Hoodoos and labyrinthine canyons typify the Adobe Town landscape in Wyoming's Red Desert. The BLM designated 80,000 acres of Adobe Town a Wilderness Study Area, and a Citizens' Proposed Wilderness seeks to more than double the amount of protected area. (Photo/Morgan E. Heim)
The canyon walls curve and twist into narrowing darkness. Natural archways appear and disappear with a slight shift of your point of view. In an instant towering forests of hoodoos give way to pockets of open space paved with the remnants of old river beds.
There are no trails here. Just the metamorphosing mountains and sun guide your way. Southeastern Red Desert’s Adobe Town is the perfect place to disappear, something that could come in handy if you’re a train robber from the 19th century.
Legend has it that Butch Cassidy and his band of ruffians hid horses in Adobe Town, where they would escape into a maze of hoodoos, hiding out until the dust settled from their latest heist. Go there today and you probably won’t come across bandits, but you can step into the wild solitude of the Old West, exploring caves and tunnels, watching herds of antelope and mustang, and finding birds of prey nesting in the rocks.
To learn more about this unique landscape and some of the efforts to protect it, watch the following video by the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Hey Morgan: I found your site from a click thru to my blog. I love the hoodoo shot from the Red Desert. Looks like a very interesting landscape. I’m going to add your site to my list and come back to read some more.
Bob
http://roberthclarkphotographyblog.com
February 9th, 2010 at 2:52 am
Thanks for the comments Bob. The Red Desert’s definitely not a place for the faint of heart, but the beauty’s there if you give it a chance. Keep up the photography!
May 18th, 2011 at 10:24 am
An incredibly mysterious and majestic place–a work of Nature’s art and a place of secrets and history. The entire region is unique to the continent and should be protected and carefully studied. The wealth of information is rich and the resources should be saved for when we’ve acquired higher, less intrusive technology. It should be safe-guarded. Adobe Town truly is a jewel, worthy of protection and contemplation.