Last updated: July 10, 2021
Place
Blue Mesa Trail
NPS Photo/Hallie Larsen
Quick Facts
Location:
On the Blue Mesa Road loop that turns off the park road about mile marker 15
Significance:
Blue part of the Painted Desert
Amenities
7 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board, Parking - Auto, Picnic Shelter/Pavilion, Picnic Table, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Trailhead
Length: 1 mile (1.6 km) loop
Trailhead: Blue Mesa sun shelter
Descending from the mesa, this alternately paved and gravel trail loop offers the unique experience of hiking among badland hills of bluish bentonite clay as well as petrified wood. Numerous plant and animal fossils have been found by paleontologists in the sedimentary layers of Blue Mesa.
Steep grade at beginning of trail
Trailhead: Blue Mesa sun shelter
Descending from the mesa, this alternately paved and gravel trail loop offers the unique experience of hiking among badland hills of bluish bentonite clay as well as petrified wood. Numerous plant and animal fossils have been found by paleontologists in the sedimentary layers of Blue Mesa.
Steep grade at beginning of trail