Off US 191 in Arizona, Canyon de Chelly
National Mon't by Chinle is neat with a Navajo Tribe campground. Been there when it was a free campground years ago. Hubbell Trading Post NHS is off 191 as well, maybe a small detour to get to it. Interesting.
:)Navajo National Monument is located at the end of State Highway 564 off of US Highway 160. Which connects with US 191, north of Chinle. We have not been to this one, but sounds very interesting. Two campgrounds, one open all year, somewhat isolated but no fees are charged.
Navajo Nat'l Mon'tWe drove by the turn off to Goosenecks
State Park in Utah when we went to Mon't Valley. It seems like one to see & place to overnight. We camped at Capital Reef Nat'l Park as well as Bridges Nat'l Monument. All very neat. And not too far from Mesa Verde Nat'l Park.
:CYep!
Mesa Verde NP if not been there & stay at the Morefield Campground, just 4 miles inside Mesa Verde. With 267 sites, there's always plenty of space! The campground rarely fills. Each site has a table, bench, and grill. Camping is open to tents, trailers and RVs, including 15 full hookup RV sites that require reservations. Easy to get into. Morefield's campsites are situated on loop roads that extend through a high grassy canyon filled with Gambel Oak scrub, native flowers, deer, and wild turkeys.
In New Mexico:
Chaco Canyon is neat to see as well in New Mexico off US 550 from ABQ. Our
Chaco Canyon Trip Part One in 2012. A hard one to get back into at times.
Part Two Why we wanted to do the trip only in the pickup. One could see a good part in one day if get there early enough. If not in an RV. Shouldn't have trouble taking your Winnebago View on the road taking it easy on the rough sections.
Chaco: Hikes & Information DittoSome other ruins in the Aztec area as well.
What To SeeNear Bloomfield/Aztec os
Navajo Lake State Park, the second largest lake in the state, with multiple campgrounds. We stayed at the Pine River Campground some years ago, very nice place. We canoed on the "arm" which is a flooded canyon of the Pine River which leads up towards Colorado. Very nice. There is a CO Navajo State Park as well. Never been to it. NM's would be less expensive I believe.
:( Four Corners Monument (where four states intersect at one point: Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado) & Four Corners Tribal Park, Hwy. 160 & 60 miles NW of Farmington, IMHO isn't worth the effort to see & from I have read isn't at the correct location. We went by it years ago before it became a Tribal Park, but wouldn't advise anyone to make the effort. It was the original marker when we stopped (a simple concrete pad), but has since been redone in granite and brass. Now with a Cost: $3.00/person.
Wrong Place and
Ditto Wrong PlaceThe Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a coal-fired, steam-operated, narrow gauge train that travels through the remote wilderness of the southern Rocky Mountains between Chama, NM and Antonito, CO.
http://cumbrestoltec.com/:h A little out of the Four Corner Region, but just in cast:
North of Santa Fe, almost into Colorado & on the way to Durango & on to Mesa Verde:
Chama Area. The very neat Cumbres Toltec Steam Train runs from & to Chama & Antonito (Colorado); turns soon after Cumbres Pass Station & head cross country to Antonito. One can do a halfway trip (which we did a few years ago), a 'free' meal at halfway point (price included in tickets). Good food there & plenty of it.
Cumbres Toltec Steam Train Depending on the time of the year, one might be able disperse camp above Cumbres Pass in Nat'l Forest (in Colorado). There is a campground there called:
Trujillo Meadows. Not sure if it will be open when you need it or not.
Or Going North from ABQ toward Mesa Verde or South from it: Two neat stops, north of Abiquiu, worth a see would be the Echo Amphitheater, a Natural rock formation, and the Ghost Ranch Piedra Lumbre Education and Visitor Center, located on U.S. Highway 84 just one mile north of the main Ghost Ranch entrance, has exhibits and a gift shop. A very nice museum in "O´Keefe Country." The Echo Amphitheater is past the visitor center some miles.
Santa Fe & Northern New Mexico:
Hiking Santa Fe Nat'l Forest:C
Santa Fe & Bandelier Nat'l Mon't area of New Mexico -A Trip Report 2012. This was in August.
Los Alamos is a very neat small city in itself. Free bus system with very neat buses. Very pretty setting up in the high country. Somewhat of a gated community as well. We only drove through & stopped at a SuperMarket. A nice town.
http://www.visit.losalamos.com/http://www.losalamosnm.us/transit/Pages/default.aspx Between Santa Fe & Taos as well.
More on the Santa Fe Area Expanded & ABQ.
Santa Fe (Eating):
We had very good Asian from
Jinja Bar & Bistro in Santa Fe last summer. Just stumbled onto it in a thunder/rain storm. We did carry out, but it was a very nice restaurant. Went back this summer & ate in the restaurant with our daughter & grandson. All enjoyed the food.
Someone at the AAA office recommended
Tortilla Flats in Santa Fe; it prove to be very good as well.
Normally, we would eat on the Plaza, from Cart Vendors, such as Roque's Carnitas.
Cart Cuisine, but they were not there that week-end. Due to the 'Santa Fe Indian Market', "a 91-year-old Native art market", we didn't find the normal street food venders on the Plaza. We did eat once at one of the 'Indian' vendors, but the lines were extremely long. Also at a roasted corn vendor.
Hyde Memorial State Park above Santa Fe (most of the state parks have free showers, but none there).
Find a Park Map. NM State Parks: $10 no hookup, $4 for electric, not entry fee on top of camping fee.
Cochiti COE Campground & Tent Rocks Nat'l Park in Northern New Mexico Off I-25:
Near Santa Fe - Very Neat Area. Could be hot in summer.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument neat place to hike:
Hikes and
Ditto New Mexico Scenic ByWaysGeorgia O'Keefe Museum, in Santa Fe. A neat town with lots of arts to see. Not only the O'Keefe Museum will have her work, some of the NM State Museums do as well.
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/As for Indian Art & Culture, The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology is located on Museum Hill, which has The Wheelwright Museum.
https://wheelwright.org/Lot of Indian Vendors on Sidewalk in front of the
Palace of the Governors most of the time. As well of other vendors along many of the streets around the plaza & to it. Not to mention all the galleries & shops.
Find a Park Map. NM State Parks: $10 no hookup, $4 for electric, not entry fee on top of camping fee.
More on the Santa Fe Area Expanded & ABQ.
Just minutes north of Albuquerque (off of I-25, exit 242) in Bernalillo, is Coronado State Monument where Francisco Vásquez de Coronado—with 300 soldiers and 800 Indian allies from New Spain—entered the valley while looking for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold. Next to it: There is a Bernalillo city campground (used to be a state park) at the entrance to the State Monument. Wasn't a bad site some years ago, haven't been there in some time.
Coronado Campground
