Bisti Badlands

The Bisti Badlands is an amazingly scenic and colorful expanse of undulating mounds and unusual eroded rocks covering 4,000 acres, hidden away in the high desert that covers the distant northwest corner of New Mexico. The Badlands are administered by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), and are known officially, but less evocatively as the Bisti Wilderness Area. There are no signposts pointing the way to the Badlands from any nearby towns, but the usual approach route is along NM 371 from Farmington, the largest town in the Four Corners region - this heads due south through wide open prairie land at the east edge of the great Navajo Indian Reservation, which extends for 200 miles across into Arizona.

Five miles along the entrance track, the grassy plain is replaced quite abruptly by a multi-colored eroded landscape of small clayish hills, shallow ravines, and strange rock formations. The scene is a vivid mixture of red, grey, orange and brown that stretches for many miles. The track passes a large area suitable for parking, then crosses a dry sandy wash and continues alongside the badlands for ca 3 miles before rejoining NM 371. However, the road was fenced off shortly after the wash when I visited, a barrier which looked quite permanent. The far end of the track is actually the official entrance to the badlands, not that there is much difference in scenery or facilities. Several similar un-signposted tracks cross the sandy hills at the south edge of the formations, around a seasonal drainage known as the De-na-zin Wash. A ten mile drive along one such bumpy track leads to the much larger De-na-zin wilderness - equally colorful and even more remote, although partially covered with vegetation.

The Bisti Badlands photo gallery

My Own Bisti Badlands Travels

Took off and drove all night to the north west corner of New Mexico Thurdsay night after work.
Took 16 hours to get there. Arrived there around 11:30 am. Since I refuse to shoot during the bad part of the day,
I slept in the car and waited there until 5 pm. Then finally sunset was approaching so a hiking I went.

This was my second time there. I had to go back since I didn't get very many good shots my first trip out nearly 3 years ago. Stayed there shooting til the sun went away, then drove all the way back to Dallas. I didn't wake back up til noon today. Pretty beat right now still. Its getting harder for me to do these marathon type trips with very little sleep. All this effort just to shoot at sunset.