Where is the Painted Desert?

Question

When I flew to Sacramento by way of Chicago, I saw a design on the ground (probably near Reno, NV). The pilot mentioned all the points of interest except that one. This was in the mid 1980's. No telling if it's still there or not. I haven't been that way since. I thought maybe it was the Painted Desert.

Answer 1

It would not have been the painted desert you saw. As others have answered, the painted desert is in arizona and its not likely you flew over it on the route you took.

There is not a design to the painted desert, it is not really painted at all, its just that the colours early in the morning or late in the evening look so un-natural you would think they have been painted on. See the picture on the link

Answer 2

Painted desert is in Arizona.
A 27 mile road runs through the Park, from I-40 exit 311 to US 180; the closest town is Holbrook, 25 miles to the west. The visitor center is at the north end and there is a small museum at the south entrance.

Answer 3

Painted Desert The Painted Desert covers an area of 93533 acres that stretches ... As the Painted Desert erodes from mineralized water flows and mineral ...
www.arizona-leisure.com/painted-desert.html - 18k - Cached - Similar pages


Petrified Forest National Park

Answer 4

Arizona

Answer 5

Arizona

Answer 6

The Painted Desert is a cross-section of colored, badland hills stretching across most of Northern Arizona. The Painted Desert stretches along the Little Colorado River. One of the largest settlements in the desert is Tuba City, a town in the western part of the Navajo Nation. Its western end is near the Grand Canyon and its eastern end includes Petrified Forest National Park.

The Painted Desert is famously known for its bright red rocks that are especially beautiful when it turns into shades of violet, blue, and red at sunset or sunrise. Many hardened sand dunes are found in the desert, most notably along a stretch of highway on U.S. Route 160 near Cameron. The hardened sand dunes are "painted" with bands of gray and bright red and are shaped by natural wind patterns. Also, many mesas and buttes sharply rise from the desert. The desert is also home to a variety of desert flora and fauna.

The Painted Desert has been home to the Navajo and Hopi for at least one thousand years. The desert got its name from the Spaniards, who named it "el Desierto Pintura" because of its brightly colored landforms. Today, the Painted Desert, most of which is located within Navajo country, is currently used for coal and petroleum mining operations. Another interesting use of the desert is its red clay, which the Navajos use to produce handmade pottery to sell at roadside stands and souvenir shops.

Today, most of the Painted Desert is located within the Navajo Nation (Navajo Indian Reservation). The towns of Cameron and Tuba City, both in the reservation, are major settlements in the Painted Desert. One interesting side note about Tuba City and Cameron is that parking lots and yards are often covered by bright red dust that is blown from the surrounding desert.

Stretching across 93,533 acres, from the Grand Canyon to the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert in Arizona is a desert comprising of minerals and decayed organic matter. The remains of perhaps an ancient coniferous forest have, over millions of years since the Triassic Era, become fossilized, and create an astoundingly scenic image. Wind, water and the elements of nature continue to erode and change the face of this region, by shifting sediments and exposing fossilized and mineralized layers of organic matter. Many fossilized prehistoric plants and animals are found in the desert. Dinosaur tracks are also found in the Painted Desert.

Answer 7

It is in Petrified Forest National Park, in Arizona.

If you look at a map, it is right off of I-40, on the eastern side of the state. Far from Reno though, so probably wasn't it.

Answer 8

The Painted Desert is in Arizona and you will love it if you ever go there. It is beautiful.

Answer 9

The painted desert is in Arizona...

Answer 10

arizona