Last week, I posted about our trek to and through the Valley of Dreams East.  As spectacular as it is, even more interesting (to me, at least!) was the Valley of Dreams.  It’s only about 1.25 miles down the wash from the Valley of Dreams East.  The formations are in some ways more concentrated, and there’s a lot more variety in the formations to gawk at.  Overall, it’s just a cooler place to be.  The entire area is a maze of toadstools, crazily eroded formations, little windows, petrified wood, and more, so it can take some time to explore (I’m sure I didn’t do the exploration justice!)

 

 

 

Before we begin, here are some things to remember…

Note that the area where you park is on private land or possibly right on the edge of BLM land.  It’s ok to park there, but use even greater respect than you would on public land.  It’s what keeps these areas open to the public, like you and me.

Also note that the Valley of Dreams is in the middle of absolute nowhere.  And I mean that.  You’re miles and miles from any kind of civilization.  Come prepared!

The roads are all dirt.  In general, most of the roads could have been traversed in a low-clearance vehicle.  We did just fine in our high-clearance E-150, though there were two sandy sections between the two parking areas that scared us half silly (I missed the first parking area, so I thought we were still fine until suddenly we were charging through the sand – thankfully the van handled it ok, though I give the credit to that in part to the driver who is used to driving Dodge vans in conditions usually not quite as bad as this.)

Car GPSes won’t get you there.  The roads are extremely confusing, and GPSes make it worse.  Honestly.  Our Garman was constantly taking us on roads that didn’t exist, even straight through people’s houses, then missing the existence of perfect good roads.  It was a nightmare we got through more through intuition and a variety of maps I had printed of the web than because of our road GPS.  I did plug what coordinates I had into my hiking GPS, so we at least knew where we were trying to get to.

All roads are impassible in wet conditions.  Please do not drive on them when wet!  It’s more than you getting stuck or not getting stuck; it’s about keeping the roads open to public use, and if we leave ruts, or get stuck, it’s highly likely the roads will be closed (by hook or by crook, so to speak) by land owners.

There are no trails.  That said, there is a road and a wash to follow.  So while it’s not real likely that you will get lost, it’s altogether possible.  Come prepared with lifesaving essentials, including a good compass and good map of the area (and know how to use them!).  A hiking GPS, properly used, is also useful.

And now, for the hiking directions:

 

From the either parking area, continue walking north-ish on the road.  It is vague, but still there.  There will be some reddish hills on your right.  After rounding a black badland hill, the road will cross a very wide wash.  Turn right (east) here for the Valley of Dreams East.  For the Valley of Dreams, turn left (west) down the wash.

I recommend not walking directly in the bottom of the wash.  It’s the way I came back, and while it’s certainly one way to do it, it’s a lot more winding than heading in a generally straight direction with the bottom of the wash on your left.  You will probably find some very light social trails heading generally west.  You’re heading for a yellowish hill in the distance, on the north side of the wash.

You’ll know when you’ve hit the Valley of Dreams, which really should be called the Hill of Dreams, because it’s all centered around a low, yellow hill.  There are formations galore.  I scrambled up between the formations on the southern side of the hill and found even more formations.  The whole place was crazy with formations!

There were also whole logs petrified and buried in and amongst the formations.  I’ve never seen anything like it: just like wood I’d find in a forest, but it’s rock.  One looked like it had been cut cleanly in half, but I’d guess it was really broken after becoming rock.  Looking through my pictures for the post, I found logs I hadn’t even realized where there in real life.

Scramble to the north side to see the Alien Throne (one of the few formations I was able to identify from information off the internet).  There are many toadstools here, along with a cool window or two.  Honestly, the whole area could have been other-worldly!

Unfortunately, the weather was a little iffy while I was hiking at first while we were in the Valley of Dreams.  The sun came out eventually, but some of the pictures are better than others.

Heading further west, the dirt turns to white.  I really liked the white formations with gold tops at the far end of where I explored.

About then, one of my group members caught up with me and said there was a guy who wanted to talk with me about my blog.  Always happy to chat hiking, I scrambled back through the formations to meet Frank Ruggles, the former official national park photographer, and a couple of his friends.  Check out Frank’s photography on his website; it’s fantastic!

We walked back via the twisting wash.  I’m not sure it was the best way to go, but it wasn’t too difficult walking, either.  Just make sure you pick up the road back to your vehicle, or you’ll find yourself in the wash near the Valley of Dreams East!

Round Trip Trail Length: At least 4 miles (considering where we parked).  It’s all relative depending on how you walk and where you go.

Elevation Change: Not a whole lot.  It depends on how much you scramble around.

Facilities: None.  Did you read about how it’s in the middle of “absolute nowhere”?

Fees: None

Trail Notes: I’ve already put most of the notes in the upper part of the post, but remember that you’re totally alone out here and don’t expect rescue or cell service if something goes wrong.  Be used to wayfinding in the desert before you attempt this – there are no trails and it’s not that easy to locate.

GPS Coordinates for the Valley of Dreams East

Road to the Valley of Dreams: 36.1240833°, -107.9801833° (N36° 07.445′ W107° 58.811′ / 36°07’26.7000″, -107°58’48.6600″) (6,257ft.)

Beginning (where we parked): 36.1407333°, -107.9666333° (N36° 08.444′ W107° 57.998′ / 36°08’26.6400″, -107°57’59.8800″) (6,169ft.) (0.0) (end 5.88)

Hill Between Valley of Dreams: 36.1488167°, -107.9801667° (N36° 08.929′ W107° 58.810′ / 36°08’55.7400″, -107°58’48.6000″) (6,187ft.) (2.92)

Getting to the Valley of Dreams East

From Bloomfield, NM, drive 28 miles south on US-550S.  Turn right onto NM-57 for 21.1 miles.  Turn right onto Rt 7022 (though Google marks it as 7870 – the road is marked) for 1.8 miles to turn right on an unmarked dirt road (intersection is approximately 36.1240833°, -107.9801833° (N36° 07.445′ W107° 58.811′ / 36°07’26.7000″, -107°58’48.6600″)).  Follow the road 1.6 miles and park in the small dirt/desert area that could be a parking area just before the “road” crosses what looks like a small drainage and becomes noticeably worse.  I saw that a jeep had driven down to the wash, itself, but I wouldn’t recommend that for a lot of reasons (including environmental).

From Farmington: Follow NM-371 S for 45 miles.  Turn left onto County Road 7650 for 7.8 miles, then turn right on another well-maintained dirt road (I believe it is signed as CR-7870).  Follow this road about 5 miles to an unmarked road on left at 36.1240833°, -107.9801833° (N36° 07.445′ W107° 58.811′ / 36°07’26.7000″, -107°58’48.6600″).  Follow the road 1.6 miles and park in the small dirt/desert area that could be a parking area just before the “road” crosses what looks like a small drainage and becomes noticeably worse.  I saw that a jeep had driven down to the wash, itself, but I wouldn’t recommend that for a lot of reasons (including environmental).

From the road to Chaco: This is possible, but not fun.  It is impossible without high clearance; 4×4 highly recommended (this was how I came in, so I know what it’s like!)  Follow the signs for Chaco from US-550.  After 17 miles on the dirt road, you will cross a wash.  Very shortly after rising out of the wash, a very primitive road will go off on the right (west) side of the road.  Turn onto this road; be very careful to take the routes that follow the wash, but do not go into the wash or cross the wash (there are several primitive roads in this area leading in various directions).  The road will eventually improve and you should be able to tell which way to go.  Google calls the better road that you are on CR-7980.  If you have any questions on which way to go, stay on the south side of the wash, but don’t stray too far from the wash, either.  After about 6.5 miles, CR-7980 will T into NM-57.  Turn right and almost immediately cross the wash.  Only 0.7 miles later, turn left onto Rt-7022 (aka 7870 – the road is marked) for 1.8 miles to turn right on an unmarked dirt road (intersection is approximately 36.1240833°, -107.9801833° (N36° 07.445′ W107° 58.811′ / 36°07’26.7000″, -107°58’48.6600″)).  Follow the road 1.6 miles and park in the small dirt/desert area that could be a parking area just before the “road” crosses what looks like a small drainage and becomes noticeably worse.  I saw that a jeep had driven down to the wash, itself, but I wouldn’t recommend that for a lot of reasons (including environmental).

If you don’t have high clearance / 4×4: Find a small roughed up spot that could be a parking area about 1 mile from the final road junction.  This will avoid the sandy spots.

If you come in via NM-57 from the north, or if you continue north on NM-57 if coming from the south, you’ll pass the parking area for the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Study Area.  It’s well-marked and might be another worthy place to hike! (Approx. 36.139912, -107.920714 (36 08.39472′, -107 55.24284′ / 36 08’23.6832″, -107 55’14.5704″))

Visual trail map of my trek to the Valley of Dreams (elevation profile for both the Valley of Dreams and the Valley of Dreams East)

Zoom map out to browse nearby hikes & places of interest

 

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