About 35 miles south of Farmington, the Bisti Badlands are among the most surreal landscapes in the American Southwest. The wilderness covers roughly 60 square miles of eroded badlands — a maze of pale, crumbly formations in yellows, greys, and ochres, punctuated by the occasional petrified wood and dinosaur bone fragment. There are no trails and almost no facilities: you simply park at the trailhead and walk into the labyrinth.
Navigation requires care — the formations are disorienting and the landscape looks the same in every direction. Bring a GPS or take careful bearings. The best light is at dawn or dusk, when the low sun turns the formations orange and the shadows are dramatic. Summer middays are brutally hot; spring and autumn are ideal. The road in from Highway 371 is a dirt track that requires a high-clearance vehicle if wet.