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Check Out the Top 15 “Wild Facts” about BLM Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas on This Month’s #conservationlands15 Social Media Takeover. 1. BLM’s nearly 8.8 million acres of federally designated wilderness account for about 3.5 percent of the Bureau’s total acreage in the United States. 2. BLM’s newest wilderness is the Jim McClure-Jerry Peak Wilderness in Idaho, designated on August 7, 2015. BLM’s oldest wilderness areas are the 1,807-acre Santa Lucia Wilderness in California and Oregon’s 8,604-acre Wild Rogue Wilderness, designated in 1978. 3. The BLM’s largest wilderness is the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. At nearly 315,000 acres, the wilderness is about half the size of Rhode Island. 4. Just five acres, the Rocks and Islands Wilderness off the coast of California is BLM’s smallest. 5. At 260,000 acres, Alaska’s Central Arctic Management Area is BLM’s largest wilderness study area. 6. The smallest wilderness study area is 10-acre Hack Lake WSA in Colorado. 7. BLM manages nearly two-thirds of the 5.5 million acres Congress has designated as wilderness in the past 15 years. 8. Alaska’s Central Arctic Management Area Wilderness Study Area contains the first well-documented Paleo-Indian site discovered in the North American Arctic. Excavations there have revealed stone tools and hearths dating to 7,700 – 9,700 BC. 9. The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness in New Mexico preserves a record of biotic change that occurred across the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event of 66 million years ago, including the best record of mammalian succession and post-extinction re-diversification. 10. BLM manages more desert wilderness units than any of the wilderness-managing agencies (National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service). Most of BLM’s wilderness areas are located in the Southwest; 80 percent are in Arizona, California, and Nevada. 11. Archaeological sites in New Mexico’s Peña Blanca Wilderness Study Area contain remains of the oldest cultivated corn in the U.S. 12. The highest BLM-managed land is 14,048-foot Handies Peak in the Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area in Colorado. 13. Jaguars, a species rarely seen in the U.S., have occasionally been seen in Guadalupe Canyon Wilderness Study Area in New Mexico. Located on the U.S.-Mexico border, the unit is the farthest south of the BLM’s 517 WSAs. 14. The King Range Wilderness includes approximately 25 miles of Pacific coastline—part of California’s “Lost Coast”—one of the few oceanfront wilderness areas in the Lower 48. 15. The BLM manages five wilderness study areas in Utah’s Henry Mountains, a place so remote it was the last mountain range in the Lower 48 to be mapped and named (Mt. Hillers, Little Rockies, Mt. Pennell, Bull Mountain, and Mt. Ellen-Blue Hills WSAs). Note: The #conservationlands15 Social Media Takeover is a 2015 monthly celebration of the 15th anniversary of the BLM’s National Conservation Lands.
Check Out the Top 15 “Wild Facts” about BLM Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas on This Month’s #conservationlands15 Social Media Takeover. 1. BLM’s nearly 8.8 million acres of federally designated wilderness account for about 3.5 percent of the Bureau’s total acreage in the United States. 2. BLM’s newest wilderness is the Jim McClure-Jerry Peak Wilderness in Idaho, designated on August 7, 2015. BLM’s oldest wilderness areas are the 1,807-acre Santa Lucia Wilderness in California and Oregon’s 8,604-acre Wild Rogue Wilderness, designated in 1978. 3. The BLM’s largest wilderness is the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. At nearly 315,000 acres, the wilderness is about half the size of Rhode Island. 4. Just five acres, the Rocks and Islands Wilderness off the coast of California is BLM’s smallest. 5. At 260,000 acres, Alaska’s Central Arctic Management Area is BLM’s largest wilderness study area. 6. The smallest wilderness study area is 10-acre Hack Lake WSA in Colorado. 7. BLM manages nearly two-thirds of the 5.5 million acres Congress has designated as wilderness in the past 15 years. 8. Alaska’s Central Arctic Management Area Wilderness Study Area contains the first well-documented Paleo-Indian site discovered in the North American Arctic. Excavations there have revealed stone tools and hearths dating to 7,700 – 9,700 BC. 9. The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness in New Mexico preserves a record of biotic change that occurred across the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event of 66 million years ago, including the best record of mammalian succession and post-extinction re-diversification. 10. BLM manages more desert wilderness units than any of the wilderness-managing agencies (National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service). Most of BLM’s wilderness areas are located in the Southwest; 80 percent are in Arizona, California, and Nevada. 11. Archaeological sites in New Mexico’s Peña Blanca Wilderness Study Area contain remains of the oldest cultivated corn in the U.S. 12. The highest BLM-managed land is 14,048-foot Handies Peak in the Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area in Colorado. 13. Jaguars, a species rarely seen in the U.S., have occasionally been seen in Guadalupe Canyon Wilderness Study Area in New Mexico. Located on the U.S.-Mexico border, the unit is the farthest south of the BLM’s 517 WSAs. 14. The King Range Wilderness includes approximately 25 miles of Pacific coastline—part of California’s “Lost Coast”—one of the few oceanfront wilderness areas in the Lower 48. 15. The BLM manages five wilderness study areas in Utah’s Henry Mountains, a place so remote it was the last mountain range in the Lower 48 to be mapped and named (Mt. Hillers, Little Rockies, Mt. Pennell, Bull Mountain, and Mt. Ellen-Blue Hills WSAs). Note: The #conservationlands15 Social Media Takeover is a 2015 monthly celebration of the 15th anniversary of the BLM’s National Conservation Lands.

Bisti Badlands: New Mexico's Alien Landscape

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5 min read

The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness doesn't want to be visited. No marked trails cross the 45,000 acres of badlands. No signs point to the most spectacular formations. No water flows anywhere. The terrain is a maze of eroded mudstone and sandstone, where hoodoos rise like stone mushrooms, petrified logs lie scattered across the desert, and the landscape changes so dramatically that landmarks vanish around corners. The Navajo called it 'Bisti' - place of the shale hills. Photographers call it one of the most otherworldly landscapes in North America. Unprepared hikers call search and rescue. The Bisti rewards those who come equipped to navigate its trackless wastes; it punishes everyone else.

The Geology

The Bisti formed from sediments deposited 70-75 million years ago, when the region was a coastal swamp near an inland sea. Layers of shale, mudstone, sandstone, and coal accumulated, along with the remains of dinosaurs and plants that would become fossils and petrified wood. Uplift exposed the sediments to erosion. The differential hardness of the layers created hoodoos - soft rock bases capped by harder material, eroding into mushroom shapes, balanced rocks, and forms that suggest imagination run wild. The formations continue to erode; today's landscape is a snapshot in an ongoing process.

The Navigation

There are no trails in the Bisti. Visitors enter at a parking area and simply walk into the wilderness. Navigation requires GPS, compass skills, and constant attention - the terrain repeats similar features that create false recognition, and washes run in unexpected directions. The most photographed formations (known by informal names like 'the Cracked Eggs' and 'the Wings') require local knowledge or GPS coordinates to find. Cell coverage is nonexistent. Getting lost is easy; people do it regularly. The wilderness is genuine wilderness, administered by the BLM with minimal infrastructure.

The Fossils

The Bisti is rich with fossils and petrified wood - the remains of the Cretaceous swamp preserved in the eroding sediments. Dinosaur bones have been excavated here. Petrified logs, some several feet in diameter, lie exposed on the surface. Taking fossils or petrified wood is illegal; the wilderness is protected specifically to preserve these resources. The formations themselves are fragile - touching or climbing on hoodoos accelerates erosion. The landscape asks to be photographed and left alone, viewed and not collected, documented without being diminished.

The Experience

Hiking the Bisti feels like exploration. Without trails, every route is original; without signs, every discovery feels personal. The landscape shifts from rolling badlands to dense hoodoo forests to petrified wood fields to mushroom rock galleries. Colors range from gray to purple to yellow to banded combinations. The silence is complete; human sounds feel intrusive. The experience is simultaneously peaceful and slightly anxious - the beauty is extraordinary, but the knowledge that rescue is very far away sharpens attention. This is not recreational hiking; it's wilderness travel.

Visiting Bisti/De-Na-Zin

The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is located in northwestern New Mexico, roughly 40 miles south of Farmington. Two main access points serve the area - Bisti Access and De-Na-Zin Access - connected by dirt roads that become impassable when wet. No permits required but no facilities exist; bring all water (minimum one gallon per person per day). Navigation requires GPS; download tracks for specific formations before arrival. Cell coverage is nonexistent. Never hike alone. Best light for photography occurs early morning and late afternoon; midday flattens the formations. Farmington has lodging and services. Visit spring or fall; summer temperatures can exceed 100°F with no shade available.

From the Air

Located at 36.27°N, 108.23°W in northwestern New Mexico's San Juan Basin. From altitude, the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness appears as an area of eroded badlands - gray and brown terrain dissected by countless drainages, distinct from the surrounding mesas and agricultural land. The formations are not visible from cruising altitude, but the general character of the terrain is apparent: badlands topography, minimal vegetation, no visible development. Farmington lies to the north. The Navajo Nation surrounds the wilderness on three sides. The region's energy development - oil and gas infrastructure - is visible nearby, emphasizing the wilderness area's protected status. The specific hoodoos and formations exist at ground level, invisible from above.

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