Many rocks and minerals can be found in Arizona. Here are a few…
Fluorite that I dug out of the Arizona desert!
Herkimer Diamonds found in Payson, AZ
Arizona Purple Agate that was sliced nicely by Sweet Man on his rock saw. Then I polished it.
Arizona is proud of all its Rocks, Minerals and Gems. However, it’s proud of and well known for its Petrified Wood. A visit to the Petrified Forest National Park is a must… to see amazing fossilized wood (tree trunks.)
We drove through the Painted Desert National Park first.
As we entered into the Petrified Forest we came across more and more Petrified Wood.
A tree fell over and became a petrified wood natural bridge.
Millions of years ago this was a forest. Over time the forest was buried quickly by large amounts of sediment. Silica, minerals and such replaced the tree trunks which then turned them mostly into quartz, amethyst, and yellow citrine which is what the fossilized Petrified Wood is mainly made of.
It truly is amazing to see the Petrified Forest. No longer wood tree trunks but now rock.
You can not remove any of these beautiful specimens from the National Park. There are plenty of places around the Park that sell it.
We purchased this gorgeous piece from a nearby place and had the top side polished. We have it displayed in our back yard.
This is a piece I found in Joseph City that is 35 miles away from the Petrified Forest National Park. We went with our Rock and Mineral Club and had permission to remove petrified wood on this certain property. Because the soil was a different color… so was the Petrified Wood.
A friend of ours polishes Petrified Wood. He does a beautiful job! We have a piece displayed in our home. It’s so beautifully polished you can see my shadow in it.
Here are the colors found in Arizona Petrified Wood.
Thank you for reading! I hope you learned something new today!
Until Next Time ~Nancy
I did learn something NEW! Thank you! I think I need to make a road trip down that way!
It was really something to see!
I went there years ago. I would love to go again. We are such rockhounds.
Oh Mary… you should see our backyard! And our curios! Ha! Ha!
Great post. My wife and I are lapidaries.
Sweet Man is and our Rock Club is looking into owning a Lapidary Shop. Still dreaming but it will happen one day! Thank you for stopping by!
I stop where the pictures compel me. Nice work.
Thank you sir!
Hi Nancy, it always amazes me how something so ‘soft’ can transform into something so hard, yet still so beautiful, though I’m sure if I fell over one I wouldn’t know what it was. 🙂
Well now you do my friend! It really is amazing how nature has worked over many many years!
Thanks for coming over!
Petrified wood is fascinating. Love your collection of beautifully polished rocks.
We love them too!
And you are correct… it is fascinating! 😊
The purple agate is just stunning as well as the petrified wood. We visited several years ago and found it so intriguing! Beautiful photos Nancy!
How about that Purple agate! When searching for it… some comes to the surface but it’s not purple as the sun bleaches the color from it. It has to be dug out.
Thanks for reading beautiful friend!
Great post and beautiful pictures….your post reminded me that I have not been to the painted desert or the petrified forest since I was a kid…..I’d say it was time for another visit!!
Agree! Time for a visit! We enjoyed it very much.
We loved Petrified Forest NP! Your polished rocks are beautiful Nancy! And yes, I learned something from reading your post. 🙂
I am so glad to hear!
Thanks for enjoying!
Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃
BTW, I loved the name of your post as well. Very clever!
Lol! That came to me in the middle of the night!
Glad you liked it!
Fascinating and beautiful. The purple agate is incredible. I learnt a lot – thank you!
I am so glad you did!!
You found three beautiful rocks! I just love rocks and could spend hours combing through an area of neat rocks. The Petrified Forest is spectacular!! I couldn’t get enough of the gorgeous petrified wood. Some of the hikes took us off the beaten path and we were surrounded by beauty. My hiking was very slow since I had to check every piece.
Pam I remember from another post that I did and you telling me how much you loved rocks. ❤️ There is just something about a rock that can grab your attention!
And don’t get me started about the Petrified Forest… can you believe how massive some of those specimens are and how long it took them to become a petrified rock! Blows me away!
Thank you for stopping by my friend… Happy Thanksgiving!
Extraordinary photos my friend. Time can do some amazing things! Another destination for a future road trip. What time of the year would you suggest would be best to visit the Petrified Forest so the Canadians don’t melt? 🙂
We were there in October and it was a lovely temperature! I just had that long sleeved t shirt with a vest.
Thank hanks for the love!