Hoodoos in Ah Shi Sle Pah Wilderness in San Juan County, New Mexico

The great balancing act. Ah Shi Sle Pah Wilderness, New Mexico

Nature has a knack for balancing the impossible. In New Mexico's Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, towering hoodoos perch hefty rock caps on slender stems. Wind, water, and ice have spent roughly 75 million years sculpting these remote badlands into an open-air gallery that feels more alien than terrestrial.

Among its most photographed formations is the aptly nicknamed 'Alien Throne,' a striking hoodoo that has become the area's unofficial celebrity. The Navajo name Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah, derived from 'áshįįh łibá,' means gray salt. Once a swampy coastal plain, the wilderness is packed with Late Cretaceous fossils, including dinosaurs, prehistoric crocodiles, turtles, and fish. In 1921, fossil hunter Charles Hazelius Sternberg discovered the first known remains of Pentaceratops fenestratus—one of North America's largest horned dinosaurs—here. Petrified wood also dots the landscape. There are no official trails or facilities, so visitors need solid navigation skills. Getting lost in the scenery is easy; losing your way is optional.