![\"Petrified](\"http:\/\/www.photoshelter.com\/img-get\/I00001vhJPMStBwA\/s\/380\/578\/906079hx.jpg\" "\\"906079hx.jpg\\"")
<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nLog sections on Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona<\/em><\/p>\n It’s hard to\u00a0imagine that the vast desert that surrounds you as you whisk along Interstate 40 in Arizona was once a primordial swamp.\u00a0During the Late Triassic period, about 225\u00a0million years ago, this area was a lush forest that was home to many large amphibians and early dinosaurs. The colorful Chinle Formation,\u00a0which gives the Painted Desert its warm hues, also contains\u00a0the sediments\u00a0that have preserved\u00a0the fossil\u00a0trees, plants and animals of this ancient time.<\/p>\n At the center of this\u00a0lunar landscape lies Petrified Forest National Park, which was set aside in 1962 to preserve the unique remains of this otherworldly place. In addition to its colorful badlands and fossil remains, the park also contains more than 600 archaeological sites, including petroglyphs and pit houses from some of its earliest pueblo inhabitants.<\/p>\n \u00a9Russ Bishop\/All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Log sections on Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona It’s hard to\u00a0imagine that the vast desert that surrounds you as you whisk along Interstate 40 in Arizona was once a primordial swamp.\u00a0During the Late Triassic period, about 225\u00a0million years ago, this area was a lush forest that was home to many large amphibians … <\/p>\n