A Day around Four Corners
There are so many interesting Native American sites in the Four Corners Area, yet it’s not easy to get to or around the area. Two trips I’ve taken in previous years to the Four Corners Region: flying into Durango in early June for a long weekend at Mesa Verde and a couple days in Canyon de Chelly and NE AZ in March as an extension to a trip to Phoenix. I’m hoping that my next Four Corners trip will be to Chaco Culture NHP in New Mexico.
And so on this day, I pieced together three remote stops into a full day of entertainment. We started in Monument Valley and ended in Bluff, UT, which are only 47 miles apart, but instead we drove 250 or so miles between Navajo National Monument, Four Corners Monument, and Hovenweep National Monument.
Stop #1, Navajo National Monument, which is in a remote, beautiful canyon. Navajo NM, has two significant ruins, Betatakin and Keet Seel. Keet Seel is only accessible via a 17 mile permit only round trip hike that is generally done over 1 or 2 days. Betatakin Ruin is visited by a 3-5ish hour guided tour. All tours were canceled in 2021, so the only option we had was to hike to the Betatakin Overlook on the 1.3 mile round trip Sandal Trail. There are a couple other short trails into and around the canyon, which were very pleasant to hike.
Stop #2, Four Corners Monument. There is no reason to go here if you are not already close by, it’s definitely a tourist trap. The entire monument is ringed by stalls with vendors selling jewelry and crafts, although most were closed when we were there. But even with all that, I personally was entertained by standing on the borders of four states at one time. And I don’t think I was alone in that, as there were people who spent time taking pictures and then standing in line to take more pictures to make sure the event was well documented. I was there for about 5 minutes, but it would be a longer stop if there were more people there and you had to wait in line for your picture at the center.
Stop #3 Hovenweep National Monument. There are a number of small units of this park in both Utah and Colorado. We only visited the main unit where the visitor’s center and campground are. The main activity is a loop hike around Square Tower Canyon to view all the ruins. Hovenweep is unique, because it is a collection of tower ruins right on the edge of the canyon, some are round, some are square. I can recommend the hike late in the afternoon as the light was very nice while we were hiking.
We finished the day in Bluff, UT at the pleasant Desert Rose Resort, the only complication was that the onsite restaurant was closed and there wasn’t much else to eat in Bluff. However, we were very fortunate to find excellent burgers at Comb Ridge Eat & Drink, conveniently across the road from the hotel.
