November 2008: will be in Vegas + Nevada+Arizona again! Lucky me!
Summer 2007 and I've been to the Southwest again. I'll add some information on cool new places we've been to (but haven't been to Bisti this time!). Fantasy canyon, Fragile Canyon, "Area 85", Toadstool valley to name a few. Brilliant discovery tour after all. Found impressive Gilsonite traces. Seen how oil shell destroys precious countryside and how the most astonishing sand erosions stand in the middle of oil-fileds. Remember plane graveyards and cool Ghost towns.
... just returned from my second trip to the american southwest and now I'm totally addicted to red rocks, to the special kind of wilderness and most of all to the bisti wilderness area. So this site will feature some impressions and travel tips as well as a more detailed chapter with "truckloads" of information around the bisti badlands in northern New Mexico. [Link to a BLM descrition of Bisti Wilderness area]
But work is still in progress. So please be patient and come back soon! We made some of the coolest photo shots and we've prepared (in 2003) a guide to the most bizarre, most unexpected and most astounishing sites all over the Bisti Wilderness (honestly!).
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this is a panoramic view close to Eagles Nest (rotates by using the mouse pointer)
- our photos (Digicam)
- our detailed 2003 bisti map: Ask for the highres version!
- other maps: USGS topographic maps are Alamo Mesa West, Bisti Trading Post and Tanner Lake
- Easiest Access: From Interstate 40, approximately 30 miles east of Gallup,
NM, take State Highway 371 north for approximately 70 miles until you're
about 46 miles north of Crown Point where a BLM sign tells you where to turn
east on a gravel road; take the gravel road about three miles to a parking
lot.
- Check out this terraserver-map! Thanks to Ollen!
- Trails.com has a map of Bisti as well (at least they claim so). If someone tried this, I'd love to hear some feedbackif it is worth the money!
If you wan't a COPY OF OUR MAP and AGREE NOT TO REDISTRIBUTE IT simply donate a few bucks by using the grey button below and a few days later you'll receive it along with some other maps of that area through e-mail. Please put in the transaction comments if you want the Bisti maps or the Slot Canyon/Fantasy Canyon maps.
If you want a set of maps for Wahweep Hoodoos, Toadstool valley, Peak-a-boo Slotcanyon and Fantasy Canyon simply donate with the blue button above and a few days later you'll receive them along with some other maps of that area through e-mail.
- Tips
- Dos and Don'ts
Sorry! There is certainly something you should do
- enjoy life
- engange for environmental health, freedom of information and for peace
- eat more vegetables and fruits
- do more sports
- drink and drive
- use drugs
- speeding
Our trips:
- 2002: Denver-Rocky Mountains-Moab-Arches-Canyonlands-Torrey-Bryce-Lake Powell-Cedar Breaks-St. George-Zion-Kayenta-Page-Cortez--Natural Bridges-Mesa Verde-Pink Coral Sand Dune-Colorado Springs-Boulder-Denver in November 2002
- 2003: Vegas-Red Rock Canyon-Death Valley-Kingman-Route66-Flagstaff/Sedona-Homolovi Ruins-Canyon de Chelly-I13-Farmington-Bisti Badlands-De Na Zin Wilderness-Chaco Culture-Angel Peak-Shiprock Peak-Valley of Gods-closed ferry-Burr Trail-Boulder-Escalante-Kodachrome Parc-Cottonwood Canyon-Skutumpah Road-Lick Wash (Slot Canyon)-Johnson Canyon-Kanab-Zion-Valley of Fire-Lake Mead-Vegas in October 2003
- 2007: "fragile Canyon" - somewhere hidden in the desert; Vegas, Barstow, Mojave Airport, Santa Barbara, "Area 49", Death Valley, Rhyolite, Valley of Fire SP, Springdale/Zion, Kanab, Toadstool Valley, Coyote Buttes, White Rocks, Old Paria (new filmset!), Glen Canyon Dam, Page, NOT Antelope Canyon Burglery, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Devils Garden, Calf Creek, Dry Fork + Peak-a-boo Slotcanyons, Capitol Reef + Hickman Bridge, Luna Mesa, Hanksville, Goblin Valley, Price, Ouray, Fantasy Canyon, Bonanza, "Area 85", Dragon, Baxter Pass, Fisher Towers, Moab, Arches, Canyonlands, Jug Rug Arch, Corona Arch, Natural Bridges, Valley of Gods, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Valle: Planes of Fame, Williams, Flagstaff, Sunset Crater, Roden Crater, Sedona, Devils Kitchen, 7 sacred pools, Jerome, Seligman, Kingman, Oatman, Chloride, Hoover Dam, Boulder, Vegas [corresponding flickr-photos]
Bevor you go:
- add these items as they are difficult to get there:
- Shower Gel
- Lonely Planet
- Climbing Shoes
- roomsaver.com - you can print out vouchers to get lower rates
- buy this in USA (cheaper):
- in Vegas you can buy cheap T-Shirts and put them in the Trash after the trip
- in Vegas' Malls you get lots of fine clothes and some electronics at much lower prices
- look for nice watches, cheap razor blades, car accessories, high end knifes
- collect cool T-Shirts from special places along your trip
- Water, Water, Water!!! Not all campsites have water
- Camping Gaz/ Coleman Gas: Most Sporting Shops have them. You can't put them on the plane
- 35mm films - most US security devices are harmful to them!!! develop them over there!
- see these websites
- American Southwest maps, photos, parks/sights described
- Paria Canyon (need to book campsite and permissions in advance!)
- use this literature and maps:
- Lonely Planet Southwest: has useful city maps
- Rough Guide Southwest: has more descriptions on sights, parcs, monuments ...
- Hiking Arizona (or Utah ...): has detailed trail descriptions and a lot of hidden sights
- APA Guides National Parks West: What to see in what National Park (State Parks not included!)
- buy a circular polarized UV filter for your camera
- I'll add an 2007-update to the 2005-Lonely Planet soon. This will be quite a lot stuff, that is missing or even worse: misleading in the recent issue of the LP Southwest.
- "Rough Guide Southwest" tells everything what's not mentioned in the L.P. (i.e. parc descriptions)
- Motels: Vouchers - you can print them or find them in several books to get lower rates
- Kingman: Oldtown Coffeehouse at Beale 618 homely atmosphere!
- Farmington: several hotels have unencrypted WiFi (WLAN) so you can surf along. Super8 (ooposite from Motel 6) has WiFi as well as a laundromat (but no jacuzzi!)
- Farmington: ZIA SPORTINGGOODS has everything including Maps (i.e. BLM TOADLENA useful for Bisti Badlands)
- Chaco Culture NM: awful 16 Mile gravel road to get to the park, need to bring in firewood if you want to have a fire, NO BACKCOUNTRY CAMPING ANY LONGER!
- Kanab: Willow Canyon Outfitters have Maps and a huge selection of useful hiking guides, climbing guides etc.
- Sedona: Cathedral Rock trail (short but with spectacular vistas), lovely downtown, need red rock pass to park your car at trailheads ($5/day; $15/week)
- Jerome: cool town with flair and funny events, nearby ghost town with lots of retired cars, many attractions to start with some dollars
- I 13 Buffalo Pass: new winding road with beautiful outlooks & some canyons
- Death Valley Racetrack: The only way to get there was a utterly shaky offroad trail through an entirely empty nothing for about 25 miles. This would have taken up to 3 hours oneway.
- Death Valley Stovepipe Wells: There is a pool with showers (2$) and shop only a few miles from the sand dunes!
- Flagstaff: The "Mogollan" is quite a relaxed micro brewery with lots of live acts - worth a visit!
- Buy the National Park Pass (50$)!
Don't miss that highlights