Prices checked September 25, 2026

How Much Is Petrified Wood Worth?

Petrified Wood value: about $6–$12 per pound rough; $50–$1,000 for most polished pieces; logs and tables far more

Most rough petrified wood sells for about $6–$12 a pound at retail, and tumbled pieces for about $20–$40 a pound. Polishing adds most of the value: end cuts run about $50–$140, polished slabs and rounds $60–$1,000, and polished logs and table tops about $800 to $22,000. Color, clear wood grain, size, a lack of cracks and a legal origin set the price. These are dealer asking prices; a private seller usually gets far less.

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Petrified Wood Prices by Type (2026)

Retail asking prices from US rock shops and dealers, September 2026.

Type	Details	Typical price
Rough, by the pound	Arizona pieces of 3–12 lb from private-land digs (median $7.65/lb); tumbling rough	Typical price: $6–$12 per pound
Tumbled	Small tumbled stones by the pound; extra-large pieces cost more	Typical price: $20–$40 per pound
End cuts and paperweights	Arizona pieces with one polished face	Typical price: $49–$139
Madagascar and Indonesian rounds	Polished rounds about 8–14 in across	Typical price: $59–$275
Arizona polished slabs and rounds	Rainbow wood from private land; bigger, brighter, crack-free pieces cost most	Typical price: $85–$1,000
Bookends and spheres	Pairs of bookends; spheres about 2–5.5 in	Typical price: $159–$578 a pair; spheres $75–$595
Opalized and rare woods	Hampton Butte green, Saddle Mountain opal wood and Prineville herringbone rough; McDermitt limbs	Typical price: $10–$75/lb rough; top limbs $1,200–$2,740
Logs, table tops and stools	Rough Arizona logs $400–$2,200; polished logs and table tops (medians about $1,800–$1,950); Indonesian stools $1,250–$2,200	Typical price: $400–$22,000

Private sellers usually get far less than dealer prices. At 2024 Minnesota lapidary auctions, a 14-lb lot of rough South Dakota petrified wood sold for $7, and eight small polished Madagascar logs weighing 3.9 lb together sold for $45.

What Makes a Petrified Wood Worth More

The factors buyers and dealers actually price on.

Color

Bright reds, yellows and purples cost the most. The colors come from impurities such as iron, carbon and manganese in the quartz.

Wood detail

Clear growth rings, bark and cell structure raise value. Fully preserved limbs with bark and rings, like McDermitt limbs, list at $1,200–$2,740.

Cracks and voids

Fractures lower the price, and dealers mark down cracked pieces or fill cracks with glue. Much Arizona wood has pores and voids that make it poor tumbling rough.

Cutting and polishing

Polishing adds most of the value: a 4.7-lb polished Arizona slab lists at $275, about $58 a pound, against about $6–$12 a pound for rough.

Size

Bigger pieces cost more in total but less per pound. At one Arizona dealer, 3-lb rough pieces list near $11 a pound and 12-lb pieces near $6.

Locality and type

Rare types carry premiums: Oregon's green Hampton Butte wood lists at about $15–$42 a pound rough and Prineville herringbone at about $74, against $6–$12 for common rough.

Legal origin

Arizona wood sold in shops must come from private land outside the national park, and wood collected on BLM land can't be sold without a permit. Buyers pay for a clean origin.

Is It Petrified Wood? Quick Checks

Petrified wood is a fossil: the wood has been replaced by quartz, chalcedony or opal. These checks separate it from ordinary rock and from wood that is just old.

1
Wood structure
Look with a hand lens for growth rings, bark and cell texture. Petrified wood often keeps these details; jasper and chert don't have them.
2
Stone, not wood
Arizona petrified wood is almost solid quartz, so it has the weight and hardness of stone. Old wood, driftwood and bark are light and soft.
3
Scratch test
Agatized wood is about Mohs 6.5–7 and scratches glass. Opalized wood is softer, about 5.5–6.
4
Glassy breaks
Quartz-rich wood breaks cleanly, like glass. That's why the logs in Petrified Forest look as if they were cut with a chainsaw.
5
Natural colors
Reds, yellows, browns and blacks come from iron, carbon and manganese. Check cracks and the back for glue or resin, which some dealers use to stabilize pieces.
6
Pores and voids
Porous pieces with open voids take a poor polish and are worth less as tumbling or cutting rough.

Common look-alikes

Jasper and chert

Opaque chalcedony with no rings, rays or bark. Much petrified wood is itself jasper-like chalcedony, so the wood structure is what counts.

Opalized wood

Wood replaced by opal instead of chalcedony. It is real petrified wood but softer, about Mohs 5.5–6 against 6.5–7 for agatized wood.

Trade names

'Bone wood' from Indonesia is petrified palm, not bone. 'Gary Green jasper', also sold as 'Larsonite', is petrified bog wood.

Glued or resin-backed pieces

Real wood with filled cracks or a resin-coated back for strength. Fine if disclosed, so ask before you buy.

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Collecting Rules to Know

Taking petrified wood from Petrified Forest National Park is illegal, with a minimum fine of $325. Some visitors mail stolen pieces back with apology letters, but the wood can't be put back, so it ends up on a 'conscience pile'.
On BLM land you may collect 25 pounds plus one piece a day, up to 250 pounds a year, for personal use only. You can't pool limits, use power equipment, or sell or barter it to dealers. Pieces over 250 pounds need a permit, issued only for display in a museum or similar institution.
In national forests you need a free-use permit unless you're in a posted free-use area, and the wood can't be sold or bartered.
Arizona State Trust land is not public land, and rockhounding isn't allowed there. On private land, get the owner's permission.

How to Sell a Petrified Wood

Rock shops and dealers buy well below retail. At 2024 lapidary auctions, lots of rough petrified wood brought $7–$13.
A polished face or slab sells much more easily than a rough chunk, because cutting and polishing add most of the value.
Keep proof of origin. Buyers of Arizona wood expect it to come from private land, and wood collected on BLM land can't be sold without a permit.
Give the weight, size and locality, and disclose glue, resin backing or other stabilization.
In the Ruby Glint app you can list petrified wood in the marketplace and chat directly with buyers.

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Petrified Wood Value Questions

Get answers to common questions about rock identification, rockhounding, and using our platform.

Rough petrified wood sells for about $6–$12 a pound at retail and tumbled pieces for about $20–$40 a pound. Polished slabs and rounds mostly cost $60–$1,000, and polished logs and table tops about $800 to $22,000. Private sellers get far less.

One Arizona dealer lists rough logs at $400–$2,200 and polished logs at $790–$12,000, with a median of $1,950. Indonesian petrified wood stools list at $1,250–$2,200 at a furniture dealer.

Look for growth rings, bark and cell texture under a hand lens. It should have the weight and hardness of stone: agatized wood scratches glass. Jasper and chert have no wood structure.

No. Removing it is illegal, with a minimum fine of $325. The wood in rock shops comes from private land outside the park, whose owners have the right to collect and sell it.

Up to 25 pounds plus one piece a day and 250 pounds a year, for personal use only. You can't pool limits with others or sell or barter the wood to commercial dealers.

Yes, when it comes from private land, which is where shop wood comes from. Wood removed from the national park was taken illegally, and wood collected on BLM land for personal use can't be sold without a permit.

Yes. Rough Arizona wood lists at about $6–$12 a pound, while a 4.7-lb polished slab lists at $275, about $58 a pound. Resale prices are lower for both.

Sources

Price ranges come from published dealer prices, auction results and the sources below, checked September 25, 2026. Prices move, so treat them as a guide.