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119-566: The Flattop Site is a prehistoric location situated within the boundaries of the Petrified Forest National Park , near Adamana, Arizona . The site was inhabited by the Basketmaker II culture from approximately 1-300 AD. In 1949–1950 the site, consisting of roughly 25 pit-houses , was excavated by Fred Wendorf . Among the objects excavated were about fourteen projectile points. In 1953 Wendorf again excavated

238-577: A 10-lane (five in each direction) facility replaced the former I-40 Crosstown Bridge ; the former I-40 alignment will be replaced with an urban boulevard currently designated as Oklahoma City Boulevard. I-40 enters the west-central part of the state and runs for 285 miles (459 km) in Arkansas. The route passes through Van Buren , where it intersects the southbound I-540 / US 71 to Fort Smith . The route continues east to Alma to intersect I-49 north to Fayetteville, Arkansas . Running through

357-454: A Grama Bouteloua /Galleta Hilaria (plant) Steppe ( 53 ) potential vegetation type with a Desert Grassland ( 12 ) vegetation form and a Juniper / Pinyon pine (23) vegetation type with a Great Basin montane forest /Southwest Forest (4) vegetation form. A 2005 survey found that 447 species of flora, of which 57 species are invasive , occur in the park. Although the park is known for its fossils and eroded badlands, its main environment

476-665: A bridge foundation member near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma , causing a 580-foot (180 m) section of the I-40 bridge to plunge into the Arkansas River . Automobiles and semitrailers fell into the water, killing 14 people. On May 11, 2021, the Hernando de Soto Bridge carrying I-40 over the Mississippi River was closed when inspectors discovered a crack on a tie girder. A subsequent investigation revealed that

595-427: A gift shop, a gas station, a post office open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, a postal drop box, and public restrooms. The Rainbow Forest Museum complex 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the park's south entrance offers services including information and "Timeless Impressions" showings once every half-hour. It has a bookstore, fossil exhibits, an interactive Triassic Virtual Tour, limited food service,

714-496: A gift shop, and public restrooms. The Painted Desert Inn, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the Painted Desert Visitor Center, offers visitor information. It has a bookstore, museum exhibits (including the building itself), and public restrooms. No campgrounds or overnight lodging are available in the park, although nearby communities such as Holbrook offer motels and other accommodations. Overnight parking

833-473: A large lake basin covered much of northeastern Arizona. The older (lower) layers of the formation consist of fluvial and lacustrine (lake-related) deposits of silt, sand, and clay. The younger (upper) Bidahochi contains ash and lava from volcanoes that erupted nearby and as far away as southwestern Nevada. Although much of the Bidahochi has since eroded, a small part of it outcrops in the northern part of

952-721: A more east–west alignment upon merging with US 74 at the eastern terminus of the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway . From there, the highway passes through Asheville , Hickory , and Statesville before reaching the Piedmont Triad . Just east of the Triad City of Greensboro, North Carolina , it merges with I-85 , and the two roads split again just west of the Research Triangle area, passing through Durham and Raleigh . From

1071-443: A number of Native American trails existed within the vicinity of what is now Interstate 40. In 1857, an expedition led by Edward Fitzgerald Beale was tasked with establishing a trade route along the 35th parallel north from Fort Smith, Arkansas , to Los Angeles . This route, which became known as Beale's Wagon Road , was constructed by a team of about 100 men and 22 camels led by Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale . Completed in 1859, it

1190-620: A patina known as desert varnish . Most of the petroglyphs in Petrified Forest National Park are thought to be between 650 and 2,000 years old. From the 16th through the 18th centuries, explorers looking for routes between Spanish colonies along the Rio Grande to the southeast and other Spanish colonies on the Pacific coast to the west passed near or through the area, which they called El Desierto Pintado ,

1309-481: A plan to extend I-40 from Research Triangle Park to I-95 , a distance of 41 miles (66 km), at a cost of $ 75 million (equivalent to $ 432.36 million in 2023 ). Most of the highway would be four lanes, though six lanes were likely near Raleigh , where I-40 would extend the Beltline . Several routes were being considered, but, at the time, the most likely route would have ended north of Smithfield . When

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1428-666: A reconstruction, the expressway was renamed Salem Parkway and redesignated as part of US 421 . The " Big I " interchange in Albuquerque between I-40 and I-25 was reconstructed between 2000 and 2002 in a project that eliminated left-hand entrance ramps and added lanes. This project was given an honorable mention by the United States Department of Transportation and the FHWA for excellence in urban highway design in 2002. The Oklahoma City Crosstown Expressway

1547-481: A small fraction of the logs and most of the park's petrified animal bones have cells and other spaces that are mineral-filled but still retain much of their original organic structure. With these permineralized fossils, it is possible to study the cellular make-up of the original organisms with the aid of a microscope. Other organic matter—typically leaves, seeds, pine-cones, pollen grains, spores , small stems, and fish, insect, and animal remains—have been preserved in

1666-531: A small masonry structure built from petrified wood that is open to the public) signaling a greater degree of residential permanence. During the Late Pueblo II and Early Pueblo III periods 1050–1225 local population size grew rapidly. Similar to much of the Ancestral Pueblo world, population density increased rapidly at this time and nearly 1,000 sites dating to this period have been identified in

1785-596: A talk or walk along the Giant Logs Trail behind the museum, and a Puerco Pueblo guided walk. The park hosts special events related to Earth Science Week and National American Indian Heritage Month . On Saturdays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day at the Painted Desert Inn, artisans from the region give cultural demonstrations related to ancient peoples, intertribal relationships, and European-descent cultures. For students and teachers,

1904-496: Is allowed in the wilderness areas; water for horses is available at the service station near the Painted Desert Visitor Center. Riders and hikers are asked to travel along dry washes as much as possible to reduce the impact on fragile desert soils. Rangers offer a variety of programs about the park. Regularly scheduled events include a Painted Desert Inn tour, a Triassic program at the Rainbow Forest Museum sunroom,

2023-475: Is at the head of Tijeras Canyon east of Albuquerque at approximately 7,040 feet (2,150 m). Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are the five states where I-40 has a speed limit of 75 mph (121 km/h) instead of the 70 mph (110 km/h) limit in California, Tennessee, and North Carolina. In the west Texas panhandle area, there are several ranch roads connected directly to

2142-638: Is four lanes for the entirety of its length in the state. A sign in California showing the distance to Wilmington, North Carolina , has been stolen several times. I-40 is a main route to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon , with the exits leading into Grand Canyon National Park in Williams and Flagstaff. I-40 covers 359 miles (578 km) in Arizona. Just west of exit 190, west of Flagstaff,

2261-620: Is generally considered the first federal highway in the Southwestern United States. In the early 20th century, a number of auto trails were established by private organizations to aid motorists in traveling between major cities. Among these was the National Old Trails Road , which roughly followed the western part of present-day I-40 to Albuquerque, and the Lee Highway , which followed much of

2380-818: Is in Barstow, California . Known as the Needles Freeway, it heads east from Barstow across the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County to Needles , before it crosses the Colorado River into Arizona southwest of Kingman . I-40 covers 155 miles (249 km) in California. Some signs show the control city for I-40 westbound to be Los Angeles , where drivers would follow I-15 south from its western terminus in Barstow. The highway

2499-591: Is in Knoxville, concurrent with I-75 , which has an annual average daily traffic volume of more than 210,000 vehicles. The lowest traffic volumes are found on rural stretches in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, where the freeway carries fewer than 15,000 vehicles per day. I-40 in California crosses through the lightly populated northern part of the Inland Empire region of the state. Its western end

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2618-601: Is its highest elevation along I-40 in the US, as the road crosses just over 7,330 feet (2,230 m) at the Arizona Divide near milepost 190. I-40 also passes through the Navajo Nation , the largest Indian reservation in the US. Like California's segment, the highway is four lanes for the entirety of its length in the state. I-40 covers 374 miles (602 km) in New Mexico. As in other states it parallels or overrides

2737-646: Is known for its fossils, especially fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic Epoch , about 225 million years ago. The sediments containing the fossil logs are part of the widespread and colorful Chinle Formation , from which the Painted Desert gets its name. Beginning about 60 million years ago, the Colorado Plateau , of which the park is part, was pushed upward by tectonic forces and exposed to increased erosion. All of

2856-452: Is not allowed except in the case of backpackers with wilderness hiking permits. Sightseeing is available by private automobile, motorcycle, commercial tour, bicycle, and hiking. The park road, parking lots, and turn-outs are big enough to accommodate large recreational vehicles. Off-road vehicle travel, including by mountain bike , is not allowed. With a few exceptions such as unpaved Old Highway 66, bicycles must stay on paved roads such as

2975-652: Is now deposited at the University of California Museum of Paleontology . In 1919, a phytosaur skull was discovered near Blue Mesa in the Petrified Forest by Ynez Mexia and sent to the Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley. In 1921, Annie Alexander , founder of the museum, visited Blue Mesa to collect more of the phytosaur and other specimens; this led to further excavations by paleontologist Charles Camp . Camp

3094-507: Is semi-desert shrub steppe. Protected from development and overgrazing for many years, the park has some of the best grassland in northeastern Arizona. In the northern part of the park, the volcanic soils of the Bidahochi Formation support abundant plant life along the Painted Desert rim. In contrast to the relatively bare badlands below, the rim is covered with shrubs, small trees, grasses, and herbs. The dominant plants in

3213-450: Is still a problem. Despite a guard force of seven National Park Service rangers , fences, warning signs, and the threat of a $ 325  fine , an estimated 12 short tons (11,000  kg ) of the fossil wood is stolen from the Petrified Forest every year. Jessee Walter Fewkes , the first archeologist to visit Puerco Ruin, predicted in the late 19th century that it would yield many artifacts. Conservationist John Muir conducted

3332-416: Is the golden eagle , with a wingspan of up to 7 feet (2 m). The park is open every day except Christmas on a schedule that varies slightly with the seasons. In 2010, it and its Painted Desert Visitor Center and Rainbow Forest Museum were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. from May 9 through September 6 but opened as early as 8 a.m. and closed as late as 5 p.m. during other parts of

3451-400: Is the largest and most often seen. Plateau striped whiptails , a species consisting entirely of females, prefer grasslands and developed areas. Side-blotched lizards live in rocky areas of the park but are seldom seen. Gopher snakes , which sometimes imitate rattlesnakes when disturbed, are among the most common snakes in the park. The Prairie rattlesnake , the only venomous snake found in

3570-524: The Archaic Period , nomadic groups established seasonal camps in the Petrified Forest from which they hunted game such as rabbits, pronghorn antelope, and deer and harvested seeds from Indian ricegrass and other wild plants. By at least 1000  BCE and through the Basketmaker II period (400  BCE –500  CE )Ancestral Puebloan farmers began to grow corn. Between 200–500  CE population size grew rapidly. Many families built houses in

3689-599: The BNSF Railway , and the Puerco River bisect the park generally east–west along a similar route. Adamana , a ghost town , is about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the park along the BNSF tracks. Holbrook , about 26 miles (40 km) west of park headquarters along I-40, is the nearest city. Bisecting the park north–south is Park Road, which runs between I-40 near park headquarters on the north and U.S. Route 180 on

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3808-519: The Bureau of Land Management , and private land, much of it used for cattle ranching, adjoin the other borders. The park's elevation above sea level varies from a low of 5,340 feet (1,630 m) along the Puerco River to a high of 6,230 feet (1,900 m) at Pilot Rock; the average elevation is about 5,400 feet (1,650 m). The terrain varies from gentle hills and major petrified wood deposits in

3927-593: The Mesozoic era, about 225-207 million years ago. During this epoch, the region that is now the park was near the equator on the southwestern edge of the supercontinent Pangaea , and its climate was humid and sub-tropical. What later became northeastern Arizona was a low plain flanked by mountains to the south and southeast and a sea to the west. Streams flowing across the plain from the highlands deposited inorganic sediment and organic matter, including trees as well as other plants and animals that had entered or fallen into

4046-520: The Mississippi River on the Hernando de Soto Bridge and enters Memphis, Tennessee . The State of Tennessee has the longest segment of I-40 at 455 miles (732 km). The Interstate goes through all of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee and its three largest cities: Memphis , Nashville , and Knoxville . Jackson , Lebanon , Cookeville , Crossville , and Newport are other notable cities through which I-40 passes. Before leaving

4165-867: The National Register of Historic Places . Eight other sites within the park are also on the National Register, including the Painted Desert Inn and associated cabins, the Agate House Pueblo , the Painted Desert Petroglyphs and Ruins Archeological District, Newspaper Rock Petroglyphs Archeological District , Puerco Ruin and Petroglyphs , the Flattop Site (an archeological site), the Twin Buttes Archeological District , and

4284-599: The Ozark Mountains , I-40 serves Ozark , Clarksville , Russellville , Morrilton , and Conway . The route turns south after Conway and enters North Little Rock , which brings high volume interchanges with I-430 , I-30 / US 65 / US 67 / US 167 , and I-440 / Highway 440 (AR 440). The Interstate continues east through Lonoke , Brinkley , and West Memphis on the eastside. I-40 briefly overlaps I-55 in West Memphis before it crosses

4403-741: The Painted Desert gets its name, is up to 800 feet (240 m) thick in the park. It consists of a variety of sedimentary rocks including beds of soft, fine-grained mudstone , siltstone , and claystone —much of which is bentonite —as well as harder sandstone and conglomerate , and limestone . Exposed to wind and water, the Chinle usually erodes differentially into badlands made up of cliffs, gullies, mesas , buttes , and rounded hills. Its bentonite clay, which swells when wet and shrinks while drying, causes surface movement and cracking that discourages plant growth. Lack of plant cover makes

4522-534: The Placerias Quarry near St. Johns . Fossil invertebrates include freshwater snails and clams . The oldest fossil crayfish , Enoploclytia porteri , was also described from the park, although it is not considered a crayfish proper (instead placed in Erymidae ). New animal species that were first identified from localities within the current park boundaries, some of which remain known only from

4641-582: The U.S. Congress to create a petrified forest national park. Although this first attempt failed, in 1906 the Antiquities Act signed by President Theodore Roosevelt was used to create the Petrified Forest National Monument as the second national monument . Between 1934 and 1942, the federal Civilian Conservation Corps built road, trails, and structures in the monument, and the government acquired additional land in

4760-522: The 10-mile-per-hour (16 km/h) average wind causes frequent sandstorms and dust devils , some of which reach altitudes of several thousand feet. Rain is heaviest from July through September, when 42 percent of the park's annual average precipitation falls. August is the wettest month. At an elevation of more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m), Petrified Forest National Park has a chance of light snow from October through March, although snow cover rarely persists. The annual average relative humidity of

4879-628: The 2025. In Oklahoma City, the designation I-440 had been given to a stretch of Interstate Highway from I-240 to US 66. It was a part of Grand Boulevard that had been built in compliance with Interstate Highway standards . In 1982, as part of Oklahoma's "Diamond Jubilee", I-44's western terminus was moved from the I-35/I-44 junction to the Texas–Oklahoma state line via the Belle Isle Freeway (connecting I-440 with I-35); I-440,

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4998-533: The 28-mile (45 km) main park road and stay off trails and unpaved surfaces. The park's seven maintained hiking trails, some paved, vary in length from less than 0.5 miles (0.8 km) to nearly 3 miles (4.8 km). Pets are allowed on these trails if kept on a leash, but bicycles are not. These named trails are Painted Desert Rim, Puerco Pueblo, Blue Mesa, Crystal Forest, Giant Logs, Long Logs, and Agate House. There are also nine recently developed day-hike routes on unpaved and largely unmarked routes called "Off

5117-473: The 35th Parallel Route (also known as the Beale Camel Trail). The Painted Desert Inn was upgraded to a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The visitor center, which is near the north entrance to the park, offers visitor information and shows a 20-minute orientation movie, "Timeless Impressions", once every half-hour. It has a bookstore, exhibits, a restaurant open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.,

5236-622: The Adamana train station, book a hotel room, and take a tour of what was then called the Chalcedony Forest. Over the years, the line changed hands, becoming the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , and then the BNSF. More than 60 BNSF trains, mostly carrying freight, pass through the park every day. U.S. Route 66, a former transcontinental auto highway developed in 1926 from part of the National Old Trails Road , ran parallel to

5355-500: The Beaten Path" hikes. Hikers and backpackers may also visit the park's wilderness areas. Free permits are required for overnight stays; they are issued from the Painted Desert Visitor Center, Painted Desert Inn, and Rainbow Forest Museum. Most backpackers enter the wilderness at the north end of the park, where parking and an access trail are available at Painted Desert Inn. Group camping is limited to eight people. Horseback riding

5474-586: The Chinle and Bidahochi. Older dunes range in age from 500,000 years at higher elevations in the northern part of the park to about 10,000 years in sandy drainage areas such as Lithodendron Wash. Stabilized by grasses and other vegetation, young dunes of about 1,000 years old are found throughout the park. During the Late Triassic, downed trees accumulating in river channels in what became the park were buried periodically by sediment containing volcanic ash . Groundwater dissolved silica (silicon dioxide) from

5593-474: The Chinle especially susceptible to weathering. About 60 million years ago, tectonic movements of the Earth's crust began to uplift the Colorado Plateau , of which the Painted Desert is part. Eventually parts of the plateau rose to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level. This warping of the Earth's surface led to the gradual and continuing destruction of the plateau by erosion. An unconformity (break in

5712-666: The Hopi Mesas in Northern Arizona and at the Pueblo of Zuni in northern New Mexico, where the descendants of the ancient Petrified Forest farmers still live today. Some researchers have argued that a persistently dry climate led to out-migration, and the last residents left Puerco Pueblo in about 1380 CE. At Puerco Pueblo and many other sites within the park, petroglyphs —images, symbols, or designs—have been scratched, pecked, carved, or incised on rock surfaces, often on

5831-580: The Interstate. I-40 goes through the heart of the state, passing through many Oklahoma cities and towns, including Erick , Sayre , Elk City , Clinton , Weatherford , El Reno , Yukon , Oklahoma City , Del City , Midwest City , Shawnee , Okemah , Henryetta , Checotah , Sallisaw , and Roland . I-40 covers 331 miles (533 km) in Oklahoma. In Downtown Oklahoma City , I-40 was rerouted one mile (1.6 km) south of its former alignment and

5950-570: The Interstate. The only major city in Texas that is directly served by I-40 is Amarillo , which connects with I-27 that runs south toward Lubbock . I-40 also connects to US 287 that runs southeast to Dallas–Fort Worth and US 87 /US 287 north to Dumas and then on into Oklahoma. I-40 has only one welcome center in the state, which is located in Amarillo at the exit for Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport , serving both sides of

6069-554: The Painted Desert section. The monument became a national park in 1962. Six years after the signing of the Wilderness Act in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson , wilderness areas (where human activity is limited), were designated in the park. In 2004, President George W. Bush signed a bill authorizing the eventual expansion of the park from 93,353 acres (about 146 mi or 378 km ) to 218,533 acres (about 341 mi or 884 km ). Theft of petrified wood

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6188-459: The Painted Desert. However, the park's oldest Spanish inscriptions, left by descendants of the region's early Spanish colonists, date only to the late 19th century. After the Southwest became part of the U.S. , explorers continued to look for good east–west routes along the 35th parallel . In 1853, a crew led by U.S. Army Lieutenant Amiel Whipple surveyed along a sandy wash in

6307-488: The Petrified Forest and for the first time began to stay there year-round. During the Basketmaker III period, 500–700  CE , families occupied shallow subterranean pit structures, at first on mesas or other vantage points and later at the base of bluffs and in lowlands, where the soil was better. Settlement patterns shifted and population size grew during the Pueblo I era between 700 and 900 CE and for

6426-523: The Petrified Forest in the early 1940s identified most of the large sites with stone ruins, and subsequent surveys since 1978 have identified a total of more than 600 artifact sites, many of them small. The earliest paleontological exploration of the region that is now the park was made in 1899 by paleobotanist Lester Ward , material of which is now deposited in the Smithsonian Institution . Muir also collected some fossil material, which

6545-435: The Petrified Forest migrated to join rapidly growing communities on the Hopi Mesas to the northwest and the Pueblo of Zuni to the east–these locations are still home to thousands of descendant community members today. More than 1000 archeological sites, including petroglyphs , have been discovered in the park. These ancestral places remain important to descendant communities. In the 16th century, Spanish explorers visited

6664-592: The Pigeon River Gorge section along the Tennessee and North Carolina border. Here, the roadway was cut into the slopes of several steep mountains. Accidents on the winding road are also common especially during bad weather. On October 25, 2009, I-40 was closed at the North Carolina and Tennessee border due to a landslide at milemarker 2.6 just east of the Tennessee state line. All traffic

6783-583: The Triangle to its eastern terminus in Wilmington , it once again takes a more north–south alignment. A standard distance sign existed near the start of the westbound section of I-40 in Wilmington that indicated the distance to Barstow, California, as 2,554 miles (4,110 km). In 2009, NCDOT said it would not be replaced after frequent thefts . During the colonial and westward expansion eras,

6902-401: The US government considered a plan, part of Project Plowshare , to use atomic bombs to excavate a path for I-40 through California. The project was canceled largely due to the cost of developing the explosives and due to the unavailability of a "clean bomb". The first sections of I-40 reused freeways that had been constructed prior to the Interstate Highway System or were under construction at

7021-432: The University of Chicago (Michael Parrish), the Field Museum of Natural History (John Bolt), and Yale University (Paul Olsen). Since then, more than 300 fossil sites have been documented in the park. Research in paleontology and archeology continues at the park in the 21st century. According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential natural vegetation Types, Petrified Forest National Park encompasses two classifications;

7140-444: The area is below 50 percent and at times less than 15 percent. More than 1200 archeological sites have been found inside the boundaries of Petrified Forest National Park. Evidence suggests that the earliest inhabitants of the park arrived over 12,000 years ago. Clovis and Folsom-type spear points made from petrified wood are among the earliest artifacts of Paleoindians found in the park. Between 8,000 and 1,000  BCE ,

7259-422: The area, and by the mid-19th century a U.S. team had surveyed an east–west route through the area where the park is now located and noted the petrified wood. Later, roads and a railway followed similar routes and gave rise to tourism and, before the park was protected, to large-scale removal of fossils. Theft of petrified wood remains a problem in the 21st century. Petrified Forest National Park straddles

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7378-403: The ash and carried it into the logs, where it formed quartz crystals that gradually replaced the organic matter. Traces of iron oxide and other substances combined with the silica to create varied colors in the petrified wood. In Petrified Forest National Park, most of the logs in the park retained their original external form during petrification but lost their internal structure. However,

7497-424: The border between Apache County and Navajo County in northeastern Arizona. The park is about 30 miles (50 km) long from north to south, and its width varies from a maximum of about 12 miles (20 km) in the north to a minimum of about 1 mile (1.6 km) along a narrow corridor between the north and south, where the park widens again to about 4 to 5 miles (6 to 8 km). I-40 , former U.S. Route 66 ,

7616-434: The country, after I-90 and I-80 . From west to east, it passes through California , Arizona , New Mexico , Texas , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Tennessee , and North Carolina . Its western terminus is at I-15 in Barstow, California , while its eastern terminus is at a concurrency with U.S. Route 117 (US 117) and North Carolina Highway 132 (NC 132) in Wilmington, North Carolina . Major cities served by

7735-403: The crack had existed since at least May 2019, and reports later surfaced that the crack had likely existed since August 2016. An emergency contract to repair the beam was awarded six days after the closure, and the bridge reopened on July 31, 2021, to eastbound traffic, and to westbound traffic on August 2, 2021. The highway was badly damaged during Hurricane Helene in September 2024, with

7854-489: The eastern portion of the route. When the state governments established the United States Numbered Highway System in 1926, two of these most important highways, US 66 and US 70 were established within the present-day I-40 corridor. US 66, which followed the route from its western terminus to Oklahoma City, became arguably the most famous highway in the United States and has been recognized multiple times in popular culture. US 70, which roughly follows

7973-730: The fastest land animals in North America, are capable of 60-mile-per-hour (97 km/h) sprints. They are the second fastest land animal on Earth. The blood vessels in the huge, thin-walled ears of the jackrabbits act as heat exchangers. These hares are known for their bursts of speed, long leaps, and zigzag routes, all of which protect them from being eaten by golden eagles and other predators. The prairie dogs live in large colonies or "towns", near which many other species find food and shelter. Coyotes dine largely on rodents but also eat fruits, reptiles, insects, small mammals, birds, and carrion . Bobcats and bullsnakes hunt smaller animals, such as deer mice and white-tailed antelope squirrels in

8092-464: The first excavations of the ruin in 1905–06. Although he did not publish his findings, he urged the federal government to preserve Petrified Forest. Professional archeological work in the park began in the early 20th century when Walter Hough conducted excavations at Puerco Ruin and other sites. In the 1930s, the Civil Works Administration funded research in the park by archeologists H.P. Mera and C.B. Cosgrove. A National Park Service resurvey of

8211-454: The first sections of I-40. The stretch between Memphis and Nashville, completed on July 24, 1966, was the first major stretch of interstate highway completed in Tennessee. On June 30, 1972, the final stretch of I-40 entirely within Arkansas, located between Clarksville and Ozark was opened; the last section to open in the state was the Hernando de Soto Bridge , which opened on August 2, 1973. The last segment in California to be completed

8330-542: The first time large groups of families aggregated together and formed large villages. During this period, each household built large well-insulated subterranean residential pit structures to keep warm during the cold winter months and several adjacent above ground rooms made from stone and jacal similar to adobe—used for food storage and daily activities during the warmer months. During the early Pueblo II period (900–1050  CE ) Ancestral Pueblo farmers began constructing above-ground masonry architecture (for example Agate House,

8449-461: The highway that became I-40 was included in a plan released on August 2, 1947, by the Public Roads Administration of the now-defunct Federal Works Agency . The Interstate was officially authorized between Barstow and Greensboro by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 , which created the Interstate Highway System. The numbering was subsequently approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) on August 14, 1957, along with most of

8568-639: The historic U.S. Route 66 . East of Oklahoma City, the route generally parallels US 64 and US 70 . I-40 was established by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 , and the numbering was subsequently approved on August 14, 1957, along with most of the rest of the system. The eastern terminus was initially planned to be located at I-85 in Greensboro, but the Federal Highway Administration later approved extending

8687-415: The interstate include Flagstaff, Arizona ; Albuquerque, New Mexico ; Amarillo, Texas ; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ; Little Rock, Arkansas ; Memphis , Nashville , and Knoxville in Tennessee; and Asheville , Winston-Salem , Greensboro , Durham , Raleigh , and Wilmington in North Carolina. I-40 begins in the Mojave Desert in California, and then proceeds through the Colorado Plateau in Arizona and

8806-488: The last portion of I-40, connecting Wilmington to Raleigh, was dedicated on June 29, 1990, CBS journalist Charles Kuralt stated: Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything. In Memphis , I-40 was originally planned to pass through the city's Overton Park , a 342-acre (138 ha) public park. Following a public announcement of

8925-509: The late 19th century, settlers and private stagecoach companies followed similar east–west routes. Homesteaders who stayed in the area developed cattle ranches on the grasslands, and cattle grazed in the Petrified Forest until the mid-20th century. Also close to the 35th parallel was the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad . Its opening in the early 1880s led to the founding of towns like Holbrook and Adamana. Visitors could stop at

9044-491: The northern bypass route. The redesigned section now has additional lanes in each direction, is less congested, and has fewer accidents. In North Carolina , I-40 travels 420 miles (680 km). It enters the state as a winding mountain freeway through the Great Smoky Mountains , which frequently closes due to landslides and weather conditions. It enters the state on a mostly north–south alignment, turning to

9163-558: The northern part of the Petrified Forest. So impressed was Whipple by the petrified wood along the banks of the arroyo that he named it Lithodendron Creek (Stone Tree Creek). Geologist Jules Marcou , a member of the Whipple expedition, observed that the petrified trees were from the Triassic. A slightly later route along the parallel was a wagon road, built between 1857 and 1860, that involved experimental use of camels as transport. In

9282-527: The park as compression fossils , flattened by the weight of the sediments above until only a thin film remains in the rock. Much of the park's petrified wood is from Araucarioxylon arizonicum , an extinct conifer tree, while some found in the northern part of the park is from Woodworthia arizonica and Schilderia adamanica trees. At least nine species of fossil trees from the park have been identified; all are extinct. The park has many other kinds of fossils besides trees. The Chinle, considered to be one of

9401-524: The park at a wide variety of locations—at the mouths of washes , near seeps , and on moisture-holding sand dunes. Between 1250 and 1450 CE Ancestral Pueblo families gathered into large apartment building-like masonry structures (also known as pueblos) with several hundred people living together in close quarters These large villages were often located near important water sources. Ancestral Pueblo people constructed more than two of these large pueblos, one called Stone Axe, about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) east of

9520-560: The park include more than 100 grass species, many native to the region. Growing among the grasses are flowering species such as evening primrose , mariposa lily , and blue flax , and shrubs such as sagebrush , saltbush , and rabbitbrush . Among the wide variety of grasses are native perennial bunchgrass , blue grama , sacaton , sideoats grama , bearded sprangletop , and bush muhly . Invasive species that crowd out slower-spreading natives include annual lovegrass and brome (cheat grass). Trees and shrubs grow in riparian zones along

9639-535: The park's fossils since the early 20th century. The park's earliest human inhabitants arrived 13,000 years ago. These Clovis-era people are the ancestors of Native Americans. By about 2,500 years ago Ancestral Pueblo farmers were growing corn and living in subterranean pit houses in what would become the park. By one-thousand years ago Ancestral Pueblo farmers lived in above-ground, masonry dwellings called pueblos and gathered in large communal buildings called great kivas. By AD 1450 Ancestral Pueblo farmers in

9758-552: The park's riparian zones. Western pipistrelle bats feast on insects, and pallid bats eat beetles, centipedes , cicadas , praying mantises , scorpions , and other arthropods . On the Painted Desert rim, small animals find food and shelter among the denser foliage, and mule deer sometimes frequent the area. More than 16 kinds of lizards and snakes live in various habitats in the park and consume large quantities of insects, spiders, scorpions, other reptiles, and small mammals. The collared lizard , which occurs in every habitat,

9877-427: The park's rock layers above the Chinle, except geologically recent ones found in parts of the park, have been removed by wind and water. In addition to petrified logs, fossils found in the park have included Late Triassic ferns, cycads , ginkgoes , and many other plants as well as fauna including giant reptiles called phytosaurs , large amphibians, and early dinosaurs. Paleontologists have been unearthing and studying

9996-479: The park's washes. Willows and cottonwoods are the larger plants, joined by rushes and sedges. Here the invasive Eurasian tamarisk , also known as saltcedar, threatens native plants by crowding, using most of the available water, and increasing soil salinity by exuding salt through its leaves. Some of the larger animals roaming the grasslands include pronghorns , black-tailed jackrabbits (hares), Gunnison's prairie dogs , coyotes , bobcats and foxes. Pronghorns,

10115-516: The park, 6 other species probably do, and 18 species live in the park year-round. Thirty-five species live in the park only during the summer and 11 species only during the winter. The greatest diversity of birds occurs during fall and winter migrations. Raptors , songbirds, and ground birds are found in the park's grassland, while the Puerco River's riparian corridor is a good place for year-round residents as well as migrants such as warblers , vireos , avocets , and killdeer . Developed areas around

10234-440: The park, and the other at Puerco Pueblo, which overlooks the Puerco River near the middle of the park. There they built roughly 200 rooms around an open plaza. Some rooms had no windows or doors and could be entered by climbing a ladder and descending through a hole in the roof. At its peak, perhaps 200 people lived in this pueblo. Over time, however, Ancestral Pueblo families undertook migrations and joined rapidly growing towns on

10353-541: The park, are listed below. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Petrified Forest National Park has a cold semi-arid climate ( BSk ). According to the United States Department of Agriculture , the plant hardiness zone at the Painted Desert Visitor Center 5,764 feet (1,757 m) is 7a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of 3.1 °F (−16.1 °C). Winter winds can reach 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). Summer breezes are lighter, but

10472-493: The park, prefers grasslands and shrub areas. Seven kinds of amphibians , which drink no water but absorb it through their permeable skins, have been identified in Petrified Forest National Park. Tiger salamanders , found in grassland and near major drainages, are the only salamander species known in Arizona. Woodhouse's toads , which are seldom seen, are the largest toads in the park. They like grasslands, riparian corridors, and developed areas. Red-spotted toads , most active in

10591-416: The park. Fauna include larger animals such as pronghorns , coyotes , and bobcats ; many smaller animals, such as deer mice , snakes, lizards, and seven kinds of amphibians ; and more than 200 species of birds, some of which are permanent residents and many of which are migratory . About one third of the park is designated wilderness —50,260 acres (79 sq mi; 203 km ). The Petrified Forest

10710-590: The park—on Pilot Rock in the park's wilderness section and along the rim of the Painted Desert between Pintado and Tawa points. Exposed by erosion of the Bidahochi are volcanic landforms called maars (flat-bottomed, roughly circular volcanic craters of explosive origin). A maar vent can be seen from the Pintado Point lookout. During the Quaternary Period (2.6 million years ago up to today), deposits of windblown sand and alluvium covered much of

10829-524: The post 1937 Route 66 route through the state. Notable cities along I-40 include Gallup , Grants , Albuquerque , Santa Rosa , and Tucumcari . I-40 also travels through several Indian reservations in the western half of the state. It reaches its highest point in the state of 7,275 feet (2,217 m) at the Continental Divide (Campbell Pass) in western New Mexico between Gallup and Grants. The last place that I-40 tops 7,000 feet (2,100 m)

10948-488: The railroad tracks until it was decommissioned in 1985. The park has preserved within its boundaries a small grassy section of the road. Interstate 40 , which crosses the park, replaced the older highway. Increasing tourist and commercial interest in petrified wood during the late 19th century began to alarm residents of the region. In 1895, the Arizona Territorial Legislature asked

11067-457: The rainy season, July through September, are found in rocky areas near streams and in canyons. The Great Plains toad , the most common toad in the park, prefers grasslands. Resident spadefoot toads include the New Mexico, plains, and Couch's varieties. A survey conducted in 2006 identified 216 species of birds known to have occurred in Petrified Forest National Park since the park became a protected area in 1906. Of those, 33 species breed within

11186-494: The rangers offer educational materials and field-trip talks. In some years during the summer months, artists-in-residence work in the park. Interstate 40 Interstate 40 ( I-40 ) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway in the southeastern and southwestern portions of the United States. At a length of 2,556.61 miles (4,114.46 km), it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in

11305-502: The remainder of the Interstate, was also one of the most important highways for east−west travelers, and was considered part of the "Broadway of America" highway between California and New York . An east−west trans-continental freeway to serve the south-central United States was proposed in multiple plans throughout the 1930s and 1940s for what later became the Interstate Highway System . The general alignment for

11424-645: The richest Late Triassic fossil-plant deposits in the world, contains more than 200 fossil plant taxa . Plant groups represented in the park include lycophytes , ferns , cycads , conifers, ginkgoes , as well as unclassified forms. The park has also produced one of the most diverse assemblages of fossil vertebrates from the Late Triassic. Among the groups represented are early theropod dinosaurs, crocodile-line archosaurs, temnospondyl amphibians, lissamphibians, non-archosauromorph diapsids, and other dinosauromorphs and archosauromorphs. Dicynodonts are extremely rare despite being abundantly represented at

11543-467: The road closed in multiple locations across western North Carolina due to landslides. The worst damage was seen near North Carolina's border with Tennessee, where a large portion of the highway was washed into the Pigeon River following a mudslide, resulting in it being indefinitely closed in both directions. On November 5, it was announced that the highway could reopen as early as the beginning of

11662-517: The rock record) of about 200 million years occurs within the park, where erosion has removed all the rock layers above the Chinle except geologically recent ones. The Bidahochi Formation , laid down only 4 to 8 million years ago, rests directly atop the Chinle, and rocks laid down in the Jurassic , Cretaceous , and much of the Tertiary are absent. During the period of the Bidahochi deposition ,

11781-405: The route to its current eastern terminus in Wilmington. As a result, this was the last segment of I-40 to be completed upon its dedication in 1990. I-40 is the third-longest freeway in the United States, spanning 2,556.61 miles (4,114.46 km) across the southern half of the country. The longest stretch of the highway is in Tennessee, and the shortest is in California. The busiest stretch of I-40

11900-439: The route, eliminated several interchanges, added frontage roads, and reconstructed the congestion-prone cloverleaf interchange with I-75, which had earned the nickname "Malfunction Junction", into a three-level stack interchange. This was conducted as part of a larger $ 250 million (equivalent to $ 668 million in 2023 ) road improvement project in the Knoxville area in preparation for the 1982 World's Fair . Originally, I-40

12019-510: The routing, a group of community activists opposed to the routing founded an organization called Citizens to Preserve Overton Park in 1957, and collected 10,000 signatures in their support. After Secretary of Transportation John Volpe authorized the state to solicit bids for the construction of the interstate through the park in 1969, the organization filed a lawsuit, which culminated in the landmark Supreme Court ruling of Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe in 1971, which ruled that

12138-466: The site, revealing "Adamana brown" pottery, a plain brown pottery from the Basketmaker III culture. Petrified Forest National Park Averaging about 5,400 feet (1,600 m) in elevation, the park has a dry windy climate with temperatures that vary from summer highs of about 100 °F (38 °C) to winter lows well below freezing. More than 400 species of plants, dominated by grasses such as bunchgrass , blue grama, and sacaton , are found in

12257-560: The south to eroded badlands in the north. Most of the park's intermittent streams—including Lithodendron Wash, Dead Wash, Ninemile Wash, and Dry Wash—empty into the Puerco River. In the southern part of the park, Cottonwood Wash and Jim Camp Wash flow into the Little Colorado River . Petrified Forest National Park is known for its fossils , especially of fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic Epoch of

12376-464: The south. Historic Highway 180, an earlier alignment of the modern route, crosses the southern edge of the park. Like Route 66, it has deteriorated and is closed. Many unpaved maintenance roads, closed to the public, intersect Park Road at various points. The fee area of the park owned by NPS covers about 230 square miles (600 km ). The Navajo Nation borders the park on the north and northeast. State-owned land, federal land controlled by

12495-882: The southern tip of the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. It then traverses the Great Plains through the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma, and passes south of the Ozarks in Arkansas. The freeway crosses the Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, before terminating in the Atlantic Coastal Plain near the Atlantic Ocean . Much of the western part of I-40, from Barstow to Oklahoma City , parallels or overlays

12614-429: The state highway department had not adequately explored alternative routes for the interstate. This case is considered to have established the modern process of judicial review of infrastructural projects, and eventually resulted in the state rerouting the alignment of I-40 through the park onto a section of I-240 in 1981. Between May 1980 and March 1982, a major project was conducted on I-40 in Knoxville that widened

12733-500: The state, I-40 enters the Great Smoky Mountains toward North Carolina . The section of I-40 which runs between Memphis and Nashville is often referred to as the Music Highway . During reconstruction, a short section of I-40 through downtown Knoxville near the central Malfunction Junction was completely closed to traffic from May 1, 2008, and not reopened until June 12, 2009, with all traffic redirected via I-640 ,

12852-769: The system. In 1957, the California Department of Highways, the predecessor agency to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), proposed that the route be renumbered to I-30 instead because of the already existing US 40 in the state. This route was decommissioned in the state in 1964 as a part of a major revamping of California's overall highway numbering system. The California state government also submitted State Route 58 (SR 58) between Barstow and Bakersfield for I-40 extension potential in 1956 and 1968, but both of these requests were rejected. From 1963 to 1966,

12971-400: The tank. The leaking gas ignited in a massive fireball, and the tank was propelled 125 yards (114 m) from the crash site into a nearby duplex apartment. The incident killed six motorists and three occupants of nearby structures, and provided momentum for the eventual reconstruction of the interchange. The I-40 bridge disaster occurred on May 26, 2002, when a barge collided with

13090-559: The time of the authorization of the system. The first stretch in Tennessee reused a short freeway in Knoxville called the Magnolia Avenue Expressway, which was opened in two segments in 1952 and 1955. The first stretches in North Carolina were a short controlled-access sections of US 421 in Winston-Salem, and from Kernersville , constructed between 1955 and 1958. By 1957, most states had begun construction on

13209-417: The visitor center and museum attract western tanagers , hermit warblers , house finches , and others. Occasional shorebirds and eastern birds also visit the park. Birds commonly seen in the park include the common raven and the western meadowlark , known for its charming song. Anna's hummingbird , which can hover and fly backwards as well as forwards, is among the smallest birds in the park. The largest

13328-467: The water. Although most organic matter decays rapidly or is eaten by other organisms, some is buried so quickly that it remains intact and may become fossilized. Within the park, the sediments containing the fossil logs for which the park is named are part of the Chinle Formation . The colorful Chinle, which appears on the surface in many parts of the southwestern United States and from which

13447-585: The year. The Painted Desert Inn (a historic museum and bookstore) is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round except Christmas. Park clocks are always set to Mountain Standard Time , as Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time . The Painted Desert Visitor Center, designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra , is part of the Painted Desert Community Complex Historic District listed on

13566-594: Was a short stretch in Needles, opened on August 13, 1973. The last original planned stretch of the highway in Tennessee, located east of Knoxville, was partially opened on December 20, 1974, and fully opened on September 12, 1975. The last section of I-40 in Oklahoma, a 17-mile (27 km) stretch near Erick near the western end of the state, opened on June 2, 1975. In 1971, the North Carolina State Highway Commission approved

13685-521: Was accomplished in three phases between January 2001 and December 2016. A $ 203.7 million two-phase project dubbed "SmartFix 40" resulted in a complete closure of a short stretch of I-40 through Knoxville between May 1, 2008, and June 12, 2009. This was done in order to accelerate the construction timeline, and during this time, through traffic was required to use I-640 . Both phases of the project won an America's Transportation Award from AASHTO in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Landslides are common in

13804-423: Was constructed through downtown Winston-Salem , and it continued to follow that route until a new urban bypass route was built. After the bypass was completed around 1992, I-40 was relocated to the new freeway. The old highway was then redesignated as Interstate 40 Business (I-40 Bus.), establishing a business route that was actually an expressway for its entire length, a rarity among business routes. Following

13923-461: Was detoured via I-26 and I-81, and non-heavy-load traffic via US 25 and US 70. The roadway was reopened on April 25, 2010, with some remaining limitations on westbound traffic. On December 23, 1988, a tanker truck hauling liquefied propane overturned on a ramp in the interchange between I-40 and I-240 in the Midtown neighborhood of Memphis, rupturing a small hole in the front of

14042-521: Was relocated and replaced with a new wider alignment in two phases between May 2002 and October 2012. The old alignment was replaced with Oklahoma City Boulevard , and at-grade thoroughfare. In Memphis, the cancellation of the Overton Park stretch of I-240, along with increased traffic volumes and safety hazards, rendered both interchanges with I-240 unable to effectively handle unplanned traffic patterns, thus necessitating their reconstruction. This

14161-614: Was the most prolific collector in the early 20th century, but collections were also made by Maurice Mehl (University of Missouri), Edwin Colbert (American Museum of Natural History), and park naturalists like Myrl Walker. In the latter half of the 20th century, the park was inventoried by staff at the Museum of Northern Arizona (Richard Cifelli, Will Downs), with renewed collection made by researchers from Berkeley (Robert Long, Kevin Padian),

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