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Text: Petrified Forest National Park Audio Tour on star trails above park sign.

Podcast

Petrified Forest National Park Audio Tour, North Version

General welcome and instructions on using the Petrified Forest National Park Audio Tour.

Episodes

Season 1

Episode 11

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 11

Transcript

Nizhoni Point The boundary where the Bidahochi Formation and Chinle Formation make contact is an unconformity. An unconformity represents missing time in the form of rock layers, either as a pause in deposition or rock that's been eroded away. It's a bit like a book with missing pages. You can tell that something's missing, but you don't necessarily know what was written. The Chinle Formation was deposited over 200 million years ago, but the Bidahochi Formation was deposited around 5 to 18 million years ago. The contact between the Bidahochi Formation and the Chinle Formation represents over 182 million years of missing time.

Host_043 Nizhoni unconformity.

Location: Nizhoni Point

Episode 12

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 12

Transcript

Whipple Point The mid-19th century was a time of government expeditions throughout the West. In 1853, US Army Lieutenant Amiel Whipple led a survey along the Thirty-Fifth Parallel, not far from this point. Impressed with the Painted Desert landscape, Whipple named the seasonal river lined with petrified wood deposits the Lithodendron or Stone Tree Creek, the large wash that divides the north unit of the Petrified Forest National Park into the wilderness area we know today. The Whipple Expedition's topographer, draftsman, artist, and naturalist, German-born Balduin Möllhausen provided the first published account of petrified wood in what eventually would become petrified forest.

The Whipple Expedition

Location: Whipple Point

Episode 13

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 13

Transcript

From Whipple Point to Route 66 Can you picture a camel caravan at the edge of the Painted Desert? Experienced explorer, frontiersman, and retired military officer Edward F. Beale could. Beale was hired by the U.S. Government to survey and build a wagon road following Whipple's route along the Thirty-Fifth Parallel. Between 1857 and 1860, Beale made several trips building and improving the road. As part of a government experiment in desert transport, Beale used camels as pack animals. Although Beale became convinced of the camel's value, the government did not choose to invest in them, particularly as the Civil War began. Some of the camels were released in the Mojave, generating years of tall tales, while others were auctioned off carrying mail in California and yet another group was kept by Beale on his ranch. The old wagon road is still visible in spots across the southwest. The portion within Petrified Forest was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The Beale Wagon Road and experimental camels.

Location: Lacey Point

Episode 14

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 14

Transcript

Route 66 traces of an old roadbed and weathered telephone poles mark the path of the famous Main Street of America, Route 66. From Chicago to Los Angeles this heavily trafficked highway was not just a road. It stood as a symbol of opportunity, adventure, and exploration to travelers. US Route 66 was established in 1926, but it wasn't until after World War II that the road earned its place in pop culture, including a song and a television show.

Getting your kicks along Route 66 from Middle America to the coast could take about a week. For many, the journey was not just across miles, it was across cultures and lifestyles, as each stop along the way offered local flair and regional flavor. Imagine the neon signs of one-of-a-kind motels, filling stations that served as miniature oases, gaudy tourist traps, and more than 2200 miles of open road.

In 1990, Congress passed the Route 66 Study Act of 1990, finding that historic Route 66 had become a symbol of the American people's heritage of travel and their legacy of seeking a better life. The Route 66 corridor preservation program was created in 1999, and the route itself was designated an all-American Road. Petrified Forest National Park is the only national park that protects a segment of historic Route 66 within its boundaries.

Route 66 history in the park.

Location: Route 66

Episode 15

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 15

Transcript

From Route 66 to Mile Marker 8 Route 66 was replaced by Interstate 40 in the mid-1970s, used by traders, explorers, pioneers, settlers, stagecoach lines, tourists, and scientists. In the 1870s, Mormon pioneers began to establish and build communities along the Little Colorado River, including Joseph's City, originally Allen's Camp—and the only remaining settlement—Brigham City, Sunset, and Fort Obed. It wasn't easy. The demanding land testing the homesteaders with drought, flood, malaria, and extremes in weather. Still, their descendants make up a large portion of our neighboring communities.

History of the travel corridor and centuries of people moving through the region.

Location: Grassland, north of Rattlesnake Hill

Episode 16

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 16 =

Transcript

Rattlesnake Hill at Mile Marker 8 to the Puerco River Petrified Forest is a grassland, one of the largest remaining intact short grass prairies. It's home to many plants and animals with grassland, riparian, badland, sand dune, and spring habitats. Species are adapted to survive in this demanding environment, including by being nocturnal. This wide-open environment is home to many species of plants and animals including prairie dogs, red-tailed hawks, American pronghorn, bull snakes, and darkling beetles, just to mention a very small number. While driving along the park road, be aware that the animals may dash across or bask in the sun on the pavement. One reason to watch the speed limit.

Petrified forest is a semi-arid environment receiving about 10 inches of precipitation each year in the form of snow and rain in the winter and often dramatic thunderstorms during the summer monsoons. The many watercourses throughout the region are called washes, ephemeral paths for moisture to find its way to the Puerco and Little Colorado, then on to the Colorado River and draining into the Gulf of California. Though often appearing dry, the Puerco is considered a river rather than a wash, as a constant supply of water is present, flowing just below the surface. The Puerco River forms a riparian corridor through the park lined with galleries of Coyote and Gooding's Willows, various cottonwood tree species, and non-native tamarisk. The plants provide food and shelter for birds, bats, porcupine, and elk. Elk often gather in small herds which are most active during dawn and dusk.

Water can also be found in natural rock basins called tinajas, springs in the back of alcoves, and man-made tanks. Around the natural tinajas and seeps, the water attracts plants such as ferns and mosses, creating little oases in the shadow of mesas and escarpments. Rainwater and snow melt percolate through the edge of the landforms, emerging where it can fill a cistern, providing longer term, watery habitats. During dry times, animals will come from all around the area to drink. Water creatures seem to appear out of nowhere, such as fairy and tadpole shrimp and diving beetles, ducks, shore birds, and waders such as plovers, great blue herons, and northern shovelers visit on their migration.

Natural ecosystem, animals, and plants including their relationship with water.

Location: Puerco River

Episode 17

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 17

Transcript

Puerco Pueblo Puerco Pueblo is the most obvious archaeological site in the park. Many other sites have been covered with windblown sand and less. This village had more than 100 rooms occupied and maintained from the mid-13th century to the end of the 14th century. At that time, the river would have been a reliable source of water for crops. Farming of corn, beans, and squash took place on the flood plains and terraces along the river. The river also made for a natural travel route. Travelers and traders probably frequented Puerco Pueblo, carrying new ideas as well as goods. The trail at Puerco Pueblo winds through the remnants of the village walls and overlooks some petroglyphs, including one that marks the summer solstice. Additionally, there's a small museum that summarizes the history of people who have occupied and utilized petrified forest for over 14,000 years.

The history of Puerco Pueblo.

Location: Puerco Pueblo

Episode 18

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 18

Transcript

Newspaper Rock The archaeological site known as Newspaper Rock, is neither a newspaper nor a single rock. The site boasts over 650 petroglyphs covering a group of rock faces within a small area. This location must have been significant to have such a high concentration of petroglyphs. Generations of people saw these markings and contributed their own. Many of the symbols were created by ancestral Puebloan people living, farming, and hunting along the Puerco River between 650 and 2000 years ago. There is no linear story, but we can still learn from the markings. Modern tribes such as Zuni and Hopi offer interpretations, including family or clan symbols, spiritual meanings, and historical or astronomical events. Some mark territory boundaries and migratory routes.

Walk to the overlook to discover these messages on stone.

The petroglyphs of Newspaper Rock

Location: Newspaper Rock

Episode 19

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 19

Transcript

From Newspaper Rock to the Tepees The road curves in between exposed badlands as it shifts into and away from the grassland. This highly eroded area of exposed sedimentary rock is called the Tepees due to the conical shape of many of the hills. To the west beyond the Tepees, lies a small outcrop of the geological layer known as the Mesa Redondo Member. The Mesa Redondo is the oldest member of the Chinle Formation exposed in Petrified Forest and is mainly found in the Tepees area. It consists of dark red siltstones as well as sandy conglomerates. The top of the member is a very colorful hard layer with yellow, red, and purple mottles. The Mesa Redondo was deposited between 225 and 227 million years ago and represents floodplain deposits that were adjacent to the sandstone channels of the Shinarump Member, which can be seen outside the park between Holbrook and Joseph City.

The Tepees and Mesa Redondo Member of the Chinle Formation

Location: Tepees

Episode 20

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 20

Transcript

The Tepees

The Tepees are made up of the geological layer known as the Blue Mesa Member. The banded badlands are very striking as they catch the light of late afternoon. This member consists of thick Triassic river deposits of gray, blue, purple, and green mudstones and minor sandstone beds, the most prominent of which is the newspaper rock bed. There are many plant fossils in The Tepees area, including conifer leaves, horsetail stems, and pollen. The Blue Mesa Member is approximately 220 to 225 million years old.

From The Tepees, hikers can take the historic Civilian Conservation Corps built trail along the historic Blue Forest Trail and Off the Beaten Path hike. This trail connects with the paved Blue Mesa Loop Trail off of Blue Mesa Road.

Fossils in the Blue Mesa Member at the Tepees

Location: Tepees 2

Episode 21

PEFO Audio Tour North Stop 21

Transcript

Blue Mesa Blue Mesa rises above a purplish plain marked with curving washes, the escarpment banded in blue, purple, and gray. Three divisions of the geological layer known as the Sonsela Member are visible at Blue Mesa. From bottom to top, they are the bright white sandstone called the Camp Butte Beds, which are found near the base of the mesa. The middle called Lot's Wife Bed composed of blue, gray, and purple mudstones, and numerous small gray and white sandstones. And the uppermost, the Jasper Forest Bed consisting of white cross bedded sandstones and conglomerates with water rounded pebbles and cobbles. The Jasper Forest Bed contains the logs that can be seen eroding out of the hillside around Blue Mesa. The sandstone layer caps Blue Mesa, Agate Mesa, and the Mesa north of the Rainbow Forest. The Sonsela Member is approximately 215 to 219 million years old.

The colorful layers in the Chinle Formation represent ancient soil horizons, the variety of hues due to the presence of various elements and minerals. While the red and green layers generally contain the same amount of iron and manganese, differences in color depend on the height of the groundwater table when the ancient Triassic soils were formed. If the water table was high or nearer to the surface, the sediment's decreased access to oxygen caused the iron minerals in the soil to reduce into a greenish or bluish shade. The reddish soils, on the other hand, were formed where the water table fluctuated or shifted lower, allowing the iron minerals to oxidize or rust when exposed to higher levels of oxygen. That knowledge tells us that when the northernmost portion of the Painted Desert was formed. The water table was lower indicating a drier climate with well aerated oxygen-rich soils.

Two off the beaten path trails can be taken from the Blue Mesa Road, Billings Gap, and the Red Basin clam beds. Billings Gap runs along the northern edge of the Mesa, while the Red Basin clam beds trails along the base of the southern side of the Mesa.

The Sonsela Member at Blue Mesa, including the banding and colors of the Painted Desert.

Location: Blue Mesa

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