Two National Parks · 149 miles apart
Petrified Forest or Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon drew 4,430,653 recreation visits in 2025, 14.0 times the 315,951 at Petrified Forest, so crowds are the largest difference. Grand Canyon lists 447 bird species in the NPSpecies inventory against 221 at Petrified Forest. Grand Canyon lists 3 campgrounds and Petrified Forest lists none. On the rest they match, since neither uses timed entry and both are certified dark sky parks. The two parks are 149 miles apart in a straight line.
| Petrified Forest National Park | Grand Canyon National Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Designation | National Park | National Park |
| States | Arizona | Arizona |
| Recreation visits, 2025 | 315,951 | 4,430,653 |
| Entrance fee, private vehicle | $25 (Private Vehicle) | $35 (Private Vehicle) |
| Timed entry reservation | No | No |
| Campgrounds | None listed | 3 |
| International Dark Sky Park | Yes | Yes |
| Bird species, NPSpecies | 221 | 447 |
| Hours or season | Park Road hours of operation may change due to weather or safety issues. | Open all day, every day |
Petrified Forest visits by yearGrand Canyon visits by year
Fees, hours, campgrounds and timed entry from the NPS API. Visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics system. Dark sky status from DarkSky International. Bird counts from the NPSpecies inventory. Data refreshed October 14, 2026. Other pairs.