Petrified Forest National Park Changes to Summer Hours—May 2011

Date: April 21, 2011
Contact: R. Steven Jones, 928-524-6228 x238

Petrified Forest, AZ―Acting Park Superintendent Greg Caffey announces that Petrified Forest National Park will be changing to longer summer hours on May 8, 2011. 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 through September 3, 2011.

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

Summer Program Schedule will start on Sunday, May 29:

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

9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 3:00 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.

9:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 3:00 pm Puerco Pueblo Program: Find out about the ancestral Puebloan people who once lived in this 100-room village. Meet at the Puerco Pueblo Trail at the south end of the parking lot for an easy ranger-guided 1/3 mile walk.

Cultural Demonstrators and other special activities will be announced each month.

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