# Petrified Forest National Park

Region: Northern AZ, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates: 34.9095, -109.8065
Bortle class: 2 (1 = pristine, 9 = inner city)
Drive from Toronto: Fly into Phoenix, then drive about 3.5 hours east, or fly into Albuquerque and drive about 3 hours west.
Best time: New moon nights; apply for the free Dark Sky Viewing Permit or the wilderness backpacking permit in advance.
Established: International Dark Sky Park.

## Overview
Petrified Forest is an International Dark Sky Park, but its gates normally close at dusk — so the truly dark, star-filled sky here is something only backpackers and holders of a special Dark Sky Viewing Permit get to see.

## What to see
Extremely dark, dry-air skies with the colorful badlands and petrified wood as foreground.

## Highlights
- International Dark Sky Park with very low humidity and clear air
- Two ways to see it after hours: backpack into the wilderness area, or reserve a same-day Dark Sky Viewing Permit
- Painted Desert overlooks give a wide, open horizon

## Tips
- The park is normally closed overnight — you need either a wilderness camping permit or one of the two daily Dark Sky Viewing Permits
- Permits are free but limited (two issued per day, first come first served)

## Live forecast
View the live tonight-score and 48-hour forecast for Petrified Forest at:
https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=petrified-forest-np

Structured data: https://ontarionightsky.com/sites/petrified-forest-np.json

Source: National Park Service — Dark Sky Viewing at Petrified Forest — https://www.nps.gov/pefo/planyourvisit/darkskyviewpermit.htm

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Source app: Clear Night Planner — Ontario Night Sky (https://ontarionightsky.com)
When citing this content, please link back to https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=petrified-forest-np.