Petrified Forest Field Institute

Learn - Explore - Discover

Mike Campbell

Summer Solstice Archaeoastronomical Site Visit

Instructor: Mike Campbell

The ancient inhabitants of Petrified Forest were intimately connected to the rhythms of their natural environment. The seasons impacted when they planted, harvested and other important events in their lives. Therefore, it is not surprising the Ancestral Puebloan people would create features that helped them track the passage of time. One of the most important of these would be archaeoastronomical markers marking the summer solstice.

Join us for an extraordinary cross-country, overnight trip to view this rare event. We will visit a 1000-year-old petroglyph that is featured in many books as the sun splits it in half at the precise moment of the summer solstice—an experience sure to provide the participants a deeper connection with the land and those whose lives were so dependent upon it.

Our trip will take us through the park’s seldom-visited, southernmost wilderness unit. The hike begins on the Long Logs Trail, but soon trades the beaten path for the backcountry. After hiking through an assortment of petrified logs and arid shortgrass prairie, we’ll eventually enter the maze-like badlands. Exiting the badlands, we’ll set up camp for the night in a sparsely vegetated wilderness area.

On day two, we’ll rise before the sun and embark on a pre-dawn hike to the solar marker. If the skies are clear, the shadows cast at sunrise will bisect the solar marker.

Following sunrise, we’ll return to the campsite to break camp and shuttle back to the parking area. Details of the itinerary are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Parking and camping details will be provided at registration.

Class Categories

Archeology
Archeology
Geology
Geology
Ecology
Ecology/Biology

Length: Two-day overnight wilderness camping
Max group size: 8

Cost:

  • $229 – Non-Member
  • $200 – Member

 

Registration Form

 

Class Notes

Participants should bring light camping gear (some camping gear may be available on loan to the extent possible), food, water, toiletries and sleeping bags. Dress in layers as the summer nights can still be a little chilly. Campfires are not permitted in the park.

Equipment list, parking and camping details will be made available at registration.

Our group will meet at the South end of the park (State Hwy 180 from Holbrook) at the Rainbow Forest Museum. Entrance vouchers for participants will be available at the south entrance gate, redeemable by showing confirmation of registration.

Summer Solstice Archaeoastronomical Site Visit

Instructor: Mike Campbell

The ancient inhabitants of Petrified Forest were intimately connected to the rhythms of their natural environment. The seasons impacted when they planted, harvested and other important events in their lives. Therefore, it is not surprising the Ancestral Puebloan people would create features that helped them track the passage of time. One of the most important of these would be archaeoastronomical markers marking the summer solstice.

Join us for an extraordinary cross-country, overnight trip to view this rare event. We will visit a 1000-year-old petroglyph that is featured in many books as the sun splits it in half at the precise moment of the summer solstice—an experience sure to provide the participants a deeper connection with the land and those whose lives were so dependent upon it.

Our trip will take us through the park’s seldom-visited, southernmost wilderness unit. The hike begins on the Long Logs Trail, but soon trades the beaten path for the backcountry. After hiking through an assortment of petrified logs and arid shortgrass prairie, we’ll eventually enter the maze-like badlands. Exiting the badlands, we’ll set up camp for the night in a sparsely vegetated wilderness area.

On day two, we’ll rise before the sun and embark on a pre-dawn hike to the solar marker. If the skies are clear, the shadows cast at sunrise will bisect the solar marker.

Following sunrise, we’ll return to the campsite to break camp and shuttle back to the parking area. Details of the itinerary are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Parking and camping details will be provided at registration.

Length: Two-day overnight wilderness camping
Max group size: 8

Cost:

  • $229 – Non-Member
  • $200 – Member

 

Registration Form

 

Class Notes

Participants should bring light camping gear (some camping gear may be available on loan to the extent possible), food, water, toiletries and sleeping bags. Dress in layers as the summer nights can still be a little chilly. Campfires are not permitted in the park.

Equipment list, parking and camping details will be made available at registration.

Our group will meet at the South end of the park (State Hwy 180 from Holbrook) at the Rainbow Forest Museum. Entrance vouchers for participants will be available at the south entrance gate, redeemable by showing confirmation of registration.

Extended Day Hike: Living with the Land

Instructor: Mike Campbell

For over ten thousand years, humans have inhabited the land that is today protected within Petrified Forest National Park. During that time, this area has been a crossroads of the Southwest. It’s no coincidence that prehistoric travel routes and Route 66 both traverse today’s parklands.

During this one-day field trip, you’ll learn how the land and environment influenced human history and culture at Petrified Forest National Park. The field trip consists of several sessions, including two moderately difficult hikes.

The first hike, about 2.5 miles round trip, will take us into the Painted Desert. The second hike, also about 2.5 miles round trip, will follow an abandoned roadbed that explores a dense collection of petrified logs called Jasper Forest.

Between the two hikes, we’ll stop at Puerco Pueblo, where partially excavated walls and other archaeological evidence tell the story of a village inhabited about seven hundred years ago.

Length: All day session
Morning Route: Out-and-back hike to Lithodendron Wash from Painted Desert Inn
Mid-Day Route: Puerco Pueblo
Afternoon Route: Jasper Forest Road
Max group size: 7 (solo instructor) or 9 (with co-instructor)

Cost:

  • $119 – Non-Member
  • $110 – Member

Registration Form

 

Class Notes

The hikes on this course are moderately difficult and cover some cross-country terrain. This field trip should only be undertaken only by those in good physical condition with past hiking experience.

Extended Day Hike: Living with the Land

Instructor: Mike Campbell

For over ten thousand years, humans have inhabited the land that is today protected within Petrified Forest National Park. During that time, this area has been a crossroads of the Southwest. It’s no coincidence that prehistoric travel routes and Route 66 both traverse today’s parklands.

During this one-day field trip, you’ll learn how the land and environment influenced human history and culture at Petrified Forest National Park. The field trip consists of several sessions, including two moderately difficult hikes.

The first hike, about 2.5 miles round trip, will take us into the Painted Desert. The second hike, also about 2.5 miles round trip, will follow an abandoned roadbed that explores a dense collection of petrified logs called Jasper Forest.

Between the two hikes, we’ll stop at Puerco Pueblo, where partially excavated walls and other archaeological evidence tell the story of a village inhabited about seven hundred years ago.

Length: All day session
Morning Route: Out-and-back hike to Lithodendron Wash from Painted Desert Inn
Mid-Day Route: Puerco Pueblo
Afternoon Route: Jasper Forest Road
Max group size: 7 (solo instructor) or 9 (with co-instructor)

Cost:

  • $119 – Non-Member
  • $110 – Member

Registration Form

 

Class Notes

The hikes on this course are moderately difficult and cover some cross-country terrain. This field trip should only be undertaken only by those in good physical condition with past hiking experience.

Extended Day Hike: Petrified and Present-Day Landscapes

Extended Day Hike: Petrified and Present-Day Landscapes

Instructor: Mike Campbell

There’s more to Petrified Forest than just petrified wood—although we’ll certainly see some on this challenging 6-mile (10 km) hike. There are also strange and colorful badlands, wide-open shortgrass prairies, and fossils from a wide variety of Triassic-era plant and animal species.

On this field trip, we’ll learn about the area’s fascinating natural history and see firsthand the fragile but beautiful environment protected here. Our cross-country hike begins with a trek across shortgrass prairie and then enters a bizarre but beautiful badlands.

In the badlands, we’ll get up close with petrified wood, explore fossilized beds of freshwater clams, and then loop around an unnamed mesa before hiking back through the grassland.

Length: All day session
Route: Off-trail hike to the Red Basin Clam Beds
Max group size: 5 (solo instructor) or 9 (with co-instructor)

Cost:

  • $119 – Non-Member
  • $100 – Member

 

Registration Form

 

Class Notes

This is a challenging hike and should be undertaken only by those in strong physical condition with past hiking experience.

Extended Day Hike: Red Basin Clam Beds

Instructor: Mike Campbell

There’s more to Petrified Forest than just petrified wood—although we’ll certainly see some on this challenging 6-mile (10 km) hike. There are also strange and colorful badlands, wide-open shortgrass prairies, and fossils from a wide variety of Triassic-era plant and animal species.

On this field trip, we’ll learn about the area’s fascinating natural history and see firsthand the fragile but beautiful environment protected here. Our cross-country hike begins with a trek across shortgrass prairie and then enters a bizarre but beautiful badlands.

In the badlands, we’ll get up close with petrified wood, explore fossilized beds of freshwater clams, and then loop around an unnamed mesa before hiking back through the grassland.

Length: All day session
Route: Off-trail hike to the Red Basin Clam Beds
Max group size: 5 (solo instructor) or 9 (with co-instructor)

Cost:

  • $119 – Non-Member
  • $100 – Member

 

Registration Form

 

Class Notes

This is a challenging hike and should be undertaken only by those in strong physical condition with past hiking experience.

Photo by Mike Campbell