Four Corners Road Trip

Denver to Durango

Growing up in Colorado with family in Pagosa Springs and Durango, I’ve driven this route a thousand times. We had just spent two weeks in Durango a few weeks earlier to spend time with my grandma, so we didn’t make anything special of this day. We simply left early and got there as quickly as we could so we could begin the “real” part of the road trip the next time.

However, because we had gone for the first time those few weeks prior, we did make a day of it that first time around. This is how we broke up the trip:

Denver to Durango is about a 6.5 hour drive if you don’t stop. You can take 285 around— I call this the scenic way, or you can take I25 to Highway 160. We took 285 to enjoy the mountain views.

There’s a great hot springs in Glenwood and also at Mt. Princeton in case anyone is interested in those stops. Salida is also a super cute town worth visiting when passing through. We were losing daylight quickly though (mid December + daylight saving, so we're talking 4:30 pm 🥴) and had another destion in mind, so we kept driving.

The main stop of the day was the Great Sand Dunes National Park. These are the coolest dunes! As the tallest sand dunes in the US set at the foot of gorgeous snowy mountains, it's a really unique site to behold.

Unfortunately, it was ridiculously windy and freezing cold, so we didn't stay long. But adding an extra hour to the drive was still worth it because it's so beautiful, and also totally weird that you find sand dunes in the middle of the Rocky Mountains.

After that, we set our sites on Durango and got going. Pro tip: stop for gas in Del Norte so you don't get stuck in Wolf Creek Pass with no gasoline!

Of course, driving through Wolf Creek is a bit scary (use your gear shifters for the steep downhill parts and DON'T SPEED. It's way too dangerous) but it's also an amazingly scenic byway with 360 views all around.

Once we got to Pagosa Springs, we stopped for Malted Milkshakes at the Malt Shoppe (family classic) and then finally reached Durango just after sun down. One more pro tip: try to avoid driving between Pagosa and Durango in the dark at all costs. There are soooo many deer, tons of twists and turns, and it's only two lanes so it's 1. hard to pass and 2. you get totally blinded by all the passing cars so it's also hard to see.

I absolutely LOVE Durango, I lived there for years when I was in college and for a little bit after college as well. There’s tons to do from endless outdoor activity to amazing restaurants, but on this trip we got up early and got right on the road headed for the GRAND CANYON! We couldn’t wait to get there 😄

The drive to the canyon is about 5.5 hours. We made two major stops: The Four Corners National Monument and Kayenta, Arizona.

The Four Corners National Monument is collectively owned by the different Native tribes who live in the area (Hopi, Ute, Zuni, and Navajo). It’s a great big concrete slab where you can stand in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah all at the same time. It’s pretty gimmicky and not very pretty, it also costs $8 per person to enter, but it’s one of those Must See stops on any good American road trip that passes by. Of course I had to take my boyfriend!

If you’re into Native American art, it’s a great place to shop around, so bring some cash!

There happened to be marathon race going on at the same time which was kind of a funny thing to come up on, but really nice to see the area lively and humans getting their exercise on!

Our next stop was in Kayenta. It’s basically the only town with half-decent food stops and a big grocery store so it’s a good middle ground to stop if you need lunch, but the main attraction is at the Burger King. They have the biggest display of Native Code Talkers memorabilia in the country. Yes, super random that this extremely important World War II museum is set inside of a fast food chain, but I guess it’s keeps them from having to pay for a separate building and might even get more eyes this way.

The exhibit is really cool. It’s not huge (relatively), but there are photos and uniforms and little stories all about the code talkers and their families.

If you don’t know what a Code Talker is— it’s a group of Native Americans from the Navajo Nation that volunteered in WWII, they created a secret code using the Navajo language. It kept the US’ messages from being decoded, keeping tons of people safe and supported secret missions. Super cool!!

From there, we went straight to the Grand Canyon stopping all along the way to the camp site at various lookout points. Finally we reached Mather Campground, set up camp, and rushed over to the rim just in time for the most magical sunset. If you do nothing else in the Grand Canyon, at least go for sunset.

There was a big water leak on Bright Angel Trail so they weren’t allowing fires at the camp sites, which was a real shame since the sunset was about 5 pm and temperatures dropped drastically. We love camping so we weren’t deterred but we agreed to only stay 1 night instead of 2 if it was unbearable. And luckily, Yavapai Lodge has a big restaurant and a lounge that’s open 24/7 (the lounge, not the restaurant— that closes at 9 pm) so we were able to hang out there on our laptops until quite late to stay warm and get some work done (we’re digital nomads so you work when you can get the hours in 😉).

Camping overnight wasn’t too bad thanks to our great sleeping bags and extra hand warmers so we didn’t get up too early the next morning since we agreed to stay the extra night. We took the morning extra slow, cooking breakfast and bird watching at the camp site as we do.

Then at about 1 pm we got on the South Kaibab Trail. We took it easy, simply savoring the sites and not worrying about hiking too deep into the canyon so late in the day. We hiked just a few miles down to Cedar Ridge and decided to spend the rest of the day hanging out there. We ate our lunch, took lots of photos, drank a couple tinnies (beer)… it was glorious.

And just when we thought it couldn’t get better, a freakin bald eagle flew right over our heads. Talk about magical!!

Once we felt like it (and we knew the sun would be setting soon), we started our climb back out. With plenty of time on our hands and lots of outdoor experience, we took. our. time. Stopping at every switch back to enjoy the ever-changing view. Soaking in the last rays of sun. And then saying our goodbyes to the last dregs of light as the sun dipped below the horizon, watching the sunset for the second night in a row.

If you’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, I hope you put it on your bucket list. There are few natural places in the world that are so easy to get to and spend time in that are this breathetakingly gorgeous.

Bonus points for us because there was hardly anyone on the trail at this time of year/day, so it was like having the whole Grand Canyon to ourselves. Can’t imagine any better way to show my English boyfriend the USA.

In the evening we cooked our dinner and then spent a couple hours at the Yavapai Lodge, then had a good sleep, another easy morning, and off we went the next day towards Phoenix.

Two nights is the perfect amount of time to spend in the GC. Not too long that you can get bored but just enough to savor the sites and avoid feeling rushed.

Days 5 - 9 were spent at one of my good friend’s house in Surprise, AZ. We didn’t do much to write home about besides spend time with them.

However, on the way to Surprise from the GC, we decided to take the long way around so we could stop in Seligman, AZ. This is a “The Birthplace of Route 66” and the town that the move Cars was based on.

The town is basically one long strip of funky restaurants and classic Route 66 and Cars displays. We dined at The Roadkill Cafe (“You kill it, we cook it”) but realized that the restaurant across the way, Westside Lilo’s Cafe, would have been better as a vegetarian. Oh well, the Caesar salad I ordered was ginormous and pretty tasty so I didn’t starve. The inside is covered in funny signs, nicknacks, and taxidermy. Another perfect stop on an American road trip.

Another option would have been to drive through Sedona (and Prescott), which you can do both, Seligman and Sedona, it’s just a little bit of added drive time. Would have been totally worth it to do both but we went to Sedona the last time we were in the US so we took the shorter route straight to Surprise. I’d recommend at least a night in Sedona if you have the time.

Driving from northwest Phoenix all the way to White Sands National Park making sure to stop in Tucson for lunch with family would be much too long of a day, so we stopped half way. Since we were car camping, we looking for a nice campsite in an easy to get to place. We opted for something a bit more wild so we could fully immerse in nature (and not have to pay too much in camping fees). We found a great site with free, undeveloped sites. Perfect place for a night under the stars!

Well, we didn’t end up making it all the way to White Sands this night because we ended up needing to recharge all our batteries and rest up before continuing on. The sun set just a little too early during these December days. Luckily, we found the most beautiful camp site at Organ Needle just before you hit white sands. We arrived in the dark so didn’t get to see much, but when we woke up we were stunned to be directly below these gorgeous jutting rocks. If I lived in the area, I would be camping here all the time!

We woke up early to visit White Sands and I’m so glad we drove all the way out here to visit it. It was awesome! Just as white and unique as one would expect. We stopped by the visitor's center, of course, and then took a walk around the white sands (well, silica anyway). I was truly blown away by house idyllic it is, you truly feel like you're on another planet.

After our visit, we started our drive towards Santa Fe and finally, made it our last stop of the trip just as the sun was setting. The artsy vibes are very much still in tact. We spent some time exploring the town and doing some window shopping (not any actual shopping though, wayyy to expensive for our budgets!). My favorite part of town is the town square. It reminds me of Latin's America's town square and it's used just the same.

My favorite part of visiting Santa Fe was actually seeing the original Meow Wolf. I find these art exhibits to be absolutely astonishing and not overhyped whatsoever. It was so sweet to see a little section of the place with money, notes, and a sweet note thanking one of the original artists for his dedication to the art. Sadly, he passed away quite young.

At last, we drove the long way home (back to Denver) but not without stopping at Taos Pueblo. This is a Native American village that dates back thousands of years and is one of the only sights that has always belonged to the indigenous people. It's got a fascinating story and even more fascinating architecture. You have to pay to get in but it includes a walking tour, which I high recommend. Please support our indigenous communities by visiting this beautiful town!