Four Corners : New Mexico – Colorado – Utah – Arizona 2026 

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
7 June 8 9 10 11 12 13
          Six Flags
Trip prep after work		 Drive home to Carlsbad Caverns, bat night flight, Carlsbad Hotel
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Alamogordo Hotel El Malpais Arch, Bisti Wilderness, Badlands Sunset, Farmington Hotel Mesa Verde, La Plata Canyon, Durango Hotel Million Dollar Highway, Ouray, Black Canyon Of The Gunnison, Grand Junction Hotel Colorado NM, Fisher Towers, Moab Hotel Arches, Kane Creek, Moab Hotel Corona Arch, Canyonlands Islands In The Sky, Moab Hotel
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Canyonlands Needles, Blanding Hotel House On Fire, Natural Bridges, Leprechaun Canyon, Factory Butte, Torrey Hotel Capitol Reef
Torrey Hotel		 Boulder Mountain, Lower Calf Creek Falls, Escalante Hotel Hole In The Rock, Devils Garden + Dry Fork + Spooky + Peek-A-Boo slots, camp @ mile 40 Hole In The Rock, Coyote Gulch, Escalante pizza, Bryce Canyon City Ruby's Hotel Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon, Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort
28 29 30 1 July 2 3 4th of July
Observation Point, Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort Zion Canyon, Narrows, Springdale Hotel Shuttle to Lava Point, West Rim Trail, Kanab Hotel Glen Canyon, Page, Grand Canyon, Maswik Lodge South Rim, Meteor Crater, Winslow, Petrified Forest, Gallup Hotel Drive home, Cadillac Ranch  

 

Chris and Nathan went on a three-week driving vacation around the Four Corners states; New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.  This was originally planned as a two-week vacation with most nights camping, but morphed into a more relaxed and comfortable three-week trip staying at hotels on all nights except for one camping night on Hole In The Rock Road, 45 miles from the nearest town. 

 

We visited eighteen national parks and monuments, listed below, and hiked about 120 miles in total.  El Malpais National Monument and the Bisti Wilderness, both in northwest New Mexico, were totally new places to visit on this trip. We revisited and hiked a lot of old places that Chris had been to before this trip, but almost all locations were new places for Nathan.  The longest hike was the West Rim Trail at Zion National Park, at over 15 miles in nine hours. We started at Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands in southeast New Mexico and then went north, circling the Four Corners counter-clockwise.  The last parks we visited were Grand Canyon National Park and Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
 

Parks Visited:

  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM

  • White Sands National Park, NM

  • El Malpais National Monument, NM

  • Bisti Wilderness, NM

  • Mesa Verde National Park, CO

  • Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, CO

  • Colorado National Monument, CO

  • Arches National Park, UT

  • Canyonlands National Park, UT - Islands In The Sky, Needles

  • Bears Ears National Monument, UT

  • Natural Bridges National Monument, UT

  • Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, UT & AZ

  • Capitol Reef National Park, UT

  • Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, UT

  • Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

  • Zion National Park, UT

  • Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

  • Petrified Forest National Park, AZ

 

13 June: Carlsbad Caverns Bat Night Flight, Carlsbad Hotel

 

14 June: Carlsbad Caverns, Alamogordo Hotel

Carlsbad Caverns Natural Entrance Bat Flight Amphitheater

                                                                             

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

                   

Cloudcroft View of Tularosa Basin, White Sands National Park, New Mexico

     

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, Gateway Freedom Monument, Alamogordo, New Mexico


 
 GoPro Hero 10 4K, Drive Cloudcroft to Alamogordo, 14 June 2026
 Route in Google Maps

 

15 June: El Malpais, Bisti Wilderness, Farmington Hotel

 

                     

 

El Malpais National Monument: La Ventana Arch, Bisti Wilderness 

 

           

 

Angle Peak Badlands Overlook 

 

 

16 June: Mesa Verde National Park, Durango Hotel

View from Mesa Verde National Park looking north towards Cortez, Colorado

Cliff Palace

                         

Shiprock, Mesa Verde National Park, La Plata Canyon



 GoPro Hero 10 4K, Drive Mesa Verde National Park, 16 June 2026
 Route in Google Maps		  

 

17 June: Million $ Highway, Ouray, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Grand Junction Hotel

Haviland Lake, Colorado


Panoramas looking south towards Ouray, Colorado

                                                     

Million Dollar Highway, Durango to Silverton to Ouray, Colorado

                   

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

                         

Million Dollar Highway and Black Canyon


 Meta AI Glasses HD, Ouray Box Canyon Waterfall Slot Canyon, 17 June 2026
 
 
 GoPro Hero 10 4K, Drive Million Dollar Highway,
Coal Creek Pass to Silverton to Ouray, 17 June 2026
 Route in Google Maps

 

18 June: Colorado National Monument, Moab, Fisher Towers, Moab Hotel

                         

Colorado National Monument, Colorado

                 

Castle Valley, Fisher Towers



 GoPro Hero 10 4K, Drive Colorado National Monument, 18 June 2026
 Route in Google Maps

GoPro Hero 4K, Aerial FPV Reptile 800 Flying Wing, Near Fisher Towers, 18 June 2026
 Location in Google Maps 

 

19 June: Arches National Park, Delicate Arch hike, Kane Creek Canyon, Moab Hotel

                                 

Arches National Park, Utah

       

Kane Creek Petroglyphs, Birthing Panel, Moab, Utah

20 June: Corona Arch, Canyonlands National Park Islands In The Sky, Moab Hotel

                           

Corona & Bow-Tie Arches, Poison Spider Mesa Dinosaur Tracks & Petroglyphs 

                 

Canyonlands National Park - Islands In The Sky District: Grandview Point, Upheaval Dome, Mesa Arch

21 June: Canyonlands National Park Needles, Newspaper Rock, Blanding Hotel, Summer Solstice & Fathers Day

           

Wilson Arch, Newspaper Rock

                             

Canyonlands National Park - Needles District



 GoPro Hero 4K, Aerial FPV Reptile 800 Flying Wing, Near Canyonlands Needles, 21 June 2026
 Location in Google Maps		  

 

22 June: Butler Wash, House on Fire, Natural Bridges, Glen Canyon Hite, Leprechaun Slot Canyon, Factory Butte, Capitol Reef, Torrey Hotel

               

Bears Ears National Monument: Butler Wash, House On Fire

           

Natural Bridges National Monument

           

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Hite Overlook

                     

Leprechaun Canyon

         

Factory Butte, Capitol Reef National Park



 GoPro Hero 4K, Aerial FPV Reptile 800 Flying Wing, Near Factory Butte, 22 June 2026
 Location in Google Maps		  

 

23 June: Capitol Reef, Torrey Hotel

                               

Capitol Reef National Park: Fruita Petroglyphs, Hickman Bridge

 

24 June: Boulder Mountain, Lower Calf Creek Falls, Escalante Hotel

         

Views from Boulder Mountain and The Hogback

                                                 

Calf Creek Canyon, Lower Calf Creek Falls

Head Of The Rocks



 GoPro Hero 10 4K, Drive Escalante River Gorge,
Boulder to Hole In The Rock Road, 24 June 2026
 Route in Google Maps


Meta AI Glasses HD, Lower Calf Creek Falls, 24 June 2026

 

25 June: Hole In the Rock Road, Devils Garden, Dry Fork + Spooky + Peek-a-Boo, Dance Hall Rock, Camp on 40 Mile Ridge Road

                               

Hole In The Rock Road: Devils Garden

                                               

Hole In The Rock Road: Dry Fork Narrows, Spooky and Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyons

Hole In The Rock Road: Dance Hall Rock

                 

Hole In The Rock Road: Sunset on 40 Mile Ridge Road



 GoPro Hero 10 4K, Hiking Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, 25 June 2026

 

26 June: Hole In The Rock, Coyote Gulch, Ruby’s Hotel in Bryce Canyon City

           

Coyote Gulch, Jacob Hamblin Arch

 

27 June: Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon, Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort

                                 

Bryce Canyon National Park

 

28 June: Zion Canyon Observation Point, Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort

                                     

Zion National Park: Observation Point

       

Sunset from North Fork County Road above Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort

 

29 June: Zion Canyon, Narrows, Springdale Hotel

     

Zion National Park: Mt Carmel Road

                           

Zion National Park: The Narrows

               

Zion National Park: Zion Canyon, Crawford Arch

             

Long Exposure Night Photos in Zion Canyon, Lights on cliff are overnight climbers



 GoPro Hero 10 4K, Hiking the Narrows, Zion Canyon, 29 June 2026

 

30 June: Shuttle from Springdale to Lava Point, West Rim Trail, Kanab Hotel

                                                                       

 


 GoPro Hero 10 4K, Hiking West Rim Trail, Descent into Zion Canyon, 30 June 2026

GoPro Hero 10 4K, Driving Zion National Park,
Visitors Center to East Entrance, Mt Carmel Road, 30 June 2026
 Route in Google Maps

 

01 July: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Page, Grand Canyon National Park, Maswik Lodge at South Rim

 

02 July: Grand Canyon South Rim, Meteor Crater, Winslow, Petrified Forest National Park, Gallup Hotel

 

03 July: Drive home, Gallup to Arlington

 

 

Videos


All-Trails Recorded Hikes