The Beautiful Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness

All of this wilderness is located in New Mexico and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area is a remote, high desert region of colorful, low relief badlands, split by many branched dry washes and containing innumerable eroded rock formations, fossils and pieces of petrified wood, including complete trunks up to 100 feet long. The unusual and ever changing scenery is a product of time and the natural elements. There are two major geological formations found in the wilderness, the Fruitland Formation and the Kirtland Shale. The Fruitland Formation makes up most of what the visitor will see while in the badlands where weathering of the sandstone forms the many spires and hoodoos (sculpted rock) found throughout the area. The Kirtland Shale contains rock of various colors and dominates the eastern part of the wilderness.

credit: Glenn Merritt