Spencer announces that Petrified Forest National Park will be changing to longer summer hours on May 9, 2010. The park will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST) daily. The Painted Desert Visitor Center and the Rainbow Forest Museum hours will be the same as the park hours. The Painted Desert Inn National Historic Landmark is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. Summer hours will continue until September 6, 2010.

Daily guided programs will be available throughout the summer, as well as special activities.

Program Schedule:

10:00 am and 2:00 pm Painted Desert Inn Tour: Explore this intriguing National Historic Landmark with a ranger and discover its fascinating past.

11:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 5:00 pm Triassic Program:  How did these once living trees turn to stone? Meet in the Rainbow Forest Museum sunroom. Find out on this ranger talk or easy guided walk along the Giant Logs Trail. There are some stairs along the trail.

11:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 5:00 pm Puerco Pueblo Program: Find out about the ancestral Puebloan people who once lived in this 100-room pueblo. Meet at the Puerco Pueblo Trail at the south end of the parking lot for an easy ranger-guided 1/3 mile walk.

For more information call [phone] 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. MST; 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.