four corners
 

I'm traveling in July with my family to the Four Corners area. Our children are in their early 20's. Am looking for advice on an itinerary for a 7 - 10 day stay. We'll probably be flying into Albuquerque and would like to see Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Mesa Verde, Four Corners. We'd also like to spend a little time in Taos and Sante Fe. Maybe Monument Valley?? What are the must-sees and how much time do we need to plan on to see each?

Here is a thread I did a while back when asked a similar question. This should give you a start:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34895115

What kind of things does your family like to do: hike, bike, horesback ride, museums??

Also, if you use the search box at top of this page and type in key terms { Four Corners, Mesa Verde, Taos, Santa Fe} you will find lots of threads with great suggestions on what to see and do in these areas. Also, the DESTINATION link at the top gives some of Fodors great suggestions.

Hope this helps [for starters]...
Debi

Run a search as there are several posts that have itineraries (from DebitNM).

Here's one that is going now:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34923700

This thread has great info including Colorado and New Mexico:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34895115

Here is a SW Colorado website from Debi's post:

http://www.swcolotravel.org/drives.html

To go to the places you've mentioned I would go for the 10-day trip as you'll be driving a lot.

Here's a thread for Moab & SW Colorado and Utah:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34928593

Hope that get's you started. Don't forget to do a search as I've seen a lot here in the last couple of months.

I've been to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon but not into Monument Valley -- YET!

Sorry, Debi. We were posting at the same time!

Forgot to post this website which has a lot of helpful information for the four corners region:

www.grandcircle.org


Sheila

S'ok Sheila! GMTA

Debi

We did a trip in '05 that included Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Taos. Chaco was sure worth its' remote location. We spent 2 nights at Far View in Mesa Verde - you'll be happy to be in the park. It's a long drive in. Be sure to sign up to see Balcony House and other ranger-led hikes to the cliff dwellings. The dining at the Metate Room at Far View is really good.

One of the trip's highlights was a tiny town called Jemez Springs in New Mexico - we hiked to some amazing hot springs in an alpine meadow where we happily soaked. We stayed in a small B&B in that was beautiful. You should definitely see the Taos Pueblo, but I can't recommend staying in Taos. I didn't care much for it.

We have lots of pictures of our trip posted if you are interested. Pics of Mesa Verde begin on pg 4 and Chaco on pg 5.
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/co_and_nm_05

sharondi: Thank you for sharing your pictures! Its been a few years since we've been to Chaco and it is so special.

Your camping spot was across from ours. I woke up to find my husband halfway out of our tent. Looking out he was staring at the incredibly full sky of stars. Nothing like I had ever seen -- ever! You could read a newspaper by the light. I got my starguide out and it was hard to find any constellations. The sky was full. We didn't go to sleep for hours.

Chaco is a very special place. I love the overhead shot that still shows the prehistoric roads/dirt paths converging at Pueblo Alto. After learning about it in class, it was very exciting and special to be there.

sharondi: I have to ask about this picture. It doesn't appear to fit in with the rest -- it looks to be something from the past, maybe 60's, 70's??

When was it taken?

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/50088558

Always helps to post the link......

If you enjoy archeology and like to compare how a culture changed, add Aztec Ruins National Monument to your itinerary. In the town of Aztec, NM just a few miles north of Farmington, it has a different feel to it than that of Chaco Canyon and the architecture fits in well between Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. We probably spent an hour and a half there but longer would have been nice.

BeachGirl,
That's great that you spotted it - I didn't even know it was in the gallery. The shot is my husband when he was just a youngster (around 1960?)in Mesa Verde - his Dad took the shot. Our trip brought back some wonderful old memories for him of their many family trips. He snuck one in!

That's great he has photos from his family trips. What great memories!

Thanks again for sharing the pics.