The rugged & beautiful White Mesa Trail System offers outstanding recreation close to Albuquerque. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 9/29/16.
The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is a rolling landscape of badlands in New Mexico, which offers some of the most unusual scenery found in the Southwest. Time, water and wind have etched a fantasy world of strange rock formations made of layered sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal and silt. The weathering of the sandstone forms hoodoos – carved rock in the form of pinnacles, spires, cap rocks and other unusual forms like these “cracked eggs” recently captured by photographer Matt Beckmann under a purple sunset. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 8/15/16.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico is a wonderful place to explore the world below. The unique caverns were formed over 4 million years ago by sulfuric acid dissolving limestone – creating long tunnels and amazing rock formations. Take a self guided tour of the Big Room or embrace adventure and follow a ranger into the deep, dark, tight recesses of this fascinating park. Photo by Aaron Bates. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 12/5/16.