Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area Trails • Hike • New Mexico • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

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Jul 03 2025

DixieFlyer

Guides 99
Routes 1,484
Photos 16,072
Triplogs 1,374

male

Joined Jan 07 2017
Fountain Hills,

Bisti and Ah-Shi, NM

Hiking		Jul 03 2025
		DixieFlyer • Triplogs 1,374

Hiking	1.60 Miles	137 AEG

Hiking	1.60 Miles	45 Mns	2.23 mph
	137 ft AEG	2 Mns Break

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Bisti / De-Na-Zin Wilderness

Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area Trails

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Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

I saw Adam leave the garden with an apple in his hand
I said "Now you're out, what are you gonna do?"
"Plant some crops and pray for rain, maybe raise a little Cain
I'm an orphan now, and I'm only passin' through, so are you"

I was passin' through northwest New Mexico and decided to stop off and visit a couple of wilderness high points:
1) Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness
2) Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness

Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness
(0.18 miles with 12 feet of AEG)
To get to this one I turned off of Highway 550 onto road 7500/7023, which is a wide, well-graded gravel road that you can drive 45-50 mph on. I drove a few miles and then turned on a lesser road, #7530. You'd need at least mid clearance for this road, and it crossed a sandy wash in one place. I parked at a spot where a pipeline crossed the road. The high point was a very short distance away, just west of where I parked. I located a cadastral survey marker just outside a corner fence post, which was at the wilderness boundary. I crossed through a gap in the fence and located the high point, which is on a mound just inside the corner fence post, within a 6,800'-6,820' closed contour.

Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness
(1.42 miles with 125 feet of AEG)
To get to this one I turned off of highway 550 onto road 56, which was paved but is in terrible shape. This road had potholes galore, and was bad even by New Mexico standards. Eventually the road turned to dirt, which was much better to drive on than the paved portion. I parked alongside the road and hiked cross country to the high point, which is at the wilderness boundary within a 6,560'-6.580' closed contour. This was an easy hike -- it was a bit dusty but there is virtually no vegetation. Along the way I picked up an old road which made the hike even easier. From the high point I could see some of the geology that this wilderness is known for.

I wouldn't mind going back out to these 2 wilderness areas sometime and explore some of the interesting features in the areas.

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Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

Oct 22 2023

markthurman53

Guides 187
Routes 989
Photos 12,068
Triplogs 864

72 male

Joined Jun 27 2015
Tucson, Arizona

Ah Shi Sle Pah, NM

Hiking		Oct 22 2023
		markthurman53 • Triplogs 864

Hiking	4.50 Miles	216 AEG

Hiking	4.50 Miles	2 Hrs 39 Mns		1.74 mph
	216 ft AEG	4 Mns Break	20 LBS Pack

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Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area Trails

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mamakatt22

On our second day in Farmington we headed down to Ah Shi Sle Pah Study area. This area starts out at a marked trail head that leads to the badlands but like Bisti you kind of pick your own route. Our route went down a wash to the flat land below and followed along the south side of the wash checking out anything of interest. Our return route took us higher up on the hill south of the wash. Up on the hill near what we called the dragon there were some petrified tree stumps. A little harder to walk higher up because of the ravines that had to be skirted around. The water also flows down into the ground in a lot of places creating tunnels or caves. Another fun hike, you could spend a full day here exploring. we couldn't because we wanted to also hit the Alien Throne area just west of here. Chaco Canyon National Historic Park is just south of here about 6 miles as the crow flies but if your in a car it is a bit longer drive maybe 40 miles.

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Dec 05 2021

mikemcg

Guides 2
Routes 127
Photos 1,478
Triplogs 129

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Joined May 07 2019
Tempe, AZ

Valley of Dreams Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, NM

Hiking		Dec 05 2021
		mikemcg • Triplogs 129

Hiking	4.23 Miles	418 AEG

Hiking	4.23 Miles	3 Hrs 56 Mns	2.10 mph
	418 ft AEG	1 Hour 55 Mns Break

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Route Recorded on Route Scout | Pop | Map | Popup | MapDEX

Amazing area. A little tricky to find, because Google Maps is a little inaccurate regarding the roads, so we had to use a topo map to get to the trailhead. The parking area is about 150 meters down the road from the actual trailhead.

From the trailhead, there is a short descent down a ridge to a large area of hoodoos. We spent some time exploring these, and climbing the surrounding cliffs.

Next the trail progresses about 0.5 mile through a mostly flat, desolate area (crossing one wash) to a larger area of hoodoos that resembles a small city. Again, hours can be spent checking out all of the unique structures here, and playing tag in the middle of it.

Eventually we had to move on. After another 0.5 mile of trekking along the trail through another flat, desolate area, we arrived at the Valley of Dreams. This area truly resembles an ancient city, with numerous giant hoodoos that look like buildings, and it dwarfs the two other hoodoo areas that we had passed. The pink hills at the outskirts of the city are beautiful and interesting. There is no way to describe the city once inside. It is immense, complex, and fascinating. It really feels like walking down roads through an ancient city, with tall structures on each side. There is some climbing and scrambling to reach higher areas of the hoodoo city and even more intriguing structures. There is so much to see, we probably could have spent a full day walking around and exploring. The biggest highlight was the Alien Throne, but there are so many other unique structures to investigate and explore that we certainly did not get to all of them, as we had other destinations on the itinerary. We looped around the Valley of Dreams and headed back to the car. We will definitely return to this captivating area.

1 archive

Feb 10 2018

RedRoxx44

Guides 5
Photos 26,458
Triplogs 807

female

Joined Feb 15 2003
outside, anywher

Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area Trails

Northwest, NM

Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area Trails

Northwest, NM

Hiking		Feb 10 2018
		RedRoxx44 • Triplogs 807

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This was a quick in and out, as a storm was coming in. Off the old access of NM hwy 57 ( a well maintained dirt road for the oil and gas trucks) to Chaco canyon. If you don't have directions look for the tiny wilderness study signs about 13.5 miles down the road from Hwy 550. It was hard to find a pull off as the road was bermed up so much. I found a grader cut and used that. It looks to be bentonite clay badlands, but since I hiked only an hour or so didn't really touch the heart of it. I will be back, with more time and better weather forecast.

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1 archive

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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