About 35 miles southeast of Farmington, Angel Peak rises nearly 7,000 feet above the surrounding Kutz Canyon badlands — a sandstone spire that dominates a landscape of eroded gullies, mesas, and strange coloured formations. The BLM manages the area as a scenic area rather than a wilderness, so there's a basic campground and a short paved road to overlooks.
The views from the rim of Kutz Canyon are excellent: layers of Paleocene-era sediments in buff, red, and purple, with the peak itself rising unexpectedly from the centre. It's less visited than the Bisti Wilderness and easier to get to. In the right light — late afternoon especially — the colour contrasts in the canyon walls are striking.