The Four Corners area is ready-made for road trips.
Our geographic diversity means you’ll see desert, canyons, mountains, and mesas all within a short span. In one trip, you can see four states, loads of National Park Service sites, tribal parks, wilderness areas, and Ancestral Pueblo, Ute, and Navajo history and culture. At the same time, it’s less crowded than the more famous loops of southern Utah or the Grand Canyon.
Whether for a long weekend or a week-plus, let’s check it out:
First: Why Farmington for a Four Corners road trip basecamp?
To start, our location is central for easy access to all the major Four Corners destinations, sitting right at the crossroads of highways connecting all of them. This is all while being more affordable than the more well-known and further out spots in Durango or Moab.
Farmington also has a fantastic array of lodging variety, from hotels and motels to campgrounds, RV parks, and B&Bs. You can even stay in the 1700-square foot Kokopelli’s Cave!
As one of the retail and dining hubs of the Four Corners region, we’re really a full-service town with plenty of restaurants, grocery stores, shopping, and other amenities that you won’t find in the more remote stops elsewhere.
Now, what to see on a Four Corners road trip?
Do a National Parks and monument loop
All these spots are anywhere from a 15-minute to three-hour drive from Farmington. Let’s start with the closest:
Aztec Ruins National Monument
Only about 15 minutes from town, this actually has nothing to do with the Aztecs — confused and very incorrect settlers named it after the Aztecs, and the name stuck — but rather is an Ancestral Puebloan structure dating back almost 1,000 years to the 1100s. It’s home to the Great Kiva, the oldest and largest reconstructed kiva in North America.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Chaco Cultural National Historical Park is about an hour and a half south of Farmington and is the largest excavated prehistoric ruins in North America. We should note, it’s recommended to call ahead to confirm road conditions, particularly in wet weather.
Mesa Verde National Park
Drive in the opposite direction an hour and a half northeast of Farmington across the Colorado border, and you’ll find Mesa Verde National Park. Here there are over 700 years of Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwelling, making Mesa Verde one of the Four Corners region’s most well-preserved — and most iconic — archaeological sites.
Hovenweep National Monument
A little bit further, Hovenweep is about two hours north of town, west of Cortez, Colorado on the Utah-Colorado border. It consists of six Ancestral Puebloan communities built between 1200 and 1300; both culturally and architecturally, you’ll notice close connections to Mesa Verde National Park, which is located about an hour east from Hovenweep on the other side of Cortez.
Natural Bridges National Monument
This is the farthest away, but is absolutely worth the drive: About three hours northwest of Farmington in Utah, you’ll find some of the most fascinating geological features in the country. Somehow, these three headlining natural stone bridges are still one of the more uncrowded National Parks Service sites in the Four Corners region.
Iconic landmarks
Beyond National Parks and monuments, there are loads of other landmarks in the area. Such as:
Four Corners Monument
A popular road trip destination, Four Corners is about an hour northwest of Farmington and is famously the only place in the US where four states meet at a single point! As it’s operated by the Navajo Nation, this is actually a Tribal Park, not a National Park.
Shiprock Pinnacle
Known as "Tsé Bit' A'í" — generally translated to “rock with wings” — to the Navajo, this is a sacred site that, at 7,178 feet above sea level, is visible for miles. It’s about 30 minutes west of town via Highway 491, and is the result of three ancient volcanic pressure ridges pushing the rock skyward.
We should note, unless you’re with a permitted guide, this is strictly viewable from the highway with access to the base of the formation otherwise restricted. And even with a certified guide, as a sacred site, any climbing or hiking is strictly forbidden.
Monument Valley
Monument Valley is perhaps most famous as the iconic backdrop for dozens if not hundreds of westerns and other movies. About 2.5 hours west of Farmington, it spans the Arizona-Utah border with world-famous mesas, buttes, and pinnacles. Also a tribal park like Four Corners, certain parts of Monument Valley are only accessible via guided tour.
Canyon de Chelly
This national monument and tribal park is about three hours away in Chinle, Arizona. It’s a multi-canyon system with cliff dwellings and panoramic rim views. If you’re planning on heading that way, do call ahead first to confirm the park is open.
Goosenecks State Park
A bit closer to Farmington, Goosenecks is roughly 2.5 hours northwest of us, over the state line in Utah. It includes the dramatic carved canyons of the San Juan River right before it empties into the Colorado and eventually on to the Grand Canyon.
Mexican Hat Rock
Right by Goosenecks is Mexican Hat Rock, along the way from Farmington to Monument Valley. It’s distinctively shaped like an upside-down sombrero and is a popular put-in spot for rafters on the San Juan River.
Hiking and outdoor detours
The Four Corners is also known for our outdoor recreation, such as:
Bisti Badlands/De-Na-Zin Wilderness
With otherworldly hoodoos, petrified wood, and sculpted clay formations, the Bisti Badlands can look like something out of a sci-fi planet. If you do visit, know there are no marked trails; for this reason, GPS or a guided tour is strongly recommended.
Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Area
Located just southeast of Bisti, you’ll find similar badlands terrain here. Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah has rolling, water-carved clay hills and unique geological formations — what’s more, it’s known for its abundance of fossils and dinosaur bones!
Angel Peak Scenic Area
This scenic area is over 10,000 acres of rugged terrain near Bloomfield, New Mexico, a little over 30 minutes southeast of Farmington. Angel Peak itself is nearly 7,000 feet tall and visible for miles, and there are campgrounds for staying the night.
Simon Canyon
As the name suggests, this is a canyon landscape with lots of wildlife and a Navajo Pueblito ruin. With its day hike area, it’s about an hour east of Farmington right by Navajo Lake State Park.
Cultural stops
Lastly, the Four Corners area is renowned for our history and culture. Evidence of this is all around, but it’s especially prominent in these areas:
Salmon Ruins
Just 15 minutes east of Farmington, Salmon Ruins is a cultural museum, heritage park, and archaeological research center.
Aztec Museum and Pioneer Village
This is in Aztec, just a half-hour drive northeast of us. The historical museum here features 14 original and replicated pioneer structures from the 1880s.
Farmington Museum
If you’re staying in Farmington and want a day of just staying in town, there’s the Farmington Museum! Located on east Main Street, here you’ll find exhibits on the region’s diverse cultural history plus rotating art shows.
Dinétah rock art & pueblitos
Dinétah is the traditional homeland of the Navajo, marked by Hesperus Peak in Colorado to the north, Mount Taylor a few hours from Farmington to the south, Blanca Peak to the east, and San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona, to the west. Throughout the region, there are over 200 pueblitos that were built in the 1600s and 1700s, and rock art from the Ancestral Puebloan and, later, Navajo, along with rarer Ute and Spanish art.
Edge of the Cedars State Park
Roughly kitty corner from Farmington in Blanding, Utah, Edge of the Cedars is an archaeological repository for southeast Utah. Here, you’ll find an Ancestral Puebloan ruin with a modern museum.
Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum
Formerly known as the Anasazi Heritage Center, this is about an hour and a half drive north of Farmington in Dolores, Colorado. It’s southwest Colorado’s premier archaeological museum, with permanent and rotating exhibits and special events throughout the year. Not only that, but the surrounding views are beautiful and worth the drive in their own right.
Wines of the San Juan
On your way from Farmington to Navajo Lake is Wines of the San Juan, a local winery beneath towering sandstone cliffs. It’s a relaxing end-of-the-day stop after a longer day trip drive.
Practical tips for a Four Corners road trip
Here are some things to keep in mind when visiting Four Corners to make the most of your trip!
- Consider the seasons. The “best time to visit” might look different depending on what you want — spring and fall bring milder weather and fewer crowds, while summer is our peak visitor season but can get quite hot. Winter often brings snow on the mountain passes.
- Fuel up in Farmington. Gas stations can be scarce on remote stretches, especially heading to Chaco Canyon, Monument Valley, or Natural Bridges. As anyone knows who’s done a road trip in the American West before, the last thing you want is to think you’re good on gas only to realize after miles of the gas light being on, that fuel is further away than you’d expected. Don’t wait for the gauge to say you’re low — when you’re able, fuel up.
- Check road conditions. Some routes like the way to Chaco Canyon are unpaved. A high-clearance vehicle is helpful although not always necessary, and we always recommend calling ahead in wet weather.
- Respect tribal land. We’d hope this goes without saying, but too often we see stories the world over of tourists not respecting their destination, its people, and wildlife. Many stops in the Four Corners region are on the Navajo Nation or other Indigenous lands. Always follow posted rules, ask before photographing someone, and be sure to respectfully patronize local vendors.
- Bring water and layers. The Southwest can swing over 30 degrees between morning and afternoon. If you’re not prepared, that can be an extremely dangerous combination. Always carry plenty of water, especially for hikes with little shade.
- Guided tours are your friend! For destinations like the Bisti Badlands and Monument Valley, you’ll get so much out of guided tours from local experts, helping you better understand what you’re experiencing, adding context to the land and history, and providing navigation for unmarked terrain.
The Southwest is an incredible place to road trip, and — although we may be just a smidgeon biased — Four Corners is our favorite of it all! If you’re on your way through, consider Farmington as your home base; its central location and ease of access to the surrounding nature and cultural stops means you’ll get to see as much of the area as you please — and then come back to a delightful place to dine and rest up for the next day’s adventure.