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OCT 2024 UPDATE: Onyx Bridge has collapsed! I confirmed with a ranger this happened sometime within the last few years due to natural causes. It's still a cool feature, but no longer resembles a bridge.
Jan 13, 2016 — Petrified Forest National Park is located within Arizona's Painted Desert, where the stunning overlooks of colorful hills made me want to wander around the backcountry and locate countless fragments of petrified wood, dry washes, and color-banded sand hills look almost otherworldly.
From the Painted Desert Inn (no, it’s just a preserved historic inn, so you can’t actually stay there), I headed down to the desert floor along a well-beaten trail. I hiked directly north through the badlands, without following any specific route since there was no formal trail. After some time, I reached Lithodendron Wash, a wide watercourse that was unmistakable. I followed it east until it curved north, then veered left into a narrow drainage that was easy to miss if you weren't watching closely, as Lithodendron Wash curved away to the east. The narrow wash was incredibly tempting to explore on its own. Once within the side drainage, I followed a right fork until a steep slope brought me into the badlands above, where Onyx Bridge lay across a small drainage.
From Onyx Bridge, I continued southwest for a while through bright white lumpy badlands in order to reach Angel's Garden, an area packed with scattered pieces of petrified wood and a brightly-colored desert floor. After a bit of time exploring the nooks and crannies around Angel's Garden, I headed south to check out Gregory's Stump. From here I continued south to Lithodendron Wash and picked up the trail back up to the Painted Desert Inn.
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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!
