New Mexico’s Bisti Badlands is one of those places that most folks have never heard of but landscape photographers idolize as an ‘icon’. So why is that?
I guess we could start with the fact that the whole area was once the shore of an ancient sea which covered much of New Mexico 70 million years ago. And…so what, how does that make Bisti cool? Well, the answer lies in what happened after the dinosaurs (including the “Bisti Beast”) had their time in the sun Erosion over the millennia on Bisti’s unique geology created vast areas of absolutely bizarre and delightful rock formations unique on earth.
So why isn’t it famous and packed with tourists? Well, first of all Bisti is way off the beaten path…about an hour from the nearest hotel. Plus, this isn’t a ‘pull up and whip out the iPhone’ kinda place. Once you park you have to hike across a desert for at least 45 minutes. Yes, I said desert…which gets a bit toasty in the summer with temperatures soaring over 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius). Oh…and did I mention that there isn’t a visitor’s center, or bathrooms, or water, or food, or shade or trails, even decent cell coverage for that matter?
Maybe that’s why you’d have to be a crazy photographer to consider Bisti a “must see.” But to be honest, even though landscape photographers say they love Bisti, you won’t find many that have actually been there. I was certainly guilty…it had been on my ‘bucket list’ for ten years or more…but I had still only seen photographs of it.
But last month all the planets aligned and I finally found myself hiking out into the Bisti Badlands in the cool fall weather. So after a decade of anticipation, how did it measure up? In this blog I’ll discuss my impressions and share photos so you can see for yourself. If you are a photographer and plan to visit Bisti yourself, check out my free “Photographers’s Guide to Bisti” which is chock full of maps, tips and other info that will help make your trip as productive as possible. Down the road I’ll write a longer blog in more of a ‘how-to’ format with lots of photographer specific info.
First of all, Bisti really is in the middle of nowhere. Some days I would hike from before sunrise to after sunset and see only one or two other souls the whole time. Seriously, I saw more coyotes than people. Other than the occasional footprint, there are few signs of mankind here. If you are like me and enjoy some time alone, then you will appreciate the solitude. It is deeply peaceful place.
Bisti isn’t Disney. Once you leave the parking lot, there are no rangers, no boardwalks, no trails, no signs, no way to find your way unless you have a guide or can use GPS. Maybe that’s why they call it the Bisti Wilderness.
2020 UPDATE…A pit toilet at the main Bisti Parking lot has recently been added. Now you don’t have to drive 40 miles to find a bathroom like in the past!
Bisti is about as alien as anyplace on earth. For example, would it really surprise you to see the image below in Luke Skywalker’s photo album from his boyhood home on Tatooine?
The area is huge. The Bisti Wilderness covers over 45,000 square acres. Even though I hiked 10-20 miles per day, I covered only a small fraction of the area. You could literally spend weeks exploring here and find something new every day.
Bisti is full of surprises. I had done a lot of research before my trip but even so, I was unprepared for the sheer number of hoodoos, arches, wings and formations of every possible, misshapen and contorted shape imaginable.
I had heard that you could find shards of petrified wood at Bisti. Well, heck with that…I found whole trees:
One of my neatest ‘finds’ was the hoodoo shown below:
Yes, Bisti was alien during the day but it truly was magical at night.
Other than the mournful howling of coyotes, the loudest sound you will hear is the beating of your own heart as you gaze up at the Milky Way. The nearest towns are 30-50 miles away so light pollution is minimal and Bisti’s 6500 feet of elevation ensures that the stars are incredibly colorful, bright and crisp.
The Bisti Badlands are beautiful but barren.
By that I mean that this isn’t a place conducive to life. No grass, no trees. An occasional, desiccated scrawny bush and some insignificant lichens growing on rocks. Perhaps a few birds and you might even flush a jackrabbit if you are lucky…but don’t expect to see much else green or moving.
Bisti is the kind of place that really fires up your imagination. You see the wild shapes sculpted millions of years of persistent erosion and then your brain struggles to make sense of what you are looking at.
For example, my eyes saw this hoodoo:
But to my brain, it was a Klingon Battle Cruiser:
Then I noticed this one :
But my inner Jedi saw a Star Destroyer bearing down on me!
As I explored Bisti my mind kept drifting and I found myself daydreaming about Sci-Fi movies. That doesn’t make me unique…after all, the most famous place in the Badlands was named after a scene in the classic Sigourney Weaver Alien movie…
The ‘eggs’ are a collection of rounded boulders, each about 3′ long or so. From a distance they seem nondescript but as you get close they really do appear eerily organic. The experts will tell you that they are are remnants of limestone tubes that eroded into egg shapes, but your imagination might come up with a more frightening explanation. The Egg Hatchery can be wildly dramatic near dawn or dusk when highlighted by direct, low-angle sunlight. At night, it just takes a little low level lighting (LLL) on the eggs to create stunning images.
I found Bisti to be one of the most entrancing, memorable and emotionally stirring locations I’ve visited. It is easy to understand why Native American’s consider the area to be sacred.
Just the same, Bisti clearly isn’t for everyone, but if you want to see something totally different, don’t mind solitude and can put up with a bit of walking, it might just sing to you like it has to me.
Jeff
Reminder to you photographers out there: If this place interests you, I also have written a comprehensive Bisti guide for photographers. Just click here to check it out!
Bisti Badlands: A photographers perspective
Bisti Badlands Photography a photographer’s perspective
Related Images:
Visits: 567
Brian Chambers
19 Dec 2021Hi Jeff, great blog post! Thanks for all the info. Starting to plan a road trip to the area for next March. The link to the photographers guide doesn’t seem to be working for me. I just get a blank page. Let me know if there is some other way to get to the page and thanks again.
Jeff Stamer
20 Dec 2021Hi Brian, I’m sure you will have a great time in Bisti. Here is a link to the photographer’s guide. Let me know if you have any problems getting it to work. Jeff
sal corbo
14 Jul 2021Hello Jeff,
Again gear website and photos. I am planning a trip next week to Bisti, i wanted to know the position format you used for the GPS coordinates yo listed on your site. Would be very helpful to put into my garmin gps.
Thanks , Sal
Jeff Stamer
15 Jul 2021Hi Sal, The GPS coordinates were from AllTrails and I’m not sure what the position format is that they use (frankly, I don’t even know what a position format is). Alltrails is a very intuitive and simple system to use, but the downside is their info isn’t easily usable for folks who use other systems (like garmin). Sorry! Best of luck! Jeff
Gaby Motuloh
29 Aug 2019Hi Jeff,
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, experience, photos, tips, maps etc on Bisti Badlands. Very very useful indeed as my husband and I are planning to include this magical place in our trip in October. A question, is Bisti accessible by a passenger car and a rental one? How about Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness and Chaco Culture Historical Park? Of the 3, which one is your favourite for photography?
Kind regards,
Gaby
Jeff Stamer
29 Aug 2019Hi Gabby,
All three locations are accessible by a passenger and/or rental car. However, you will have an hour or two of hiking after parking if you visit Bisti or Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah. At Chaco, you can drive up right to most of the well known locations. Personally, Bisti is by far my favorite for photography…it’s not even close.
All three are wonderful and I hope you enjoy your visit!
Jeff
Karl Chiang
29 Aug 2019I have been twice. I agree with Jeff misty is the most photogenic and interesting. However it is also very easy to get lost and disoriented because of a large geographic area. I would recommend having downloaded maps and GPS before you go I made a mistake of taking a shortcut because of GPS and almost got stuck in the deep ravines. please don’t do that’s they are dangerous.
Jeff Stamer
30 Aug 2019Karl is absolutely correct, as I mention in my blog, you don’t want to head out into Bisti without a good GPS system that you are comfortable and experienced with!
Jennifer
1 Jun 2019If you only stay in the wash, will you miss all the great sites? I am leery about depending on a gps to not get lost in the middle of nowhere. Thank you so much for creating such a detailed website.
Jeff Stamer
2 Jun 2019Hi Jennifer, unfortunately the only good sights actually in the wash are the eggs and some petrified wood just past the eggs on the right. Near the petrified wood, there is also a couple alcoves right off the wash with some hoodoos. But other than that, there are some minor locations, like the small Bisti arch actually in the wash itself. Tell you what, if you have a smartphone, buy an app called “AllTrails”. It costs $30 but it is a lot cheaper than a GPS unit. Then try it out around where you live until you become comfortable with it. I use it at Bisti and even during night hikes, I have no problem finding my way. With just a bit of practice, you will find it easy to use.
Good luck!
Janis Ray
2 May 2019All I can say is THANK YOU!! I am coming to New Mexico for a medical conference and am trying to find out where my time will be best spent. I can’t tell you how much time you will have saved me because this is so well written. Thank you so much!!! I am coming next week and I can’t wait. Thank you again!! You should really write a book or get this published somewhere. This is absolutely amazing!!!
Jeff Stamer
5 May 2019Hi Janis, I love it when folks drop me a note to tell me that they found my blogs helpful. It is my way of ‘paying it forward’ to those who helped me when I was starting out. Thanks again,
Jeff
Maggie Tomei
17 Nov 2018Thank you for sharing your photos, your blog, and your photo tips about the Bisti. I’ve been meaning to get there myself especially since I’m just a 3 hr. drive. I’m waiting on Spring.
Jeff Stamer
18 Nov 2018You are indeed lucky to live so close to such an amazing place. Best of luck when you visit in the spring and please share with me some of your photos and learnings when you return, thanks! Jeff
Alison Williams
8 Nov 2018First off… OMG. I have read this blog three times today already. Never heard of this place… seen it online… nothing. So thank you!
It went on my travel list for America today. As a photographer myself, I’m dying inside. The beauty and the detail is unreal.
My next trip out west was going to be going back to Wyoming and then South Dakota. But…. haha.
Thank you again for this story and all the amazing photographs. It inspires me.
Jeff Stamer
8 Nov 2018Alison, Thanks so much for your letter. I put a lot of time and effort into my website and when I get a heartfelt note like yours it truly inspires me to continue. Hope you get to visit the USA soon, there are some amazing and inspiring landscapes here. If I can help with further information, just let me know. Jeff
Karl Chiang
7 Nov 2018Great pics and description! I have been twice and on my first time I got lost trying to find the cracked eggs. GPS was actually dangerous because it sent me on path over deep ravines. One needs a good map instead. DId you you camp there at night? Creepy for sure.
Jeff Stamer
8 Nov 2018Hi Karl,
Always good to hear from you! Hey, I actually stayed in a hotel in Farmington and just drove in every day. Camping would have saved a couple hours transit time per day. However, the lack of nearby bathrooms, food and water resulted in me deciding to just do the driving. I had a couple stumbles at night as well as I blindly followed my GPS…I had a bad habit of trying to walk and navigate at the same time instead of just taking the time to stop when looking at the GPS. And creepy…oh yeah, walking in the desert at night with no one within 10 miles or so is quite the interesting experience! Wonderful place though…already wishing I was back.
Karl
8 Nov 2018I stayed in Farmington also and went in summer but it is hot and thunderstorm are good but scary with lightning. The Gaia GPS in phone was good for retracing path. Almost better with a friend in case you get hurt. Ah Shi wilderness was even more remote and roads sucked.