Description
This article is from the Outdoor
Activities for Young Children FAQ, by Gloria Logan
glogan@atk.com with numerous contributions by others.
41 GENERAL CAMPING: New Mexico and Southern Colorado
I spent two weeks last summer in New Mexico and Southern Colorado. We
spent 2 days in Durango and 3 in Mesa Verde. First, while in Durango do
take the Durango to Silverton steam train. It's great fun and Silverton
has been kept up as a real western town with cowboys riding in and out
etc. A 7 year-old should love both the town and the steam train ride
up. Buy tickets in advance and I suggest the train ride up and bus back.
Mesa Verde deserves a few days. There are several short hikes through
Anasazi ruins. There's a little climbing involved in a few places but
nothing a 7 year-old couldn't handle. Some of it is ladders. Usually
they handle the change in elevation better than the adults. None of us
had any trouble at all. It might be better to stay closer to the Park
than Durango.
It is mountain dessert so it was dry and hot. Storms come in quick and
generally are short in duration. Often you get to watch one in the
distance while being in the sun yourself. I thought it was exciting to
see lighting touch down. We had rain ponchos with hoods that fold up
real small and always carried them in a pack. We also carried water
bottles.
-----
How much information do you want? I used to work as an archaeologist in
the area for about 8 years :-) The North Rim is fine, BUT I feel it is
more spectacular from the South Rim (and traditional) and the crowds
aren't that bad (not anywhere near what you'll find at Mesa Verde).
Three days for the Grand Canyon are a little long when there is other
stuff to see. Other National Monuments in the area are Sunset Crater,
a real, live recent volcano that is climable by a 7 year old. Volcanos
are always a hit in that age bracket, and what my kids describe as a
bunch of real boring archaeological site/National Monuments. Of course,
the four corners monument for the obligatory picture to take back to
school showing the child in 4 states at once. Monument Valley in Utah
is close, and VERY, VERY neat for kids and adults. In Durango take
the narrow gauge train between Silverton and Durango - takes a whole
day but very much worth it. In New Mexico about an hour South of
Durango try Aztec Ruin NM and Salmon Ruins County Park (where I worked
for those 8 years). Spectacular and almost as good as a visit to Chaco
Canyon - you should be able to catch a jeep tour to Chaco from the
Aztec-Farmington area and that is the most incredible experience for
adult and child that I can think of and it is far, far, far less
crowded than Mesa Verde. Also jeep tours to the Bisti Badlands -
dinosaur bones eroding out of the badlands, along with petrified trees.
Also in Arizona, Painted Desert NM and Petrified Forest NM. My kids
rate the attractions in this order:
Grand Canyon - either rim
Silverton to Durango Train
Sunset Crater
Chaco Canyon
Monument Valley
Four Corners
Aztec/Salmon
Petrified Forest/Bisti Badlands
Mesa Verde
other boring archaeological sites and museums
We have never done the rafting.
-----
Sounds like a wonderful vacation - I'm planning my own, I may want to
look up your route, I've wanted to get back to GC ever since I worked
there in the summer of '78.
The North Rim IS less crowded, no question. Just offhand, however, if
my memory serves me correctly there would be less of an opportunity for
a 7YO-compatible day hike from there. On the South Rim, there's short
hikes possible along the Rim, at Hermit's Rest, and of course, from GC
village down to Indian Gardens. (IE, from the rim down to the plateau
but not all the way down to the river.) Obviously, the trails are big
and well traveled, but they're enough to make even an in-shape college
student (me at the time) a little winded. Bear in mind also the
'inverted' nature of a Canyon hike: down FIRST (which makes odd muscles
ache), the hard climb back up LAST. When you're halfway down the
canyon that rim looks a long, long way up, and if you or your child
gets tired, you've got a problem. It's better than 5000 vertical feet
to the river; not a hike for a youngster.
Another pitfall of hiking in the sunny SouthWest: heavy-duty sunburn.
I saw a LOT of tourist blithely hiking in tank-tops, shorts, sandals.
Bad idea: you need light, cool clothes BUT they should be long pants
and long-sleeved shirts - you'll feel cooler, believe it or not. And
real walking shoes, like tenny runners or similar, NOT sandals. I
usually hiked in blue jeans and a blue chambray work shirt, which I
frequently doused with water. If this sounds like craziness, recall
that this is how desert people dress too - covering up. We're talking
about second-degree sunburn possible, so hats/sunglasses too. (I'm
more assiduous about the hat now that I'm going bald!) Those same
tourists I mentioned often ended up in the GC infirmary. . . use that
sunscreen!!!
The cave dwellings at Mesa Verde and elsewhere - your kid will love
'em, I saw them when I was young and thought they were cool beyond
words. Lots of scrambling to get down to see them, which 7-year-olds
seem to love anyway.
-----
As for things to see in the vicinity: The meteor crater near Winslow,
Arizona is great--my kids saw it a few months ago and the older two
really enjoyed it. Oh, and I've also heard that there is a real steam
train that runs to and from the GC from...where was it?...not Flagstaff
but I believe the next city west.
-----
It so happens that my family and I are traveling most of that route on
our way to Las Vegas June 6. I will keep my eyes open for things of
interest and write to you when we get back. Now last year, I finally
got to see Mesa Verde park and it was wonderful and very intriging. I
definitely suggest you don't miss this experience. We use AAA to get
us routes for the trip and they have been very usefull and informative.
-----
>We recently decided to try to go to Grand Canyon in late August. Our
>current thoughts are to visit the North Rim for 3 days, (in an attempt
>to avoid crowds at the South Rim), then drive to Durango via
It's definitely worth staying away from the crowds, but as I recall,
the two sides are really quite surprisingly different. If it's on the
way, it might be worth a 1 day stop on the South Rim.
>a smoothwater trip on the Colorado River at Page, and will visit
>Mesa Verde while staying in Durango.
Mesa Verde is very interesting but might be a little dull for a 7 year
old. Still, one day can't hurt. Mom and Dad have to have their fun
too :-).
>What are the must-see and must avoid spots in this area?
It's been 7 yrs since I went out there with my family, so the memory is
a little rusty on the geography. Without a map here, I can't be sure
how convenient it will be to the locations you mention, but either way,
Bryce Canyon is worth going pretty far out of your way.
We went on a three week trip (driving from MD) including Rocky Mt Natl.
Park, Grand, Bryce and Zion Canyons, Mesa Verde, Dinosaur Natl Monument
and the Petrified Forest to name a few. Of all those, I would rate
Bryce as the single most "must see" followed closely by Grand Canyon
(I know my father would agree and the rest of the family probably
wouldn't argue too much).
Grand is awe inspiring by virtue of its size and can be very pretty
too, but Bryce is orders of magnitude more beatiful. And totally
unique. You can hardly go wrong in this area. I can't recall anywhere
we went that I wouldn't go back to again. You're going to have a great
vacation.
>hazardous (hairpin turns in the mountains)? Do storms suddenly start?
>Are there dredded insects/snakes this time of year? Anything to be
>warned of?
I can't say much for the driving. I had just turned 16, so Mom and Dad
did most of the driving, but as I recall, the roads in the Rocky's were
steep and twisting, but nothing that struck you as dangerous. Don't
count on averaging 55 mph, but it's not like the Alpine roads you see
in BMW commercials.
It's going to be hot, but that's hard to avoid in that area. Still, it
bears repeating. It's going to be hot. Really, really hot. Good luck.
-----
First, although I have not hiked in the Grand Canyon, I know a little
about the trails. If you hike in on the North Kaibab Trail from North
Rim, your son is probably okay. But all those trails are steep and
narrow, and you should be very careful. And there is no water, of
course. Late August could be quite hot and even humid, even at the
north rim elevation. Down in the canyon it will be even worse. Get
all the info you can from rangers and the Park Service in advance.
From North Rim to Durango is godforsaken, desolate, barren, dry, rocky
and absolutely beautiful country. Most of it crosses the Navajo
Reservation, then Southern Ute in Colorado. The people are scarce and
very poor. They are concentrated in Kayenta, which as you probably know
is the closest civilization to Monument Valley. I don't know Bluff,
Utah. I have driven across the Northern Arizona side to Four Corners.
I suspect the drive is about the same in terms of conditions. There's
not much to Cortez, Colorado. Durango is beautiful, but pricey.
Most of the roads are pretty good. There are some mountain turns on the
road to the North Rim and in Southwest Colorado, but nothing too hairy.
The roads on the reservation appear to have simply been smeared down
across the terrain with little preparation of the roadbed, but they're
passable. The hard thing is watc hing the road when you want to watch
all the rocks around you. There are always insects and snakes in the
desert, less so in the high country. Mostly they operate around dusk
and on to about midnight, but you never know. Storms usually develop
for a while and you can see them coming. They can be quite violent,
but not totally surprising.
What you need to be careful of in regard to storms is if you're hiking
in canyons or washes. Storms far away can send huge walls of water down
dry washes and canyons, so always beware. If you hear thunder, stay out
of gullies and narrow canyons.
-----
Mesa Verde is the most overcrowded National Park in the West. Friends
who are rangers dread being assigned there because of the crowds. On
the other hand it is spectacular. Aztec and Salmon are both not as
nice or spectacular but are rather unlikely to be crowded. They are
part of a much neater regional phenomena, the Chacoan empire, but
without a trip to Chaco Canyon, they are probably not as worth it.
Entering Chaco Canyon is the single most breathtaking and awe-
nspriring moment in my life (other than the giving birth of course :-))
and I have been all over the ruins in Mexico and Central America. I
asked my kids after I wrote to you before about Chaco and Mesa Verde
and they though MV was better because a) the trip into the ruins was
shorter, b) closer proximity to junk food and c) other kids knew what
they were talking about when they said they had been to Mesa Verde,
which didn't happen with Chaco. If there is a music festival in
Telluride while you are in the area, you might want to check it out. I
would definitely try to drive through Holbrook, Arizona during the day
on either your way into or out of the Grand Canyon. There are several
rock shops that sell pieces of dinosaur bone, fossil sharks teeth and
maybe even an occasional dinorsaur tooth, as well as geodes. All of
which are very nice status symbols among the elementary school set.
I'm not sure what the dinosaur bone and teeth really are, but they are
fossils and they do look the part. Sharks teeth are always a hit.
-----
>Thanks for the info again. You're right, my son would LOVE a
>dinosaur bone and another fossil (we went to a workshop at a NY State
>museum and he got a (copy) of the NYS fossil whose name escapes me at
>the moment -- tiny scallop shell). I'm hoping my son won't rate our
>vacation spots by the nifty video games available...
>
>We plan to take a smoothwater 20 person raft ride from Wahweap AZ into
>some canyon. (I know, I gotta get my canyons straight...) Would that
>be similar to entering Chaco Canyon by jeep (except for the water)?
Probably not. Part of Chaco is setting, part is the amazing size and
grace of the ruins, part is the incredible sense of spirituality. To
get to Chaco you ride along a pretty boring plateau for a LONG time,
then, suddenly, the road drops into a canyon. The light is always
golden in Chaco. The canyon is large - the wash that runs through it
is dry most of the year. The ruins have a tremendous sense of
ancientness and grace. It is very hard to explain, but very special
nevertheless. Wahweap is nice and should be worth the trip, bit I
would be hard pressed to find an equivalent to the Chaco experience in
North or Central America, and friends who have been to Machu Pichu in
Peru say they are hard pressed to decide which is better. Have fun
on your trip. If you can, you might want to check out a book of
Georgia O'Keefe paintings before you go to get a sense of the New
Mexico sky and New Mexico colors.
-----
Well I am back from my vacation and we stopped in three places in the
southwest. The first stop was the National Arches, it was a nice park,
and my kids seemed to enjoy it.
The next stop was the National Bridges, my kids seemed to enjoy that
more than the Arches (I don't know why).
After that we went to the Monument Valley they rated it between the
other two (I thought it was just as good as the other two). A lot of
the western movies were filmed in Monument Valley.
Outside of Monument Valley we traveled into a town called Mexican Hat.
Just outside of town was the most terrifying road I have ever driven.
It was a 10% grade, single lane, dirt road nad ther were gravel trucks
coming up the hill at us and they won't stop for anything. Not what I
call fun with nine members of my family in the vehicle.
The last stop was the Grand Canyon. My children enjoyed it the most.
There is a lot for young children to enjoy at the visiters center.
I have visited the following places in the Southwest during my lifetime
and this is how I rate them in order of enjoyment level:
Mesa Verde - I thoroughly enjoyed this
Bryce Canyon - a tour guide took us when I was about 10
I found it very interesting.
Grand Canyon - either rim is good
Painted Desert - beautiful to look at
Monument Valley - Very pretty landsacpe
Petrified Forest - its was interesting
Other archaeological
sites and museums - enjoyable, sometimes interesting
Silverton to - its ok
Durango Train
Four Corners - boring
PS. My children's ages are 7 1/2 and two 3 1/2 yr olds.
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