Map of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona by USGS, 1982 – Adamana, Holbrook & Little Colorado River

Titled “Adamana,” this US Geological Survey quadrangle presents a finely detailed view of northeastern Arizona at 1:24,000 scale, centered on the country around Petrified Forest National Park. Dated 1982 and carrying a 1983 imprint, it captures the landscape with the precision and restraint characteristic of late twentieth-century American topographic mapping. The sheet belongs to the USGS tradition of systematic national survey, in which contours, hydrography, roads, trails, and landforms were brought together to create an authoritative portrait of place. Here, the name Adamana evokes both a locality and a gateway to one of the most extraordinary fossil landscapes in North America, where desert terrain, ancient river deposits, and protected parklands meet.

The map’s chief drama lies in its rendering of Petrified Forest National Park, a landscape celebrated for fossilized trees dating to the Late Triassic period, more than 200 million years ago. The park preserves remnants of ancient forests carried by prehistoric waterways, buried in sediment, and slowly transformed into brilliantly mineralized stone. On the map, this deep time is translated into modern cartographic language: roads, washes, ridges, and elevation lines organize a terrain whose scientific significance reaches far beyond its arid surface. The surrounding Painted Desert region, with its layered badlands and exposed formations, is suggested through contour patterns and subtle color differentiation, making the sheet both a navigational instrument and a geological invitation.

Produced by the US Geological Survey, the map reflects the agency’s long-standing role in documenting the natural structure of the United States. Founded in 1879, the USGS became indispensable to explorers, engineers, scientists, land managers, and the public by creating standardized maps grounded in field survey and scientific measurement. In “Adamana,” that institutional clarity is evident in the careful placement of contour lines, drainage courses, transportation routes, and named features. The result is not decorative in the conventional sense, yet it possesses a disciplined beauty: every line exists to explain the ground. For collectors, this restrained official style offers a compelling record of how America understood, measured, and managed its landscapes in the early 1980s.

Cartographically, the sheet is especially engaging for its treatment of terrain. Contour lines trace the rise and fall of ridges, valleys, mesas, and washes, revealing the rugged character of Arizona’s high desert. Shaded relief and color help distinguish changes in elevation and geological expression, giving the viewer an immediate sense of the land’s sculpted surfaces. Roads and trails thread through and around the park, while the broader regional setting points toward Holbrook and the Little Colorado River country nearby. Rather than presenting the desert as empty space, the map shows it as a richly articulated landscape, shaped by erosion, sediment, seasonal watercourses, and the exposed memory of ancient environments.

As a historical document, “Adamana” preserves a moment in the evolving record of Petrified Forest National Park and its surroundings. Its 1980s perspective allows comparison with later changes in land use, access routes, park infrastructure, conservation boundaries, and scientific interpretation. The map captures not only natural features but also the human framework through which visitors, rangers, geologists, and surveyors encountered the terrain. In this sense, it stands at the intersection of public land management and deep geological history. The fossil forests and painted strata may belong to remote antiquity, but the cartographic language of the USGS fixes them within a precise modern coordinate system, making this map a quietly powerful portrait of place and time.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Petrified Forest National Park
• Holbrook nearby town
• Little Colorado River
• Roads and trails within the park and surrounding areas
• Contour lines indicating elevation changes
• Geological features, including layers of rock shown through coloring and contouring

Historical context & cartographic details

• Produced by the US Geological Survey as a historical 1:24,000 topographical map of northeastern Arizona
• Dated 1982 with a 1983 imprint
• Shows the landscape and natural features as recorded in the early 1980s
• Provides a useful historical reference for comparing past and present land use, topography, and natural features
• Created by the USGS, a U.S. government scientific agency known for its extensive national mapping work
• Uses contours, shaded relief, and color to show ridges, valleys, elevation changes, and rugged terrain
• Highlights the area’s geological character, including fossil-rich terrain associated with the Late Triassic period

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.