Bisti Wilderness

Congress drew this wilderness in the San Juan Basin Wilderness Protection Act of October 30, 1984, and the act's own figure for the Bisti is 3,968 acres, not the panel's 3,946. The same law set aside the De-na-zin, 23,872 acres to the east, named for the Navajo word for cranes. Congress linked the two in 1996, and the BLM now counts the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness at about 45,000 acres. Bisti comes from the Navajo Bistahí, among the adobe formations. The Bisti Beast, a tyrannosaur found here in 1998, is at the state natural history museum.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Bisti Wilderness The highly scenic badlands of the Bisti were created by the erosion and weathering of interbedded shale, sandstone and coal forma- tions into unusual forms. The area is also rich in fossil flora and fauna. 3,946 acres of the Badlands were designated a Wilderness Area by Congress in 1984 to preserve their scenic and cultural value. The Wilderness is protected by federal law.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Chaco Culture National Historical Park — 28 mi
  The great houses of Chaco Canyon at the end of thirteen miles of washboard dirt, an International Dark Sky Park in the middle of one of the country's busiest gas fields.