West Malpais & Hole-in-the-Wall El Malpais National Conservation Area Within the West Malpais Wilderness is a 6700-acre kipuka called Hole- in-the-Wall. “Kipuka” is a Hawaiian word meaning “island of vegetation surrounded by lava flow.”

Bureau of Land Management Rio Puerco Field Office 100 Sun Ave. NE Pan American Bldg., Suite 330 Albuquerque, 87109 505/761-8700 or El Malpais Ranger Station 505/280-2918 or www.blm.gov/new-mexico

In case of emergency: BLM Rio Puerco Law Enforcement – 505/761-8700 Immediate Emergency – 911 24-hour Federal Law Enforcement – 800/637-9152

BLM/NM/GI-16-05-8000 Welcome to the West Malpais Wilderness/ vital nutrients for others, and opening up new niches in onto CR 42 and proceeding which life may begin anew. approximately 5.8 miles Hole-in-the-Wall! turning left (east) on the road As a result, species have adapted to the unique conditions to Big Tubes (NPS 300). From ooking for adventure? A hike into this rugged wilderness here. Park Road 300 take 301 off Lbrings wonderful opportunities as well as challenges for to the south. Park Road 301 the adventurous hiker. There is also considerable evidence of human activities forks many times but stay in the Hole-in-the-Wall. The ancestors of today’s native on it continuing to go south The area is remote, far from the roars of the highways and peoples, homesteaders and modern day ranchers have and east. (Be forewarned, this insistent dings of technology, and a person can be free to influenced this special area. is one of the roughest roads reconnect with themselves. You’ll in the NCA!) These roads begin to refresh as you hike through “A wilderness, in contrast with Now that this area is wilderness, it are minimally maintained rocky areas with little vegetation those areas where man and his own is protected for all to enjoy. but should be marked at each junction. You should see a and spot tracks from cougars or works dominate the landscape, is sign for Little Hole-in-the-Wall. Continue straight in for an see skittering lizards. As you hike hereby recognized as an area where Among other opportunities in the El additional 9 miles to the Cerro Encierro Trailhead. further into the Wilderness, you the earth and its community of life are Malpais NCA, is the West Malpais Widlerness. Within the West Malpais may look around you, shocked as untrammeled by man, where man himself Pointers and Precautions Wilderness an oasis of vegetation is the barren land becomes more Water is a scarce and precious resource in this arid country. is a visitor who does not remain.” housed and is known as the Hole-in- densely vegetated. You must carry with you all the water you need. Wilderness Act of 1964 the-Wall. The Hole-in-the-Wall is the largest islandlike depression in the The El Malpais National No mechanized EL Malpais NCA lava fields and over the years, moisture and Conservation Area (NCA) contains some of the most vehicles (mountain soil collected on some of the oldest lava to form this 6,000- dynamic and scenic landscape in New Mexico. El Malpais bikes included) may be acre park of ponderosa pine. is Spanish for “the badlands,” a description worthy of the driven past the posted area’s countless volcanic eruptions which sent rivers of wilderness boundary Near the northeast corner of the wilderness you will find molten rock and flying cinders over what is now a bleak into the wilderness. valley of three million years’ worth of hardened lava. Native yourself in a 6700-acre kipuka called Hole-in-the-Wall. “Kipuka” is a Hawaiian word meaning “island of vegetation American settlers probably witnessed the last of the It’s safer to let someone surrounded by lava flow.” This fertile ground, underlain by eruptions. Their former home is now a land of craters and know where you are the 700,000-year-old North Plains lava flows is inhabited by lava tubes, cinder cones and spatter cones, ice caves and going. pressure ridges, and a surprising amount of vegetation. numerous forms of life, surrounded and segregated from their original biotic communities by a sea of broken, jagged Wet weather conditions basalt. Many varieties of trees, shrubs, mammals, reptiles, grasses, can make roads fungi and other creatures make this wilderness their home. treacherous and These life forms interact Access impassable. Check with with and influence one The easier, fastest, and best a Ranger before you another, in this harsh, driving route to access the attempt to drive any of dry environment. For West Malpais Wilderness and the back roads within example, lichen slowly Hole-in-the-Wall is from the the NCA. breaks down rock and south end of the NCA off NM obtains nutrients from 117. From NM 117, proceed You can explore above and below ground lava features the stone. This process northwest on CR 42 for (but stay out of bat caves!). The West Malpais Wilderness provides new soil and approximately 2.1 miles. Take and Hole-in-the-Wall are places for a toehold for new plant the right fork to the north and you to savor solitude, encounter growth. Antelope, deer, travel about 5 miles to where some of the Earth’s geologic past, rabbits, and squirrels the road ends at the West and experience the solace and forage for these plants Malpais Wilderness trailhead. satisfaction that comes from and scarce water. exploring an area often overlooked Lightning-caused These areas can also be by others. wildfires sweep through accessed from the north by areas, destroying some turning south from NM 53 plants, while releasing