New Mexico, help with a location of ‘red sand-hills’

[richydicky]

I’m going to New Mexico at the end of April and I wonder if any local could suggest where I might find such a location described in a novel;

“ ..somewhere in the middle of New Mexico… As far as he could see, on every side, the landscape was heaped up into monotonous red sand-hills, not much larger than haycocks… flattened cones, they were, more the shape of Mexican ovens than haycocks ... red as brick-dust, and naked of vegetation except for smaller juniper trees”

Thanks for any suggestions. I will be travelling - Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Abiquiu then across to Cuba and up to Aztec exploring some of the wilderness areas on route then back around ABQ.

Richard

[Kirk Gittings]

Hmmm doesn't ring a bell and I have lived here all my life. What novel? Sounds more like the Painted Desert in Arizona. There is plenty more to shoot if that doesn't pan out. Drop me a line and we can talk over a cup of java.

[Peter Collins]

OP—
We must remind ourselves that it was in a novel.

[Two23]

OP—
We must remind ourselves that it was in a novel.


Maybe by someone who's never even been there.:) Sounds more like Colorado.


Kent in SD

[Keith Pitman]

Maybe by someone who's never even been there.:) Sounds more like Colorado.


Kent in SD

Or, Dakota.

[Chance2]

It's been a long time since I've been out that way, but it sounds a bit like some of the scenery I've seen along I-40 between Albuquerque and the Arizona border. You might give Google Map's Street View feature a try. Let us know if you find it. :)

[richydicky]

Yes, I did a quick reoad trip around four corners area 2 years ago and the only the place that I saw fitting the description was the Painted Desert in Arizona. I have come across a Jeep tour company and there are two areas they do, one around the Cabazon area and the other between Albuquerque and Santa Fe and judging from the photos both locations may provide that scenery.

[Kirk Gittings]

Yes, I did a quick reoad trip around four corners area 2 years ago and the only the place that I saw fitting the description was the Painted Desert in Arizona. I have come across a Jeep tour company and there are two areas they do, one around the Cabazon area and the other between Albuquerque and Santa Fe and judging from the photos both locations may provide that scenery.

But not those landforms mentioned in the novel as red. I know those areas like the back of my hand. Now granted I am largely a b&w photographer, but not because I am colorblind :)

[Jmarmck]

There are some small hillocks that are a mix of red and white up US Hwy 550 north of San Ysidro. Geologically, it is an interesting area.

[Kirk Gittings]

There are some small hillocks that are a mix of red and white up US Hwy 550 north of San Ysidro. Geologically, it is an interesting area.
Are you talking about towards Cuba or towards Jemez from San Ysidro? Either way those don’t look like what the novel talks about in my way of thinking. Towards Jemez they are more like sandstone bluffs. And they are on the Rez. The Jemez Indians are more territorial these days.
Towards Cuba there is the area where they dug up all the dinosaur bones. But it is more bluffs too.
South of San Ysidro is the White Mesa Mountain Biking area. https://goo.gl/images/4fC5q2 There is one valley there that might fit the bill. There is also the wilderness area down that way. I can’t remember the name.
These areas are not really by Cabezon or between Santa Fe and ABQ.

[Jmarmck]

Hwy 550 turns west from San Ysidro at White Mesa, which is very cool in its own right. Then the hwy turns back north and heads up a canyon. As it runs up that canyon there are hillocks. I did not stop and actually measure them as I was running late to get to Farmington. But while in the canyon they appeared to be as described. The canyon opens to a valley between mesas before dropping back down. This is the first view of Cabazon Peak to the left, where I nearly ran off into the ditch trying to get the truck stopped for a quick shot.

[richydicky]

South of San Ysidro is the White Mesa Mountain Biking area. https://goo.gl/images/4fC5q2 There is one valley there that might fit the bill. There is also the wilderness area down that way.

Hi Kirk, thanks for your information. That White Mesa is the area I have come across and I think the wilderness area is called Ojito but I got Cabezon Road and Cabezon the place mixed up so maybe wrong. Anyhow looks interesting to explore. I came across www.nmjeeptours.com and that's where I got the intitial information from, then further detail from BLM site and amercansouthwest.net.

[Kirk Gittings]

Good. That whole area is interesting from a number of different angles. There is a large Chaco Outlier down that way too which looks out across the Rio Puerco at Cabezon. It’s on private land though which didn’t used to be problem but now is.
FWIW, I used to know a guy with NM Jeep Tours. He is a great guy. I don’t know if he is still with them.

[John Olsen]

Rickydicky: I agree that your novelist must have grabbed "New Mexico" as a remote and interesting location for a fictional landscape. Like you, I sometimes plan photo-trips around works of fiction, so I sympathize. There are lots of interesting opportunities there, if you feel like going anyway. Kirk has mentioned some, and I'd like to add the Bisti badlands in the Northwest corner of the state. Happy shooting.

[Ari]

Not NM, but could it be Coconino Forest, near Flagstaff? We just drove through in late February, and the rocks are definitely RED.

[Jim Andrada]

I thought of the red rock area in AZ but the shape is different. Shapewise it sounds like the Painted Desert, but the colors are wrong.