Painted Desert, Arizona

This region, known as "Halchíítah" or "Among the Red Areas" in Navajo, is a vast expanse of badlands and desert landscape in Arizona. The exposed colorful layers of sandstone, clay, and volcanic remains give the desert its name. Much of the Painted Desert is protected, because it lays within the Petrified Forest National Wilderness Area. Vast expanses of this desert also still remain within the Navajo Nation reservation.