Travel the Four Corners
Arizona - Colorado - New Mexico- Utah
one of the most scenically diverse areas in the United States
Story by Kathryn R. Burke
All content © San Juan Publishing Group, Inc, All rights reserved. |
[Four Corners] This region offers incredible diversity of geography, topography, scenery and native culture. All four states have mountains, although Colorado has the highest, many topping 14,000 feet. All four states have desert, but only Arizona has the Sonoran, home to the many-armed Saguaro cactus, vivid sunsets, and the illusive "jackalope." New Mexico is the least populated, but with four cultures strongly represented: native, hispanic, and anglo. Utah has what some say is the prettiest parks, filled with red rock canyons and "hoodoos" of mysterious shapes.
Major highways can carry you through and between states, but the best way to experience them is a little backroad travel, some of it on designated "Scenic Byways," some of it on rutted dirt and gravel roads. The more adventuresome with choose foot power (hiking and biking) or maybe four-wheel travel to get to the less accessible places.
However you go and wherever you go, be sure to take in some of the ancestral ruins, visit a few of the old mining towns - and you'll find these in all four states, and take in a museum or two. There are plenty of recreational opporunities throughout the Four Corners area, as well as good lodging and camping accomodations and restaurants of every size and shape. Plenty of picnic areas too. |
Jeeping down into Telluride, Colorado. © James Burke |
Photography
Jeep caravan above Telluride, descending the "Stairsteps" of Black Bear Pass. ©Kathryn R. Burke |
