Southern Utah is packed with iconic stops that make it onto every road trip list: Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and the endless slickrock stretches of Grand Staircase. But sitting quietly above the town of Escalante, tucked on a mesa above a desert reservoir, is a park that carries a story even older than dinosaurs. Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is not loud, not crowded, and not widely marketed. Yet, for those who pause and walk its short trails, it offers one of the richest concentrations of petrified wood in the entire West. We prepared a practical, detailed guide to the…