Bisti Badlands Wilderness Area, New Mexico

During the late Cretaceous Period approximately 65-80 million years ago, as the Dinosaurs’ reign was about to end, this region of northern New Mexico, now known as the the Bisti Badlands Wilderness, teemed with myriad forms of plant and animal life. As an inland sea retreated to the northeast, a vast coastal swamp covered this region and supported large varieties of fish, reptiles, birds, turtles, mammals and large dinosaurs. Today, their fossilized remains can be found throughout this 45,000 acre wilderness area of brightly-colored shale, mudstones, sandstones, coal, and silt.