Best Easy Day Hikes
the Four Corners
Help Us Keep This Guide Up to Date
Every effort has been made by the author and editors to make this guide as accurate and useful as possible. However, many things can change after a guide is publishedtrails are rerouted, regulations change, techniques evolve, facilities come under new management, etc.
We would appreciate hearing from you concerning your experiences with this guide and how you feel it could be improved and kept up to date. While we may not be able to respond to all comments and suggestions, well take them to heart, and well also make certain to share them with the author. Please send your comments and suggestions to the following address:
Globe Pequot
Reader Response/Editorial Department
246 Goose Lane
Guilford, CT 06437
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Thanks for your input, and happy trails!
Best Easy Day Hikes Series
Best Easy Day Hikes the Four Corners
JD Tanner and Emily Ressler-Tanner
An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield
Falcon and FalconGuides are registered trademarks and Make Adventure Your Story is a trademark of Rowman & Littlefield.
Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK
Copyright 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield
Maps by Alena Pearce Rowman & Littlefield
All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016947423
ISBN 978-1-4930-2660-9 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4930-2661-6 (e-book)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
The authors and Rowman & Littlefield assume no liability for accidents happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in the activities described in this book.
Acknowledgments
We would like to send out a special thank-you to all the land managers who patiently answered our questions, pointed us toward the very best trails, and carefully reviewed the trail descriptions for this guide. We would also like to thank our friends and family for accompanying us on many of the trails in the Four Corners; your company, humor, support, and enthusiasm were very much appreciated. Finally, we would like to thank all of our friends at FalconGuides, particularly David Legere, Katie Benoit, Max Phelps, and Julie Marsh, for their support and encouragement, and for making a book out of our rough manuscript.
Introduction
The Four Corners region is a vast physiographic and geologic highland region located in the southwestern United States. The region includes much of southeastern Utah, southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and northeastern Arizona. The boundaries of these four states intersect in a remote area of the Navajo Nation. The Four Corners gets its name from this quadripoint, which forms four right angles and is unique in that it is the only place in the United States where you can be in four states at the same time. The Four Corners Monument, one of several parks managed by Navajo Parks & Recreation, marks this distinctive landmark.
The area known collectively as the Four Corners region is part of the larger geographic area known as the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau covers over 130,000 square miles and is home to more National Park Service (NPS) units than any other region of the United States. Many of these NPS units are located in the Four Corners region and are highlighted in this guide, including Arches National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument, Natural Bridges National Monument, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument.
The region is home to many tribal lands and nations, including the Navajo, Jicarilla Apache, Hopi, Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni. The largest of these entities is the Navajo Nation, which covers more than 27,000 square miles of land in the states of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.
We couldnt be more excited to introduce you to the extensive network of trails offered in the Four Corners region. Hiking opportunities are virtually unlimited in this region, and the landscape offers endless beauty and solitude for outdoor enthusiasts. Trails here follow towering sandstone cliffs, traverse quiet valleys and cool canyons, and climb over rough and rugged mountain terrain to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Those willing to venture to this hard-to-reach region will be rewarded with a multitude of recreational opportunities. Springs, arches, natural bridges, narrow canyons, ancient ruins, clear-flowing streams, and geologic wonders are the natural gems of the Four Corners, and are all highlighted in this guide.
If you are a visitor to the Four Corners, this collection of hiking trails will serve as a valuable tool for familiarizing yourself with the great variety of outdoor adventures within this vast region. Our hope is that this guide will serve as your introduction to the regions adventures, and will keep you returning to the Four Corners region time and time again. If you are a longtime local of the area, we hope this book will take you on some new adventures to some lesser-known trails in this diverse region.
This guide lists easy, moderate, and more challenging hikes in the Four Corners region. Some of the hikes can be found near the more populated towns of the region, including Moab, Utah; Durango, Colorado; and Farmington, New Mexico. Some trails are near the most popular vacation destinations, such as Mesa Verde and Arches National Parks, while others are located in more remote and seldom-visited areas, and will likely require a good bit of driving to reach the trailhead. All showcase the natural wonders hidden in this region. From views of majestic mountain peaks to hidden sandstone canyons, the hikes featured in the pages of this book are some of the best in the region. No matter where you choose to explore, you will be rewarded with brilliant memories and leave with a desire to return. Ask almost any outdoor enthusiast who has spent time here, and they will tell you that this rugged landscape has a way of getting a hold on your heart and soul.
We have done our best to include a little something for everyone, and have tried to select trails from many parts of the region while still making sure to include those trails widely considered to be superior for their scenic and historical significance. Hikes for families, for nature lovers, for scenic views, and for history buffs have all been included, and should be considered an introduction to the area and a starting point to continue your explorations in the Four Corners.
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.
Edward Abbey
This famous quote by American author and environmentalist Edward Abbey is the perfect way to start this guide. After all, Abbey used these words in his book Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness , which details Abbeys time in parts of the region, most notably Arches National Park. It is truly our wish to you that you find the areas in this guide as wonderful and wild as we have.
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