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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Holbrook in Navajo County, Arizona — The American Mountains (Southwest)
 

The Painted Desert

 
 
The Painted Desert Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Denise Boose, September 2, 2013
1. The Painted Desert Marker
Inscription. The Painted Desert stretches before you as an outdoor museum of fossilized plants and animals. Its striking colors emanate from the Chinle Formation of the Late Triassic, which has been eroded by the Little Colorado River drainage system.

An aerial view of the Painted Desert reveals tie-dyed corrugated hills of highly colored sedimentary rock, mostly soft, fine-grained mudstone and claystone. Also present are harder beds of more somber-colored siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate. The wide range of reddish color in these rocks is due to the presence of iron minerals.

The Chinle Formation is a storehouse of plant and animal fossils that provided evidence of a time when giant amphibians and reptiles ruled the Earth. If you look deep into the Painted Desert, you may see large fragments of petrified wood.
 
Erected by Petrified National Forest Services.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Natural FeaturesNotable Places.
 
Location. 35° 3.785′ N, 109° 48.159′ W. Marker is in Holbrook, Arizona, in Navajo County. It can be reached from
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Petrified Forest Road, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Holbrook AZ 86025, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Arizona’s Hopi. It is also in the American Southwest, in the Mountain West, in Colorado Plateau, and at the Four Corners. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Petrified Forest of the World (here, next to this marker); Early Explorers (approx. 0.4 miles away); Path of Least Resistance (approx. 0.4 miles away); Enduring Abode (approx. 0.6 miles away); A Gap in the Geologic Record (approx. 0.6 miles away); Highway of Dreams (approx. 0.8 miles away); Welcome (approx. 1.1 miles away); Tawa Trail (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Holbrook.
 
Another marker is no longer nearby. Route 66 (was approx. 0.8 miles away but
The Painted Desert Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Denise Boose, September 2, 2013
2. The Painted Desert Marker
has been replaced with another marker now near it).
 
The Painted Desert Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Denise Boose, September 2, 2013
3. The Painted Desert Marker
The Painted Desert image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Denise Boose, September 2, 2013
4. The Painted Desert
The Painted Desert image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Denise Boose, September 2, 2013
5. The Painted Desert
The Painted Desert Range image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Denise Boose, September 2, 2013
6. The Painted Desert Range
Extending in a broad arc from east of Grand Canyon southeastward towards St. Johns, Arizona, the Painted Desert was exposed by the erosional force of the Little Colorado River.
Iowa Congressman John Fletcher Lacey image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Denise Boose, September 2, 2013
7. Iowa Congressman John Fletcher Lacey
Top Photo Caption:
Iowa Congressman John Fletcher Lacey strongly advocated the protection of public lands. The Antiquities Act of 1906, which protects “objects of historic or scientific interest” on federal lands, is often called “The Lacey Act.”

One of the first areas to be protected under the Antiquities Act was Petrified Forest National Monument in 1906. Fittingly, Lacey Point with its broad vistas was named in honor of this visionary conservationist.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on September 29, 2013, by Denise Boose of Tehachapi, California. This page has been viewed 925 times since then and 33 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on September 29, 2013, by Denise Boose of Tehachapi, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.
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Jul. 5, 2026