Exploration America

A travel blog exploring America one city at a time

  • Home
  • About
    • Our Explorers
    • Media Kit / Contact
    • Privacy Policy
  • Midwest
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Michigan
    • Missouri
    • Nebraska
    • Ohio
    • Wisconsin
  • West
    • Arizona
    • California
    • Colorado
    • New Mexico
    • Oregon
    • Utah
    • Washington
  • Caves
  • Oddities
  • Campgrounds
  • Printables
    • For the Home
    • For the Kids
  • Resources
    • Buying a Camper
    • Camping
    • DIY
    • Festivals
    • Recipes
    • Travel Bag
You are here: Home / Nature / Hiking on the Blue Mesa Trail in Petrified Forest National Park

Hiking on the Blue Mesa Trail in Petrified Forest National Park

Nature West

Share the post "Hiking on the Blue Mesa Trail in Petrified Forest National Park"

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • E-mail
  • Tumblr
  • Delicious
  • Reddit
  • Bookmark
  • Print

After visiting the underwhelming Rainbow Forest in Petrified Forest National Park, I’m glad we decided to go hiking on the Blue Mesa Trail! If you’re visiting with kids or during hot weather you’ll want to keep reading!

I’ve got more information about the hiking trails at the bottom of this post. Hiking on the Blue Mesa Trail was BY FAR our entire family’s most favorite experience in the Petrified Forest National Park BUT it wasn’t easy!

Blue Mesa Trail Arizona

A short one mile trail, the Blue Mesa trail is one you can’t get lost on! It literally takes a steep (and I mean STEEP!) path down into a valley, goes in a circle, then back up the same trail you came in on.

Hiking is nothing new for my family but we had been in the car driving on Route 66 for a week and were pretty tired so I decided to grab the umbrella stroller for my 4 year old in case she got tired. After all, it was well over 100* out so it was crazy hot!

Blue Mesa Trail Arizona

The path getting down into the Blue Mesa trail is partially gravel as you see above and partially paved. If you have kids, or are with someone not perfectly steady on their feet, you’ll want to know there are some dangerous drop offs if you’re not careful on the path.

I felt completely comfortable with my 10 and 12 year old boys, but less comfortable with my 4 year old so I asked her to sit in the stroller……until I realized that the grade decline was SO steep on the gravel path with extremely narrow tight switchbacks that it was more unsafe for her to be sitting in the stroller for fear she would fall out should the stroller tip – which it did.

We were determined to make it down into the trail but it was a bit scary for me as I’m skittish of heights – especially with small children. I ended up carrying the umbrella stroller over my shoulder and holding my daughter by the hand until we got down to level paved areas of the trail.

Blue Mesa Trail Arizona

As you can see the views are phenomenal! The “blue” (it looked more purple sometimes) hills were like hiking through the Badlands. But let me tell you – it was H.O.T.! There was NO breeze or airflow being surrounded by tightly packed hills.

We didn’t bring our water bottles because we figured it was only a 1 mile trail – no big deal. Boy were we wrong! We absolutely should have brought water down with us to help offset the stifling heat.

family photo on Blue Mesa Trail Arizona

I snapped pictures left and right not really knowing what I was even doing because it was so hot and sunny. I’m glad I did though because as you can see the views are outstanding! It’s not a bad idea to have sunglasses with you either!

Although the trail is relatively short getting in and out of the trailhead is a bit of a beast and one that you’ll want to be prepared for! Once you get get down into the “circle” part of the trail you’re on relatively flat pavement as you can see below.

Blue Mesa Trail Arizona

There are no benches down there though and it was was ROASTING heat so there was no way we were going to pop a squat on the trail to rest! So we just took it slow at first to get our legs acclimated back to the trail.

You can see above that the trail is relatively easy for a stroller once you get down there. Thankfully my boys helped me out because I was pretty wiped! But check out that view! Seriously one of the most amazing national park scenic views I’ve seen!

It was a quiet lovely trail where you felt 100% surrounded by solid scenic beauty. Just remember though, that steep decline to get down into the trail becomes your steep incline to get out of the trail! Take your time – you’ll need it!

Blue Mesa Trail Arizona

What trails are at the Petrified Forest National Park?

  • Painted Desert Rim Trail
  • Puerco Pueblo
  • Blue Mesa
  • Crystal Forest
  • Giant Logs
  • Long Logs
  • Agate House

You can learn more about each trail on the National Park Service page.

There are TWO entrances into Petrified Forest National Park. YES TWO!

There is an entrance off of I-40 and and entrance on 180. The visitors center and trails we wanted to hit were ALL off of 180. Since we were on our way up to Holbrook it worked out great. We started on this hiking trail and next time I will definitely skip it!

Blue Mesa trail in Petrified Forest

Share the post "Hiking on the Blue Mesa Trail in Petrified Forest National Park"

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • E-mail
  • Tumblr
  • Delicious
  • Reddit
  • Bookmark
  • Print

By Crystal Leave a Comment

About Crystal

I'm the product of a family who never travelled and now I can't get enough! Please leave a comment or send me a message with some of your favorite lesser known places to visit - my bucket list in the USA is always expanding! My passion for travel motivated me to drag along my husband and 3 kids until now they are as eager as I am to hit the road! What should we visit near you?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search this site:

Before Buying a Camper READ THIS

$20 OFF Travel Discount AirBnb

 
Tips to Survive the City Museum St. Louis Missouri
Exclusive Access Inside the Historic Benson Ford Ship House

Must Take Tours in Munising Michigan

Where we’ve been

    Copyright ©2021, Exploration America. All Rights Reserved. Custom design by Pixel Me Designs
    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled

    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

    Non-necessary

    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.