[2][3] Lucas & Hunt (1989) introduced the name "Bull Canyon Formation" for these exposures, referring to an area of badlands near Luciano Mesa in eastern Guadalupe County, New Mexico.

At the Bull Canyon badlands (the type locality), the formation preserves 95 metres (312 ft) of sediment, about 80% of which is dark reddish mudstone.

Yellowish-grey or greyish-red fine quartzarenite sandstone makes up about 16% of the layers, with rare siltstone and siltstone-pebble conglomerate.

The Bull Canyon Formation reaches a maximum thickness of 110 metres (360 ft) in eastern New Mexico.

[12][13][14][15] Scales, coprolites, and other fragmentary fish fossils are common in the Bull Canyon and Revuelto Creek areas.

[50][17] Ostracods and coiled Spirorbis-like structures (probably tiny snail shells) round out the invertebrate body fossils known from the formation.

Narrow Acripes tracks were probably emplaced by notostracan crustaceans (tadpole shrimp) crawling in shallow temporary pools.

[1][51] A few plant fossils have been found in the formation, including charophyte green algae, bennettitalean leaves (Zamites powellii), large horsetail stems (Neocalamites sp.