After four years of living in New Mexico, we finally corrected an oversight: we packed our gear and made a pilgrimage to the Bisti Wilderness Area. Located in the northwest corner of New Mexico, the “Bisti Badlands” is an otherworldly landscape of exposed ancient sea beds and petrified forests. As part of the upper reaches of the San Juan watershed, water has sculpted the land into a vast landscape of inconceivably contoured canyons. However, unlike many of the extreme landscapes of the West, Bisti’s human-scale adornments provide a feeling of intimacy within the vastness. Hoodoos, spires and boulders lure you further and further into the maze. Around each bend is a new city of characters to explore.
During our first trip to Bisti, we packed in gear for an overnight stay and hiked a seven mile loop. We explored the lowlands, and the high, spotted lizards and birds of prey, marvelled at 40 foot petrified logs suspended by the most tenous sandstone supports, but barely even scratched the surface of what the area has to offer. I’m sure we will return, again and again.