The Petrified Forest National Park sits along Route 66 in northeastern Arizona, in a landscape so old and strange that spending time there does something to your sense of scale. The petrified logs that give the park its name are the remains of trees that fell 225 million years ago, before the continents had separated into their current positions, before the first dinosaur had evolved. They’ve been gradually replaced by silica, which has preserved their structure while turning the wood to multicolored stone.
The park also contains one of the most significant concentrations of ancient Pueblo ruins in North America, petroglyphs carved into the desert varnish on rock surfaces, and a segment of the original Route 66 alignment that runs through the park — one of the few remaining stretches of the 1930s highway with its original asphalt largely intact.
Standing at that stretch of original road and looking at the petrified logs in the distance gives you a peculiar feeling. Human occupation of this landscape is very recent. The road is very new. The stone trees in the distance are from an earth that would be unrecognizable.
Route 66 travelers in the 1930s and 1940s paid a small fee to enter the park and walk among the logs. Some of them took pieces as souvenirs, which has been prohibited for decades and which substantially diminishes the experience for everyone who comes after. The park estimates that several tons of material leave illegally each year despite the prohibition.
The road teaches various lessons. One of them is that you don’t actually own the things you love just because you picked them up.
We are offering licences for ROUTE 66® Beer in specific territories. An invitation to others to become part of this story. To carry a piece of the road with them and to contribute to the story. We will share a percentage of royalties with Route 66 associations to keep the story alive.
The journey continues. This story is brought to you by ROUTE 66® BEER. Find us at ROUTE66BEER.COM
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