Painted Desert Inn Painted Desert Inn Painted Desert Inn is a lodge complex in Petrified Forest National Park, in Navajo County, eastern Arizona. It is located off of Interstate 40 and historic U.S. Route 66, overlooking the Painted Desert. The inn's lodge building and adobe guest cabins−"casitas" were designed in the Pueblo Revival style, by National Park Service architect Lyle E. Bennett and others from the Park Service Branch of Plans and Design. Construction was carried out by Civilian Conservation Corps builders and artisans over 1937–1940. A portion of the main lodge building was remodeled from the 1920s inn on the site, known
Rangipo Desert factors lowering the temperature below zero for days on end. Much of the desert lies at an altitude of over , and a considerable proportion of it is over above sea level. Due to the unproductive nature of the land and the extreme winter climate, the region is largely uninhabited. The town of Waiouru, with its army camp, lies to the south and much of the southern part of the desert is used for training purposes. To the north of the desert lies the Rangipo prison farm. Many of the North Island's largest rivers have their headwaters in the area,