Petrified Forest Loop

The Petrified Forest Loop is one of the most remote and rewarding hikes in Theodore Roosevelt National Park's South Unit, traversing trackless badlands wilderness to reach one of the park's most remarkable geological features. The trail departs from the Peaceful Valley Ranch trailhead and immediately enters open prairie studded with prairie dog towns, where bison frequently graze in the distance. Hikers follow faint social trails and cairns across deeply eroded buttes and coulees, the striped layers of ancient sediment glowing gold and red in the afternoon light.

The centerpiece of the hike is the Petrified Forest itself, a field of ancient tree stumps and logs mineralized over 55 million years ago, now standing in eerie silence amid the badlands landscape. Some stumps rise several feet above ground, their original wood grain still visible in the silicified stone. The route continues through the Petrified Forest Unit, an officially designated wilderness area where no mechanized travel is permitted and solitude is virtually guaranteed. Return via the same general corridor, watching for golden eagles and mule deer along the exposed ridgelines. Water is unavailable on trail; carry at least three liters.