Jim Gray's Petrified Wood Co. is a Holbrook institution, a family run rock shop and free museum that has been a Route 66 stop for around 60 years. Out front you cannot miss the giant petrified logs and dinosaur statues, and inside the selection is huge: petrified wood in every form from raw chunks to polished bookends, tabletops, spheres, and clocks, plus geodes, crystals, minerals, gemstones, and Route 66 souvenirs.
The back of the store doubles as a free fossil museum, home to Wild Bill, a fossilized phytosaur that locals call a 2.9 million year old alligator, along with a mammoth tusk, dinosaur tracks, a fossilized turtle, ammonites, coprolite (yes, dinosaur dung), Native American artifacts, and a vintage toy collection. Big windows let you watch the crew cut, clean, and polish the stone, so you can see the whole process, and there is a large fountain inside too.
Out back is a sprawling rock yard with piles of petrified wood, geodes, and boulders to dig through, and many visitors leave with a coupon for a free half pound of petrified wood from the wood pile. Admission is free, parking is free, the restrooms are clean, and it is easy to spend an hour or two here.
A genuinely fun, only in Holbrook stop for families, road trippers, and anyone who loves rocks and dinosaurs.
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