Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico Mar 9, 2024

Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico

Time is the great transformer, changing the world and all of us. For instance, this New Mexico badland—the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness—was once a lush, tropical forest. Nearly 70 million years ago, instead of twisted terrains and towering spires, this place was home to an array of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs, including armored Ankylosaurs, duck-billed Hadrosaurs, and mighty Tyrannosaurs. Today, the area is filled with wonders of a different kind, rock formations that look more like sculptures than natural phenomena. Bisti/De-Na-Zin is named after Navajo words: Bisti means "among the adobe formations," and De-Na-Zin means "standing crane," a reference to nearby rock carvings of the bird. Visitors to the Four Corners region shouldn"t miss out on this otherworldly landscape of shale and sandstone.

© Ian Shive/Tandem Stills + Motion

palette

Today in History

Mar 9, 2018The Door County Coastal Byway in Wisconsin
Mar 9, 2019Let the harvest begin
Mar 9, 2020This grizzly has Napping Day down
Mar 9, 2021Spring comes to the Diablo foothills
Mar 9, 2022Flower of Life symbol drawn in snow
Mar 9, 2023Waimea Canyon and Waipoo Falls, Kauai, Hawaii
Mar 9, 2025Daylight saving time begins
Mar 9, 2026Gray seal sleeping on the beach, Orkney Islands, Scotland

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Sep 4, 2022Arambol Beach, Goa, India
Dec 8, 2023La Rocque Harbour, Island of Jersey
Dec 13, 2020The view will stop you in your tracks
Nov 9, 2024Aït Benhaddou, Morocco
May 21, 2024International Tea Day
Jan 2, 2024Prayer flags in Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan
Aug 11, 2018Lace up your hiking boots for Mountain Day
Feb 15, 2020Whales in winter
Jul 30, 2022Milford Sound/Piopiotahi rainforest in New Zealand
Feb 8, 2025Medieval towers in Mestia, Upper Svaneti, Georgia
Jan 7, 2025Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand
Nov 5, 2019Balloons and camels are two ways to catch a ride here
May 25, 2021An improbable tribute for Towel Day
Aug 3, 2024Three Natural Bridges, Wulong Karst, China
Sep 7, 2018An historic forest
Sep 19, 2018Talk like a pirate—or walk the plank
Sep 3, 2024Wilderness Act anniversary
Nov 20, 2023World Childrens Day
Mar 22, 2024World Water Day
Feb 17, 2024Black History Month
Jan 14, 2019An island oasis in the Indian Ocean
Aug 26, 2018From pirate port to nature preserve
Jan 25, 2018Sami lavvu structures, Finnmark, Norway
Oct 22, 2025The Belogradchik Rocks in Bulgaria
Nov 4, 2023National Bison Day
Oct 25, 2022 Park of the Monsters, Bomarzo, Italy
Jun 12, 2019A big birthday for Big Bend
Jan 31, 2024International Zebra Day
Aug 27, 2020Rocks on the move
Apr 15, 2023World Art Day