Escalante Petrified Forest State Park near the town of Escalante, just off of Scenic Byway 12, and surrounded by Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a fantastic place to see lots of Petrified Wood and do some hiking to a vantage point that lets you see Fifty Mile Mountain and Hole-in-the-Rock Road. The Park is also next to Wide Hollow Reservoir which you can canoe, kayak, or paddleboard on. There are dinosaur bones within the Visitor Center as well as plenty of Petrified Wood. Near the Visitor Center, be on the lookout for a 50 foot long Petrified Log from roots to tip.

There’s also the really great Petrified Forest Trail (1 mile loop hike) that takes you up a steep slope and then lets you hike around lava flows and lots of pretty colored petrified wood. There is the optional and steep The Sleeping Rainbows Trail (.75 mile loop) off of the Forest Trail but my wife and I didn’t get to do that because it was on the dark side of the mesa top and was covered in deep snow when we were there. Also, it requires scrambling over boulders and rocks which we weren’t gonna do in the snow.

If you decide to go after some weather or during the snow melt… you will get extremely muddy. Thick, heavy, multi colored mud that sticks to you incredibly well.

There are very rewarding views at the top, though.