El Rancho Hotel and Petrified Forest NP - Day 2 of TX-CA-TX Road Trip

This was a road trip we did together with my 19 year old son in August of 2020. We drove close to 5K miles from San Antonio to California and back hitting many different attractions on our way. A lot of planning went into it. I have created a detailed Google Sheet itinerary with driving directions, reservations, sites to see etc. which worked perfect, we followed it every day. Since then Google Travel has become more sophisticated and I am planning to add it to my trip planning tools.

Our first day was a long drive from Texas to ALBQ.

Day 2 first stop called for the Acoma Pueblos - The Sky City, but they just closed access due to Covid-19. We will definitely check this place out on our next trip.

El Rancho Hotel

Our next stop was El Rancho Hotel in Gallup on Route 66 where many western movie stars have stayed in the 1950s and 60s. I really hoped to get some guidance to local sets, but no hotel employees had a cluse the visitor center was closed. For the life of me even after hours of web search I couldn't find reference to local movie sets. I imagine these sets are on private land, that is why...


I must say the interior and the atmosphere of the hotel was authentic and wonderful. It was worth a pit stop.

Petrified Forest NP

We were off to Petrified Forest NP which we have heard from friends that it was a great adventure and we were not disappointed either. We attacked from IH-40 through the Painter Desert Visitor Center. I have purchased the $80 America the Beautiful National Park Pass before hand, but stopping at the visitor center was worth it. We have heard a short in person visual presentation about the park history and we got to chat with rangers to hear which are the best stops to make. We also checked out the polished several petrified tree trunks on display like this one:



Painted Desert Rim and Tawa Point

These are the views at this easy stop from Tawa Point.



We did an easy stroll, 10 min out and 10 min back on the path. It was very windy on this August day.

Blue Mesa Trail

This was one of our favorite stops, not only we got a glimpse of petrified wood, but the purple and blue colors were spectacular. The trail loops around, we spent about an hour on it and loved it.


Agate Bridge

This was not as interesting as the other stops, but kudos to the park rangers a hundred yuears ago saving this 220 million year old specimen.

Jasper Forest

Another favorite stop with giant tree trunks and amazing colors.


Crystal Forest

This was our last stop and another favorite sight. The size and color of the tree trunks were breathtaking.


Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Store

After the NP I almost passed up Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Co. What a treat this was with so many polished petrified wood reasonably priced. I sure bought some incredible gems, I highly recommend stopping here after or before the NP.

And off we went to the Grand Canyon...
Location: Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA

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