Park Road Auto Tour

NPS

 

NPS

Starting at the north end at the gate, mile marker 0, continue into the park after stopping at the historic Painted Desert Community Complex (built in the early 1960s) visitor center.

0.5 Tiponi Point: first view of the red part of the Painted Desert, this is also close to where the original entrance station off of Route 66 was located. If you are a geocacher, there is a site located near here. The red badlands are the Petrified Forest Member of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation. The Bidohochi Formation (Mio-/Pliocene) is represented by orange sediments and black basalt flows. The fluffy silvery-green shrubs are sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia).

 

NPS

1.0 Tatàypi Point (turnout with wall): Next to the larger Skunkbush (Rhus aromatica)—which is colorful in the fall and has yellow flowers in the spring—the Pale Wolfberry (Lycium pallidum) looks quite unimpressive. In the spring, look for pale green bell flowers that become edible berries. Save them for the birds, please! Look for the purple-gray Owl Rock Member of the Chinle formation directly across from the overlook.