Day 8: Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Monument—you get two for the price of one. After all the spectacular things we had seen on our trip, I found these two places less inspiring for photographs. The Petrified Forest calls for hiking and it's somewhat repetitive. . . thousands of trees, fallen on their sides and turned to stone. This photo is a view of the Painted Desert, just north of the Petrified Forest.