Bisti Parking/Access

"The parking is fine plenty of space. A horse trailer had enough room to park outside of the main parking. There are restrooms there, but bring toilet paper. The road to the parking is really bumpy, paved would be nice. The Bisti Badlands walking area is good. There are no designated trails, but it gives a lot of space to spread out. You can see a good amount walking 2 miles in near the wash. Download the map, it helps."

"Beautiful and surreal at the same time. Absolutely no vegetation to speak of. No formal trails, a complete free-for-all. Bear E-NE as you leave the gate for 1.5 mi to see the most features. There is a modern vault restroom but it was not stocked when we visited. Also covered picnic tables.This is a remote destination. Bring your own water/food. Well worth the effort if you enjoy seeing something out of this world!"

"Bisti is a gem. You can easily access the parking from the nearby highway that runs through the reservation. It's a gravel road any car can access. They have bathrooms and a Ramada, as well as a large parking lot and spaces for dispersed camping. Note this is one access point, and there are other more remote spots. Still, this will take you quickly to some of the best sights like petrified logs, many famous hoodoos, and the incomparable egg hatchery. I'd say you want a minimum of 3 hours for a quick tour, longer depending on how you want to linger and explore the little side canyons that are full of beautiful formations. All year long bring lots of water, this place is dry as a bone. There is also no water access at the parking area. However, you are near a highway and a main wash that goes through the center of the wilderness, so it's very easy to find your way to the parking lot or get help in an emergency. Highly recommend a visit to this special other worldly location!"

"If you've never experienced badlands first hand then this will be an interesting place to visit. Before you go, know your limits and come prepared because you will be hiking in the open desert with NO SHADE and NO WATER. (there is a picnic shelter at the trail head and composting toilets nearby but that's it.) Also know and be aware that distances between point A and point B are further than what they seem, so that "rock over there" that looks like its a couple hundred feet away is actually further out than that. Also be mindful of the weather. The landscape, from what we were told by someone who got caught out in the rainstorm the previous day, said that it turns to really, REALLY sticky and "oily" mud when it rains. Think of the playa at Burning Man this year (2023). We saw remnants of foot prints that started looking normal and then got bigger and bigger from all the mud that apparently was caked on the hikers shoes. Walking out to the nearest formation near to the parking area was about 3/4 of a mile to a mile. We were on a somewhat limited time frame so we only managed to hike to the Egg Hatchery and Paint Palette hoodoo. There are so many other formations out there, but better planning and preparing are needed to be able to see all the things. All in all, we ended up spending about 4 hours (I was with my Aunt and she has a shorter instep than I do) and walked almost 3.5 miles out and back. Landscape is almost all flat, except for the ditches carved from the rain water and of course, the hoodoos and rock formations. There are tons of neat rocks to pick up and look at, a LOT of petrified wood everywhere and when you are out far enough and you are quiet, your ears will ring because of how quiet it is. We didn't see any wildlife while we were out there, but saw a lot of animal prints. Definitely a unique and alien landscape. Would like to visit again to explore more."

"An amazing place to visit and explore while in northern New Mexico. The BLM site for this wilderness area contains information on how to get to this location from different directions. Definitely recommend looking at Flickr and other sites to get an idea of just how amazing and wonderful it is to explore this place. Also download a map to use on a smart phone to follow a general path for walking."