Petrified Forest

Petrified Forest and Painted desert

photo taken from the National park website

Flagstaff is about 1h40m from the entrance to the Petrified Forest national park.

On their website, you can get a list of what kind of things to do depending on how much time you have.

First, it is good to know when you can arrive and when you can leave.
Arrive around 10 am (if we leave hotel at 8)
Leave at 7:30 (to be back at hotel by 9:30)

http://www.nps.gov/pefo/planyourvisit/things2do.htm

So, here is a rough outline that I summarized for us:
Start in the South entrance.

If  only 1 hour:
Stop at the Painted Desert Visitor Center (drive through park)
Stop at Rainbow Forest Museum

If several hours:
Stop at Painted Desert Inn Museum
Stop at several overlooks
Walk the Puerco Pueblo Trail, the Giant Logs Trail,


If half a day:
Walk the trails at Painted Desert Rim, Blue Mesa, Crystal Forest, Long Logs and Agate House.

If (BIG IF) whole day: Attend some Ranger Programs
Hike into the Wilderness Area

I said BIG IF because if there is time I would like to drive back home via Tuba City, which is a drive of about 4.5 hours.
So we should leave at around 6:30 to be back at the hotel by 11pm.

Very important information
- There is a GAS STATION at the national park!
- The cost of entrance is $10.00 per vehicle.

According to this website  http://www.arizona-leisure.com/painted-desert.html :
 "The western-end of the Painted Desert can be accessed north on US 89 from Flagstaff AZ. Drive north past Cameron, into Tuba City. One could spend several hours meandering along either of these routes, enjoying the views, stopping for photo opportunities and shopping at trading posts and gift shops along the way."