Farmington NM

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Coming out of the Albuquerque area, we have 3 nights to spend prior to our weeklong stay in Bluff Utah which is nearly 300 miles away. We select the Elks Lodge in Farmington NM about 175 miles away. They have 4 sites with with 30 amp electric and water. We have a decent drive although there isn’t much along our route. We pull in and find one other camper already there. We talk with him and find he had been camping up in Colorado but one of the wildfires had forced him to evacuate so he is waiting it out here. We head in when the lodge opens and register and pay. We got to talking with some of the local members about what we should do for the 2 full days we will have to explore the area. We hadn’t personally found a lot to do around Farmington so we hoped the locals could give us some pointers.

The first suggestion was Mesa Verde National Park about 70 miles north in southern Colorado. Been there, done that back in the fall of 2019. His next suggestion was Chaco Culture National Historic Park about 70 miles to the south. It is the site of an ancestral Puebloan village from around 1200 years ago. We knew of this place but we seem to have seen so many of these old ruins in the last month or so as we’ve wandered around northern New Mexico that we had kind of ruled it out as just being more of the same. But he gave it rave reviews and asked if we would ever be back in this part of the country to get a chance to go there in the future. Our answer was “highly unlikely”. That was enough to add Chaco to the list.

We had already picked out a a hike at a place named the Bisti Badlands in the same general direction as Chaco. But as we looked at the two of them, it would be tough to accomplish both in one trip. We hadn’t come up with any other very compelling places to visit near Farmington so we decide to spend our two days visiting these two places.

The next day we head about 40 miles due south of the lodge to the trailhead for Bisti / De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area as it is officially named. This place is about 45,000 acres under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is known for its hoodoos, fossils and other unusual rock formations. It sounded quite interesting. Kind of like a combination of Badlands National Park in South Dakota and Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. From the main road, it’s about a 3 mile drive on dirt roads to the trailhead. They were in fairly good shape when we drove there but depending on recent weather, I could see this being a really challenging drive.

Bisti Entrance Sign

Lizard Greets Us

The downside to this area is there really are no established trails so there aren’t blazed trees or rock cairns to help guide us. Once you walk through the main gate, it’s just a wide open expanse with large flat areas and some hills. We had found a good website where someone had mapped out some of the more notable features with coordinates as well as pictures to help us decide which things we want to see. He also has files to download with tracks and points of interest placed on the map. We had come prepared with the info on both our Garmins and phones to lessen the possibility of getting lost in the middle of nowhere. The website is HERE if you happen to want to attempt a similar hike. We knew we likely would not go the full distance or get to all the features listed but we would allow the ground conditions and our interest level dictate how far we hike.

Ours was the only car in the parking lot so we assumed we would have the place to ourselves. Although there are several different parking areas listed on the website. We had chosen the one that was closest to the majority of the sites listed. Just a couple hundred feet south of the parking lot is a vault toilet. We were expecting this one to be rather disgusting given its remote location but were surprised by how clean it was. The person in charge here does a great job. We gear up and head out on our route at first following the track that was listed in AllTrails. You definitely get a different feeling walking around here with all the rock formations.

A little more than a half mile into the hike, we turn to the south into a bit of a canyon. In theory there will be a way up or through the nearly 100 foot climb required. As we carefully follow the track on the Garmin, since there really aren’t signs on the ground that we are on a path, we see the wash that heads up and in. It likely wouldn’t be a path we would normally follow but it seemed to be heading the correct direction.

Heading into Canyon Area

Our Route Up and Out

The route through the wash worked out for the first few hundred feet, but then we hit a narrow section that was full of muddy water. We could see the path looked okay past the obstacle but there really wasn’t a way around it and going through the muddy water of unknown depth didn’t sound like fun.

Water Hazard

We backtracked somewhat until we found what looked like a safe route up and around. Safe is relative, since there were spots where the footing was extremely slippery from the ground being rather crumbly causing our feet to slide out from under us. We took our time and made it up to some high point where the views of the hoodoos was pretty spectacular - it definitely has a Goblin Valley feel to it.

Outstanding View from Here

We had not been able to get back onto our intended route but knew where we needed to be. The problem was that we needed to work our way back down the backside of this area into the wash below but there was no really apparent route that wasn’t very steep. We slowly negotiated the terrain and I eventually found a spot where I was able to butt slide down the last few feet to flat ground. Chris also made it down with my trying to direct her though the rocks from below.

Chris Picks Her Path Down

We hoped that this would be the worst of the challenges we would face and proceeded along the wash to some of the other rock features we were hoping to see. In hindsight, we likely should have backtracked out of the canyon and simply continued along the wash to pick up our route.

Chris Finds Small Arch

Along much of the area, the ground surface looked to be mud but it seems to be firm mud that just dried with a sheen to the surface fooling us into thinking we would sink into it. However at one point, we are following along a definite muddy wash. We needed to be on the other side of it but much of it was too wide to jump across. We finally found a section that was narrow enough and dry enough to get over without sinking into the ground.

Muddy Wash to Cross

Possibly one of the most interesting areas is called “The Hatchery” or “Cracked Eggs”. There are dozens of rocks lying on the ground that do look like eggs that have been cracked. The website we were using to guide us explains this is a great spot for sunrise or sunset photography or even night sky to capture The Milky Way with the eggs in the foreground. We will have to make do with our timing and just enjoy the unique beauty here. We pick this as a spot to have a snack as we study the eggs.

"Cracked Egg"

A Nursery Full of Eggs

The next set of features would likely be overlooked if not using some sort of guide. There is an area with many pieces of petrified wood. We have a waypoint denoting where to turn into “Petrified Cove” which will get us access to the multiple locations.

Scattered Petrified Wood

We have seen lots of places with petrified wood during our travels but the special thing here are some petrified logs that are still mostly intact. They are acting as a cap to the ground below, but it is clear that erosion of the supports will eventually cause these logs to break apart and fall the few feet to the ground below.

Petrified Log

Miniature Hoodoos

Even Longer Petrified Log

There were more things to see further to the east, but we were starting to tire of the area so we cut across the area to try to pick up the return leg of the 7 mile loop. We worked our way across mainly led by seeing unusual rock formations and checking them out.

Closeup of Window in Rock

Back on the route, we are able to proceed to some of the named features along the northern portion of the loop. Bisti Rock Garden and Elegant Hoodoo were both easily found and neat to see.

Bisti Rock Garden

Elegant Hoodoo

If we lived in the area, I could easily see coming back here many times to just explore and see what else there is to find. But we needed to get back to the car so we could eat lunch. There was one small obstacle along the way. We came upon and even wider wash with mud and water that we needed to cross. We had to walk up and down along the one side before we found places that mostly worked. We both ended up with muddy boots but we didn’t need to be pulled out of the mud. If you happen to be in the Farmington area and are looking for an adventure, we recommend Bisti Badlands. Just make sure you don’t attempt this after recent wet weather.

Larger Wash to Cross

The next day we make the drive to Chaco Culture National Historical Park. It’s a 73 mile drive but the last 16 miles into the park are on dirt roads so it’s slow going - taking about 90 minutes. Since it’s expected to be another hot day, we set the alarm to get up early and actually make it to the park entrance just after 9 AM. Surprisingly, after the lengthy dirt road into the park, the main roads inside the park are paved. We make a quick stop at the visitor center mainly to use the restroom before heading out for our planned hike and check on what, if any, ranger programs are taking place. There is a planned ranger talk and walk at 2 PM at the Pueblo Bonita further into the park. We figure we can stop by to thoroughly check out the visitor center displays and info during the hotter part of the day.

Entrance Sign at Chaco Culture

Visitor Center

Fajada Butte

The road into the canyon beyond the visitor center is an 8 mile one way loop. We want to hike a trail near Pueblo Bonita at the far end of the loop while it is still relatively cool outside. The Hungo Pavi great house is about 2 miles into the loop. Getting back here after our hike will require driving the loop a second time so we stop to check it out now. This site was occupied in the 1000 - 1250 AD timeframe. The thing that impresses me the most is the detailed stonework and how thick the wall are. I suppose this helps to explain how so much of the building is still standing after 8 centuries.

Tall Walls at Hungo Pavi

Hungo Pavi Blends in with Cliffs

The hike we are planning to do is the Pueblo Bonito Overlook Trail. It’s a 2 mile out and back hike with 170 feet of elevation gain. As the name implies, this trail is near Pueblo Bonito but has a parking area for the hike about a half mile past the lot for the pueblo since the trail actually goes up the side of a cliff to a mesa overlooking the pueblo. We decide to park at the first lot since we want to come back for the afternoon ranger talk that starts in this parking lot. Instead of walking along the road, we follow the pathway to the pueblo and then find the trail heading to Wetherill Cemetery which will get us where we need to be for the real hike. There were some interesting rock formations along the edge of the cliff along this trail. The strange honeycomb effect on one of the large rocks looked very cool.

Pueblo Bonita

Cemetery This Way

Amazing Rock Weathering

After the cemetery, this path led us to the other parking area and the start of the actual trail. The first third mile is a flat pathway leading to another ruins called Kin Kletso. There was another couple of of hikers ahead of us that we would follow for the first half of our hike.

Kin Klesto

Trail Heads Up Here

We check out the ruins before turning to the north and finding the trail that goes up the side of the cliff. It’s less of trail and more like a rock scramble. As we make progress up, we get a great view of Kin Kletso below.

Looking Down at Kin Kletso

Chris in Mountain Goat Mode

The next portion of the climb is in between rock walls. No more than a few feet wide, you’re completely shielded from how high up we are so at least it isn’t all that scary but some of the rocks we needed to climb up and over were better accomplished with long legs. Even so, Chris managed to get to the top of the mesa and see the narrow slot we came up.

Following Couple Ahead of Us

Almost up and Out

Crevice/Trail

The rest of the walk to the overlook is mostly flat. There are a couple of washes that have cut small valleys that requires the trail to go around but there isn’t anything too challenging. The trail is mainly the smooth surface of the rock that at least on a very dry day provides good traction.

Wash Has Undercut the Ledge

Looking Over Chaco Canyon

At the overlook, we stop to check out the bird’s eye view of Pueblo Bonito below. It definitely gives a great view of just how large the pueblo is and the vastness of Chaco Canyon.

Pueblo Bonita

Nice Chaco Canyon View

The trail continues on and the couple we were following had taken that route. It would end up adding another 3.5 miles to our intended hike and we really want to make sure we make it back in time for lunch before the ranger talk so we chose to just retrace our steps. We noticed a sign at some odd shapes in the rock at one point of the trails. These “shrimp burrows” are fossilized shrimp-like creatures from 70 million years ago. We made it back to the crack in the rock and slowly worked our way down to Kin Kletso.

Last Pueblo Bonita View from Above

Shrimp Burrows

It was just before noon when we made it back to the trail. We knew there were some petroglyphs about a mile further down the trail and figured we had just enough time to walk down and see them before heading back for lunch and the ranger walk. Fortunately there was a sign when we got close to them so we wouldn’t miss the location.

Continuing Along Trail

Turn Here for Petroglyphs

The side trail comes right along the cliff wall where there is a fair amount of flat sandstone that works well for petroglyph creation.

Human Forms

Animals

Dozens of Petroglyphs

There are a lot of them but they are pretty legible. There is also historical writing from what appears to have been a US government survey team made in 1911. After the petroglyph loop comes back to the main trail, we head to the car way back at Pueblo Bonita parking lot. Our morning excursion covered 6.25 miles and 450 feet of elevation gain.

Lizard Watches Us

1911 Graffiti

We found a picnic table with a small shade shelter to have our lunch while we wait for the ranger walk. It seems like this type of walk to tour Pueblo Bonita would be better done in the morning given the temperatures in Chaco Canyon, but still a fair number of people braved the sun and heat to learn something about the past inhabitants.

Pueblo Bonita

Doors and Windows Between Rooms

Ranger Leads the Group

We tour the area and learn a great deal about what experts believe were how the ancients lived in such a harsh environment. Also the scope of the buildings and how there are certain aspects of its construction that line up to cardinal directions or solar and lunar paths to allow sunlight to pass through various windows to reach interior rooms. These people had a fairly advanced understanding of the sun, moon and stars.

Large Kiva

After the lesson from the ranger, we were let go to explore the inner rooms on our own. I think our group was too large for the ranger to try to lead us through the small interior openings between rooms. As we explored, we almost got lost before we could find the way back out. It was a very fascinating place.

A Different Kiva

Inside Pueblo Bonita

As we start to drive back the other half of the one way loop, we saw dark clouds and a couple bolts of lightning in the distance. We knew that the dirt road in would not be fun in a monsoon storm. There had been one spot along it where the road actually crosses over a wash and there was a fair amount of water rushing over it when we had come in. If there happened to be a big storm upstream, I could see people getting stuck in the canyon until the water subsided. We decide to take just a few minutes to check out the displays inside of the visitor center before heading out.

Inside Visitor Center

Small Scale Pueblo Model

As we started the long drive back to Farmington, the skies looked ominous but we safely made it out. I stopped as we crossed wash to get a picture of the water over the road. It hadn’t changed dramatically from the level on our way in this morning. It wasn’t until we were nearly back to the Elks Lodge that we hit a brief but powerful rainstorm even with some small hail included.

Water Flows Over Road to/from Chaco Canyon

With the end of our stay in Farmington, we have spent the last 46 nights in the state of New Mexico. We definitely had a fun time at all of our stops but the mountains in northeastern NM near Taos were likely our favorite spot. From here we head a little over 100 miles to the small town of Bluff Utah in the southeastern portion of the state for a week of fun.