According to the Northwest Digital Archives, photographer Myron Symons typed the following description of the garden during the 1940s within a photo album that is now part of University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections:
Miniature castles, picturesque fountains and beautiful terraces within the grounds pictured here, on the Rasmus Peterson  [sic] place between Bend and Redmond, Oregon, tell their own stories, but unless the visitor inspects the grounds carefully, and with a questing heart, he will fail to read the strange stories told by the ancient stones used in the construction. ...
Look twice at that bit of petrified wood, for it is a remnant of a great redwood forest that once flourished in Central Oregon. ...
Examine that banded rock carefully: It is a bit of a thunderegg hatched in the lavas of old Oregon. ...
Feel the cool surface of those glass-like rocks: They are volcanic glasses melted in plutonic fires. ...
Trace the growth rings on that bit of petrified sequoia: They tell a story of weather born of oceans that swept over beaches now elevated into Oregon mountains.
Enjoy the blooms of these rock gardens, but do not overlook the stories of the rocks.

Petersen Rock Garden has attracted visitors from around the world.
In 2009, The Oregonian's Terry Richard wrote that Petersen's work is "more than a half-century old, but it's still amazing".
The Historic Preservation League of Oregon considers the garden a "real gem" for its local significance and its "unique expression of mid-century roadside architecture".
Moon Publications described it as a "full-fledged rock fantasy" and a "rock garden to end all rock gardens", with a "funky" museum.
Via, the online magazine for the American Automobile Association's West Coast club, called the garden "folksy" and Petersen "imaginative" for his work.


The garden has inspired at least one other Oregon resident to construct rock sculptures.
Following his visit to Petersen Rock Garden in the early 1980s, Ira McKissen built nearly a dozen castles on the terraces of his Rowena home; some of them have since been relocated to his daughter's house, located 5 miles (8.0 km) west of The Dalles along the Historic Columbia River Highway (U.S. Route 30).
In 2013, Pennan Brae released a music video for the song "Don't Know Nothing 'Bout Love", which was filmed at Petersen Rock Garden.
According to the Northwest Digital Archives, photographer Myron Symons typed the following description of the garden during the 1940s within a photo album that is now part of University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections:
Miniature castles, picturesque fountains and beautiful terraces within the grounds pictured here, on the Rasmus Peterson  [sic] place between Bend and Redmond, Oregon, tell their own stories, but unless the visitor inspects the grounds carefully, and with a questing heart, he will fail to read the strange stories told by the ancient stones used in the construction. ... Look twice at that bit of petrified wood, for it is a remnant of a great redwood forest that once flourished in Central Oregon. ... Examine that banded rock carefully: It is a bit of a thunderegg hatched in the lavas of old Oregon. ... Feel the cool surface of those glass-like rocks: They are volcanic glasses melted in plutonic fires. ... Trace the growth rings on that bit of petrified sequoia: They tell a story of weather born of oceans that swept over beaches now elevated into Oregon mountains. Enjoy the blooms of these rock gardens, but do not overlook the stories of the rocks.
Petersen Rock Garden has attracted visitors from around the world. In 2009, The Oregonian's Terry Richard wrote that Petersen's work is "more than a half-century old, but it's still amazing". The Historic Preservation League of Oregon considers the garden a "real gem" for its local significance and its "unique expression of mid-century roadside architecture". Moon Publications described it as a "full-fledged rock fantasy" and a "rock garden to end all rock gardens", with a "funky" museum. Via, the online magazine for the American Automobile Association's West Coast club, called the garden "folksy" and Petersen "imaginative" for his work.

The garden has inspired at least one other Oregon resident to construct rock sculptures. Following his visit to Petersen Rock Garden in the early 1980s, Ira McKissen built nearly a dozen castles on the terraces of his Rowena home; some of them have since been relocated to his daughter's house, located 5 miles (8.0 km) west of The Dalles along the Historic Columbia River Highway (U.S. Route 30). In 2013, Pennan Brae released a music video for the song "Don't Know Nothing 'Bout Love", which was filmed at Petersen Rock Garden.
Petersen Rock Garden