Welcome to Travel Tuesday! Another Arizona post today as I continue my way through Petrified Forest National Park– the Agate House and Long Logs Trail!
Agate House and Long Logs Trail in Petrified Forest National Park
Distance: 2.6 miles (loop)
Elevation: 98 ft
Difficulty: Easy
Duration: ~1 hour
Trailhead Address: 34.81468,-109.86184
Parking: Lot available ($25 for admission into park, or free with annual interagency pass)
The trailhead is across the parking lot by the Rainbow Forest Museum (come here after the Giant Logs Trail!). It has the largest concentration of petrified wood in the entire park, so it’s definitely worth a visit!
We hiked this in the later afternoon, which was perfect, because these trails are generally the most beautiful during that time (it’s in the way the light hits the petrified wood!).
The first 0.5 miles are paved, but the road turns to dirt as it brings you through the desert brush. Since it’s a loop, you can go either way, but we decided to do a counter-clockwise loop.
You’ll find lots of petrified logs in this area — some look like they were cut perfectly into slices because silica breaks off at very clean angles. (None of them have branches because they were broken off while they were pushed downstream, but if there are lots of knots, that means the tree once did have a bunch of branches!)
The “Agate House” is a small 8-room pueblo that archaeologists believe was occupied ~700 years ago. Some portions have been reconstructed, and they’ve since actually found many other similar petrified wood structures in the park. (Please don’t sit, stand, or climb on it!)
- Where’s the last place you traveled to?
- Have you ever seen petrified wood?
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As always, I love your posts Farrah!
Those petrified logs are soooo cool, and the agate house is even more impressive. What happens with the light in the afternoon? Does it just bring out the colours of the crystals in the petrified wood?
Josy A recently posted…Iceberg Lake – Whistler Hikes
It definitely seemed to! I loved how colorful everything was! (I’m not sure what I was expecting when I went to this national park, but definitely not all of this! :O Was such a pretty surprise!)
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
Petrified logs, that’s a cool thing to see :) thanks for sharing!
They were! :D Thanks for stopping by!
What a beautiful hike! You always find the most stunning scenery! The landscape is incredible and the petrified wood is fascinating! Thanks for sharing this beautiful trail with us!
Thanks so much for stopping by! It was such a cool place to explore! :] Can’t wait to get to travel/explore again (hopefully later this year? *-*)!
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
This looks like such an interesting place to visit, and what really interests me is the archaeological aspect to it!
I love learning more about each place that I visit too, so it was really cool getting to see this! :]!
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park
Thanks for sharing this. Every time I’m in Arizona I always end up in Phoenix or Flagstaff but this would be interesting for next time.
Ah, I don’t blame you! There’s so much more of both Flagstaff + Phoenix that I wanted to explore more of, but alas! Hoping to go back again at some point! :]
Farrah recently posted…Cholla Cactus Garden in Joshua Tree National Park