West Malpais & 

Hole-in-the-Wall

El Malpais National Conservation Area

Within the West Malpais Wilderness 

is a 6700-acre kipuka called Holein-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, New Mexico 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/ 

Hole-in-the-Wall!

Looking for adventure? A hike into this rugged wilderness brings wonderful opportunities as well as challenges for 

the adventurous hiker.

The area is remote, far from the roars of the highways and 

insistent dings of technology, and a person can be free to 

reconnect with themselves. You’ll 

begin to refresh as you hike through 

rocky areas with little vegetation 

and spot tracks from cougars or 

see skittering lizards. As you hike 

further into the Wilderness, you 

may look around you, shocked as 

the barren land becomes more 

densely vegetated. 

The El Malpais National 

Conservation Area (NCA) contains some of the most 

dynamic and scenic landscape in New Mexico. El Malpais 

is Spanish for “the badlands,” a description worthy of the 

area’s countless volcanic eruptions which sent rivers of 

molten rock and flying cinders over what is now a bleak 

valley of three million years’ worth of hardened lava. Native 

American settlers probably witnessed the last of the 

eruptions. Their former home is now a land of craters and 

lava tubes, cinder cones and spatter cones, ice caves and 

pressure ridges, and a surprising amount of vegetation. 

Many varieties of trees, shrubs, mammals, reptiles, grasses, 

fungi and other creatures make this wilderness their home. 

These life forms interact 

with and influence one 

another, in this harsh, 

dry environment. For 

example, lichen slowly 

breaks down rock and 

obtains nutrients from 

the stone. This process 

provides new soil and 

a toehold for new plant 

growth. Antelope, deer, 

rabbits, and squirrels 

forage for these plants 

and scarce water. 

Lightning-caused 

wildfires sweep through 

areas, destroying some 

plants, while releasing 

vital nutrients for others, and opening up new niches in 

which life may begin anew.

As a result, species have adapted to the unique conditions 

here.

There is also considerable evidence of human activities 

in the Hole-in-the-Wall. The ancestors of today’s native 

peoples, homesteaders and modern day ranchers have 

influenced this special area.

Now that this area is wilderness, it 

is protected for all to enjoy.

Among other opportunities in the El 

Malpais NCA, is the West Malpais 

Widlerness. Within the West Malpais 

Wilderness an oasis of vegetation is 

housed and is known as the Hole-inthe-Wall. The Hole-in-the-Wall is the 

largest islandlike depression in the 

EL Malpais NCA lava fields and over the years, moisture and 

soil collected on some of the oldest lava to form this 6,000-

acre park of ponderosa pine.

Near the northeast corner of the wilderness you will find 

yourself in a 6700-acre kipuka called Hole-in-the-Wall. 

“Kipuka” is a Hawaiian word meaning “island of vegetation 

surrounded by lava flow.” This fertile ground, underlain by 

the 700,000-year-old North Plains lava flows is inhabited by 

numerous forms of life, surrounded and segregated from 

their original biotic communities by a sea of broken, jagged 

basalt.

Access

The easier, fastest, and best 

driving route to access the 

West Malpais Wilderness and 

Hole-in-the-Wall is from the 

south end of the NCA off NM 

117. From NM 117, proceed 

northwest on CR 42 for 

approximately 2.1 miles. Take 

the right fork to the north and 

travel about 5 miles to where 

the road ends at the West 

Malpais Wilderness trailhead.

These areas can also be 

accessed from the north by 

turning south from NM 53 

onto CR 42 and proceeding 

approximately 5.8 miles 

turning left (east) on the road 

to Big Tubes (NPS 300). From 

Park Road 300 take 301 off 

to the south. Park Road 301 

forks many times but stay 

on it continuing to go south 

and east. (Be forewarned, this 

is one of the roughest roads 

in the NCA!) These roads 

are minimally maintained 

but should be marked at each junction. You should see a 

sign for Little Hole-in-the-Wall. Continue straight in for an 

additional 9 miles to the Cerro Encierro Trailhead.

Pointers and Precautions

Water is a scarce and precious resource in this arid country. 

You must carry with you all the water you need.

No mechanized 

vehicles (mountain 

bikes included) may be 

driven past the posted 

wilderness boundary 

into the wilderness.

It’s safer to let someone 

know where you are 

going.

Wet weather conditions 

can make roads 

treacherous and 

impassable. Check with 

a Ranger before you 

attempt to drive any of 

the back roads within 

the NCA.

You can explore above and below ground lava features 

(but stay out of bat caves!). The West Malpais Wilderness 

and Hole-in-the-Wall are places for 

you to savor solitude, encounter 

some of the Earth’s geologic past, 

and experience the solace and 

satisfaction that comes from 

exploring an area often overlooked 

by others.

“A wilderness, in contrast with 

those areas where man and his own 

works dominate the landscape, is 

hereby recognized as an area where 

the earth and its community of life are 

untrammeled by man, where man himself 

is a visitor who does not remain.”

Wilderness Act of 1964