Four Corners road trip
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
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30 Leave Seattle 5:20pm land in
ABQ at 9:20pm Sleep in Grants (1:12 hours away) |
31 Drive to El Malpais
(10 min) visit there then go to Holbrook (3:02 hours) sleep there |
1 Go to Meteor Crater
(1 hour) and then Petrified Forest (1:45 min) explore the park then go
to sleep at Holbrook (35 min) |
2 Drive to Canyon de Chelly
(2:50 hours) Sleep at Cortez (2:40 min) |
3 Visit Mesa Verde (35
min from Cortez) and Four Corners ( 1:23 hours) |
4 Drive to Shiprock view area (1 hour) then to Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness
(2:35 hours) and then to Santa Fe (3:30
hours) Sleep in Santa Fe |
5 Drive to Los Alamos
(40 min) visit Alamos Bradbury Science Museum
and Bandelier National Monument sleep in Santa Fe (43 min) |
6 Drive to Meow Wolf
(12 min) and then to Tent Rocks National Monument (45 min) Sleep in Albuquerque (1 hour) |
7 Visit Albuquerque (town plaza) then go to the Natural
History and Science Museum then to the Airport (13 min from hotel) Leave ABQ at 6:29pm |
Trip
route:
Car
Rental: Alamo-
Standard-Size SUV
Hotels:
· Mar 30th - Quality Inn & Suites Grant: 1496 E Santa Fe Ave, Grants, NM, 87020. Itinerary: 7321416446926 cancellation: non-refundable.
· Mar 31st-Apr 1st - Best Western Arizonian Inn 2508 Navajo Blvd, Holbrook, AZ, Confirmation: 233751873 cancellation: 4pm hotel time on 3/30 (Pay at hotel)
· Apr 2nd-Apr 3rd Hampton Inn Mesa Verde/Cortez, 2244 E Hawkins St, Cortez, CO, 81321, itinerary: 7324349007894 Cancellation: 11:59pm 3/31 (Pay at hotel - $220.26)
· Apr 4th-5th The Lodge at Santa Fe 744 Celle Mejia, Santa Fe, NM (no breakfast, pool outside) itinerary: 7327551352144 - Cancellation: until 11:59pm 4/2 (paid already)
·
Apr 6th
La Quinta Inn & Suites Albuquerque Midtown 2011 Menaul
Blvd Ne, Albuquerque, NM, 87107 itinerary: 7327558588252 Cancellation:
until 3pm 4/6 (paid already)
Acoma Pueblo didn't do this:
Getting there: From Albuquerque, NM: Travel West on I-40 for approximately 55 minutes. Exit at Exit 102; continue to the roundabout and cross over I-40 following the signs to Acomita/Rest Area. At the last roundabout exit at the second right and head to the bottom of the small hill with a Stop sign, turn right and follow the signage to Sky City Cultural Center/Haak'u Museum. You will travel through the small village of Acomita for approximately 5 miles then turn left and follow the signs to Sky City Cultural Center/Haak'u Museum approximate drive is 15 miles from I-40.
You must register for a guided tour in order to visit the Pueblo. Please stay with your tour guide at all times and do not wander off the designated tour route. Please restrain your children at all times. No pets or smoking allowed on tour. Permits for cameras must be purchased at the Sky City Cultural Center prior to photographing on the Acoma lands.
Sky City Cultural Center: The Sky City Cultural Center and Haaku Museum strive to preserve Acoma traditions while providing insight into the unique history of the Acoma Pueblo. The Sky City Cultural Center offers guided tours, Acoma pottery & Native American crafts for sale by local artisans and cultural exhibits.
The tour include 1.5hr walking, comfortable walking shoes are recommended
Fee: Family package (2 adults, 2 youth): $66.00
El Malpais:
Hours: open 24 hours a day
Fee: There is no fee to enter El Malpais National Monument.
In April the visitor center should be open every day of the week. As long as you are in a group of under 11, you can get the permit the day of your trip at the visitor center. It is hard to say what caves will be accessible that time of year since many are down dirt roads that become impassable when wet. Please review the caving page on our website to prepare for you trip at http://www.nps.gov/elma/learn/nature/lava-tubes-and-caving.htm . Since all our caves are wild, be sure you bring the gear you need to stay safe and follow all White Nose protocols on the website
Stopped at:
· Sandsone bluffs outlook
· La Ventana Natural Arch
· El Calderon Area:
o Xenolith Cave needed to purchase knee pads (at Walmart - $4 each pair) and head protection (at the visitor center - $8 each) and brought some head flashlights from home.
· Bandera Crater Ice Cave at an extra cost you can see the ice cave (which is really small), we didn't have time to go see the volcano lookout.
Meteor Crater:
Hours: 8am-5pm
Fee: Adults: $18.00, juniors (age 6-17) $9.00
Meteor Crater Rim Tour: tours are at 15 minutes past the hour from 9:15 to 2:10.
Petrified Forest National Park:
Hours: 7am-7pm
Fee: $20.
Visited the following:
· Giant Logs: 0.4 loop. Giant Logs features some of the largest and most colorful logs in the park. Trailhead: behind Rainbow Forest Museum.
· Crystal Forest: 0.75-mile loop. Named for the presence of beautiful crystals that can be found in the petrified logs, this trail offers one of the best opportunities to experience the petrified wood deposits. Trailhead: Crystal Forest parking area.
· Blue Mesa: 1 mile loop, trailhead: Blue Mesa sun shelter
Canyon de Chelly: (observe Daylight Savings Time)
Hours: 8am-5pm
Fee: There is NO entrance fee
The park features a Visitor Center, two rim drives, ten
overlooks, and one public trail to visit on your own. We took a drive around
the south rim while stopping at couple of viewpoints. We went on the White
House trail (2.5 miles round trip)which takes you down
into the canyon. This is a steep walk but really nice.
Mesa Verde:
Hours : 8:30am-4:30pm
Hours of Captain Mesa Museum: 9am-4:30pm
Fee: $15 or American the Beautiful pass ($80)
The Visitor and Research Center, Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum, Far View Sites, Cedar Tree Tower and Mesa Top and Cliff Palace driving loops are open. You can see many cliff dwellings from overlooks at these locations.
We visited the following:
· Captain Mesa Museum - there you can watch a 25 minutes film, which introduce the area and history. Behind the museum there is a trailhead for 0.5-mile-long Spruce Tree House Trail, lead to the best-preserved cliff dwelling in the park.
· Petroglyph Point Trail 2.4 miles round trip, the trailhead is located near the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum. Really nice trail with tunnels, scrambling over some boulders etc.
· Cliff Palace Outlook - was the best preserved ruins we've visited through this trip.
· Balcony House outlook and Soda Canyon Overlook which gives a beautiful view of the canyon.
The Balcony House and the Cliff Palace tours are not offered until May.
Four Corners:
Hours: 8am-5pm
Fee: $5 per person
Weird rock formations with mazelike passages. Really nice place to spend about 1-2 hours climbing the rocks and exploring the area.
Los Alamos
Bandelier
National Monument (42 min from Santa Fe):
Hours: dawn to dusk, visitor center hours: 9am-4:30pm
Fee: $20
Most visitors begin their exploration of Bandelier with a walk on the Main Loop Trail. This short 1.2 mile loop trail starts from the Visitor Center and leads through excavated archeological sites on the floor of Frijoles Canyon. A portion of this trail is handicapped accessible.
Most visitors spend between 45 minutes and one hour on this trail. Ladders along the trail allow visitors to climb into cavates (small human-carved alcoves). The Main Loop Trail takes you past the Big Kiva, Tyuonyi, Talus House, and Long House.
We did the 2.5 mile loop in the Frijoles Canyon all the way to Alcove house where you need to climb 140 foot on 4 ladders.
Bradbury
Science Museum:
Show the history of the Manhattan project as well as current
research and discoveries.
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday: 10 am5 pm
Fee: free
Aztec Ruins didn't do this:
On the way from Cortez to Santa Fe
Hours: 8am-5pm
Fee: $5 over 16 years old
Explore the ancestral Pueblo "Great House" that was the social, economic, and political center of the region after Chaco. A self-guided half-mile walk winds through original rooms. Along the way discover skillful stone masonry, remarkably well-preserved wood roofing, and original mortar in some walls. The interpretive trail guide combines modern archeological findings with traditional Native American perspectives. Enter the ceremonial Great Kiva. This awesome semi-subterranean structure, over 40 feet in diameter, is the oldest and largest reconstructed building of its kind.
Santa Fe:
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
Canyon road: Canyon Road (old Artist Hill) is a mile of art galleries, a few boutiques, and a few restaurants. Wonderful place to spend an hour or more walking, browsing and chatting with the gallery owners.
Meow Wolf (House of Eternal Returns): interactive art experience featuring a wild new form of storytelling. Need about 2 hours here. The kids loved it as well as the adults. Cost about $25 per person.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent
Rocks National Monument (50 min from
Santa Fe)
Hours: 7am-7pm (gates close at 6pm)
Fee: $5
Parking is limited, need to come early, nice views.
The Cave
Loop Trail is 1.2 miles long, rated as easy. The more difficult Canyon Trail is
a 1.5-mile, one-way trek into a narrow canyon with a steep (630-ft) climb to
the mesa top for excellent views of the Sangre de Cristo, Jemez, Sandia
mountains and the Rio Grande Valley. Both trails are maintained; Was very nice hike.
Albuquerque:
Old Town: shops, boutiques, galleries etc.
Natural History and Science Museum:
We saw a temporary exhibit of De Vinci focusing on his science part. We watch a show in the planetarium which was very interesting.