A Little Bit of Bisti

[SteveR]

It's on the list for our upcoming desert trip. As long as the weather co-operates, we should be exploring Bisti in about 3 weeks!

 

[Glasterpiece]

TR? I'm interested in the vehicle camping areas.

 

[SteveR]

We have only been back home from the desert for two days, after 2 weeks away, so not enough time yet to process all photos, or a full TR, but I can fill you in a bit. We went to Bisti after Chaco, by going back out to Hwy 550, then north to county road 7500 (which goes past De-Na-Zin) and west to connect with Hwy 371. This was the route recommended by Chaco visitor centre staff. I had a map of San Juan county roads that I had printed off the county website which showed potentially shorter routes, but went with the surer bet using 7500 which is much better maintained apparently. It was VERY windy at Bisti- we drove a short ways north beyond the parking lot and tucked our pop-up truck camper in the lee of a small butte. Beware of broken bottles which were all over our spot! There are a couple of similar spots just off the Bisti road but also some areas that are posted "no access". I felt sorry for the tenters who had set up in the open nearby and at the parking lot, as the wind howled all night and the next day too.
There are no facilities of any kind at the trailhead. To whet your appetite- a few quick edits:

 

[Titans]

Such an incredible cool place, heard about it last year. Thanks for sharing and providing the links to more BCP post. Great info in the replies above.
We are heading to Bisti soon, November/December. Hoping to make it into Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah as well, we are looking forward to it

 

[SteveR]

My two cents for Bisti would be to leave plenty of time and plan on a full day as there is lots of exploring to do-we hiked for over six hours and with so many photo ops, could have easily stayed longer. We met two other groups that were solely focused on seeing the "eggs" and the petrified wood- they hurried out and back on a beeline, with heads buried in their GPS without seeing anything else, apparently. Their loss! As has already been mentioned- there are no real trails- close to the parking lot at the end of our hike we met a solo guy who was loaded down with photo gear, but had turned back as he was not comfortable with wandering around in the untracked terrain (although route finding seemed simple enough to us).

 

[Titans]

My two cents for Bisti would be to leave plenty of time and plan on a full day as there is lots of exploring to do-we hiked for over six hours and with so many photo ops, could have easily stayed longer. We met two other groups that were solely focused on seeing the "eggs" and the petrified wood- they hurried out and back on a beeline, with heads buried in their GPS without seeing anything else, apparently. Their loss! As has already been mentioned- there are no real trails- close to the parking lot at the end of our hike we met a solo guy who was loaded down with photo gear, but had turned back as he was not comfortable with wandering around in the untracked terrain (although route finding seemed simple enough to us).

Thanks Steve! We are very comfortable walking 'off trail' and venture off exploring everything and I'm starting to think 1 day might not be enough in Bisti and the other area close by. In Valley of Fire SP we ventured off trail and spent a full day in a 1 square mile area- just taking pictures, we couldn't stop.
I sensed Bisti might be the same and it's just what you describe today. But as mentioned by many, we have to be sure we pick some dry days and without rain the week before otherwise it's a slippery mess. In November/December 2017 we had zero rain for 6 weeks out west, but we might not be so lucky this year. Thanks again- I love your reports! Aase.