7 Best Sights in Farmington, Northwestern New Mexico

Dinosaurs roamed the Bisti Badlands Wilderness areas when they were part of a shallow sea some 70 million years ago. Hoodoos (mushroom-shaped rock formations in subtle shades of brown, gray, and white) lend the 45,000 acres an eerie, lunar appearance. De-Na-Zin (pronounced duh-nah-zen and named for a petroglyph found nearby) is the much larger and less visited of the two sections, and here you can find hillier and more challenging terrain, plus numerous fossils and petrified logs. At Bisti (pronounced biss-tye), you can encounter deeply eroded hoodoos whose striations represent layers of sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. In many spots you'll climb over mounds of crumbly clay and silt that look a bit like the topping of a coffee cake (but gray). Both sections are ideal for photography, and backcountry camping is permitted—and not to be missed during a full moon, if your timing is good. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which administers the land, stipulates that you remove nothing from either area, preserving its magical appearance for those who follow. The most fascinating terrain is 2 to 3 mi from the parking areas, and there are no trails (or water facilities), so bring a compass and be alert about your surroundings and where you are in relation to the sun—it's relatively easy to get lost in this vast, incredible place. And how 'bout bringing some more water?

The Bolack Electromechanical Museum is the legacy of former state governor Tom Bolack, who collected wildlife of the taxidermic kind. His son Tommy carries on the collecting tradition, but his museum on the family's B-Square Ranch is a wonder of large-scale, unexpected, electrical items, from aged radio-station transmitters and all the car speakers from the old Rincon Drive-In in Aztec, to a three-stage compressor from a Nevada uranium testing site, a 16-foot-diameter drill bit, and an entire electrical substation. Set back into the bluffs on the south side of town, the spread itself is a sight even if all the objects here don't appeal. Keep an eye out for the peacocks on the road in. Note that you must stop and register at the first buildings you see.

If the kids need some indoor fun, try stopping by the E3 Children's Museum & Science Center. The interactive exhibits here include a shadow room, a magnet table, giant floor puzzles, and a role-play area. It's a low-key spot for the younger set to rest and regroup.

You can get an inkling of what the Four Corners area was like during the trading-post days at the Farmington Museum, in a modern sandstone building whose stonework is fashioned to echo that found at Aztec and Chaco ruins, and that also houses the Farmington visitor center. Landscaped grounds behind the building extend down to the Animas River—an ideal spot for a picnic. The museum presents art, science, Native American, and regional history exhibits throughout the year (the "Geovator," goofy as it is, simulates a trip deep into the subsurface stratigraphy of limestone, sandstone, and shale that yields oil and natural gas wealth for the region). Occasionally a traveling exhibit will require an entrance fee; otherwise, admission is free. There's a summertime evening music series on the terrace; call for dates and performers.

About 30 mi west of Shiprock you can reach the only place in the United States where you can stand in four states at the same time—at the intersection of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. Wide-open skies—broken occasionally by a distant mesa—surround the site, which was refurbished in 2010 on this very spot, refuting a flock of reports that the original 1912 marker for it might have been a few miles off. Native American artisans sell their wares here nearly every day of the year. Facilities include picnic tables and restrooms, but you must bring your own drinking water.

with its immense colony of Gunnison's prairie dogs and family activities most weekends, anchors the east end of the city's lovely and revivifying River Corridor. A 3¼-mi walkway and bike path meanders along the Animas River; hidden, yet right in the center of town, it passes through Animas and Berg parks and ends just behind the Scott Avenue hotel strip on the west. The corridor contains 5½ additional mi of side trails for walkers, runners, cyclists, and wildlife- and bird-watchers, as well as a man-made, 300-yard-long white-water course. Join them at the center Tuesday mornings at 8 for guided bird-watching walks.

West of Farmington, at U.S. 491 (though the odd map will still refer to this road by its old number, 666) and U.S. 64, just southwest of the town of Shiprock, 1,700-foot Shiprock Peak rises from the desert floor like a massive schooner. It's sacred to the Navajo, who call it Tse'Bit'Ai, or "Rock with Wings." No climbing or hiking is permitted. The formation—sometimes referred to as a pinnacle—is composed of igneous rock flanked by upright walls of solidified lava.