Painted Desert (Arizona) Painted Desert (Arizona) The Painted Desert is a United States desert of badlands in the Four Corners area running from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park and southeast into Petrified Forest National Park. It is most easily accessed in the north portion of Petrified Forest National Park. The Painted Desert is known for its brilliant and varied colors, that not only include the more common red rock, but even shades of lavender. The Painted Desert was named by an expedition under Francisco Vázquez de Coronado on his 1540 quest to find the Seven Cities of Cibola, which
Desert rose (crystal) as the official rock of the US state of Oklahoma in 1968. The average size of rose rocks are anywhere from to in diameter. The largest recorded by the Oklahoma Geological Survey was across and high, weighing . Clusters of rose rocks up to tall and weighing more than have been found. Desert rose (crystal) Desert rose is the colloquial name given to rose-like formations of crystal clusters of gypsum or baryte which include abundant sand grains. The 'petals' are crystals flattened on the "c" crystallographic axis, fanning open in radiating flattened crystal clusters. The rosette crystal habit tends to