Visitors to the 41,170-acre Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness in New Mexico descend into an eerie, alien world of tawny desert, stunning rock formations, towering hoodoos and fairy chimneys, fossils and petrified wood. The otherworldly landscape offers hikers, campers, and backpackers of the Bisti Badlands one of the most unique, remote wilderness experiences in the Four Corners region.

The unusual -- and ever-changing -- scenery is a product of time and the natural elements. The area that includes the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness was once a riverine delta that lay just to the west of the shore of an ancient sea, the Western Interior Seaway, which covered much of New Mexico 70 million years ago. The water slowly receded and eventually disappeared, leaving behind a 1,400-foot-thick layer of jumbled sandstone, mudstone, shale, and coal that lay undisturbed for 50 million years. Then, 6,000 years ago, the last ice age receded, exposing fossils and eroding the rock into the fantastic hoodoos you see today, according to the University of Montana's Wilderness.net.

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The two major geological formations found in the wilderness are the Fruitland Formation and the Kirtland Shale, according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages the Willderness. The Fruitland Formation features interbedded sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. The weathering of the sandstone forms the many spires and sculpted rock found throughout the area, says BLM. The Kirtland Shale contains rock of various colors and dominates the eastern part of the wilderness.

Since Bisti/De-Na-Zin is a protected wilderness area, it is closed to motorized vehicles and mountain bikes. Parking is available at both the Bisti and De-Na-Zin access points, and visitors can enjoy recreational activities such hiking, backpacking, camping, wildlife viewing, photography, and horseback riding, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

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The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is about 30 miles (as the raven flies) south of Farmington, NM. To reach the Bisti access off NM 371, go 36 1/2 miles from the San Juan River crossing, take a left turn on NCM (non-county-maintained) Road 7297 and follow a gravel road for approximately 2 miles to the Bisti parking lot. This turn is about 46 miles north of Crownpoint, NM, just past the crest of the hill after crossing the Don Gleason Bridge over De-Na-Zin Wash.  

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