Colorado Plateau Country

The Incomparable Four Corner's Region
(Week-long; all-inclusive; limited season; group or custom tour booking only.)

The reasonable all-inclusive price of this tour is $2,335.00 (single occupancy) and $2,065.00 (double occupancy). The price of this tour is subject to change and will be confirmed at time of booking.
However, we are reasonably sure our MD tour prices are set for the season. For all other general information about MD tours, company, and tour policy, refer to the main (MD) page on our Web site. Lots of good information is posted there which covers most of the FAQ's, besides. Thanks.

Please note: We prefer a limited number of guests on this tour, with a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 22. (For custom groups, however, we can accommodate up to 30 guests; sometimes more - please inquire.)

Archeological rules of the road

When booking this (or any other tour) we will always advise you what to bring with you so that your tour will be more comfortable, as well as to help cut down on your luggage.
Keep in mind our MD all-inclusive tours include the following: choice accommodations; lunch and dinner (with the evening meal starting on the first full day of your tour) (*), but alcoholic beverages are not included in the price of the tour and may be purchased separately when dining out; snacks and refreshments; transportation (from our meeting place and a return to same); all National Park/Monument entry fees and special admissions; all your camping gear (if the tour warrants); all host and special guest speaker fees (if the tour warrants); and all side excursion tours, such as rafting, jeep tours, horseback riding, etc.

(*) A continental breakfast is usually included in most of the hotels we use on all of our tours, but breakfast is otherwise on your own when not available in the hotels we use along the way in any of our SD or MD tours. Please inquire at time of booking.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
This preferential tour is for those of you who are interested in seeing and exploring the great diversity of the most awesome geologic province on earth, bar none - all in one tour of diverse scenery, delight and things to see and do. Get ready for a grand adventure at an affordable price. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado - that's what comprises the famous Four Corners region of the Colorado Plateau Country and we'll see some of the best of what this peerless country has to offer.

Here is a day-by-day account of what we have in store for you on this full week's adventure. . .

DAY 01/SUNDAY:
If you're traveling by air, we'll meet you in Phoenix where you will spend the night in a high quality resort hotel (pool, spa, HBO, restaurant, etc.). There is a regular airport shuttle service available to this choice location or we would be happy to arrange a limousine transfer for you. Evening is at your leisure and dinner is on your own once you get there. If you're flying into Las Vegas instead, we suggest booking a flight to Phoenix as this EZ CIRKLE tour begins and ends here in the valley. Connecting flights are inexpensive and frequent. We recommend flying (or driving) in early so that you can take in some of the great sights the Phoenix region has to offer. And if you are driving to meet us, when you leave in the morning your vehicle will be perfectly safe to leave in the parking lot of the hotel.

DAY 02/MONDAY:
Your host for the upcoming tour will meet you in the lobby of your hotel at 8:30 a.m. Following introductions, you will depart for the high north country where the Colorado Plateau begins. This expansive 130,000 square mile estate boasts the most scenic, and sometimes, the most unbelievable geologic setting in the world. On this adventure you will tour in each of the four giant states that make up this region: Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. You begin with the prize jewel of the Colorado Plateau, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. For your first day's travel you will sample some of Arizona's other precious scenic assets along the way, starting with SEDONA. After sightseeing and a great lunch in this exquisite red rock setting with its unforgettable magnificent backdrop, you'll drive up to Flagstaff via the famous OAK CREEK CANYON - an exhilarating, winding road that is said to be "the other Grand Canyon with a road through it." Once at the top of the canyon you'll drive through the mountain town of Flagstaff via the "high scenic road" (Hwy. 180) that will take you past Arizona's tallest peaks, the San Francisco Mountains. These towering remnants of a former strato volcano (now dormant) oversee other smaller, but equally impressive, nearby volcano-mountains that adorn this part of the Colorado Plateau. There are some 600 of these vents throughout the Colorado Plateau, all varying in shape and size. Your well informed host for the tour will explain the geologic and the natural and human history that makes the overall setting so special. By late in the day you will be arriving in Tusayan (pronounced "too-see-ann") Village, which is just outside the South Rim park entrance. For the night we have booked you into the region's finest and newest hotel. After you have had time to freshen up, we'd like to treat you to a special show at the IMAX theater, where the Grand Canyon really comes alive on a towering 7-story high screen. It will make you feel as though the Grand Canyon is practically sitting on your lap. After the show you and your traveling companions have reservations at an equally fine restaurant in Tusayan Village. Your host will tell you more about what lies ahead in your adventure as well entertaining any questions you might have. After dinner your time is your own until your host meets you in the morning.

DAY 03/TUESDAY:
Soon after breakfast you'll drive into GRAND CANYON National Park and spend most of the morning sightseeing and enjoying the high vista from the rim. At around 7,000 feet above sea level, the air is thin. You will have plenty of time to see some of our favored (and in some cases, secret) overviews overlooking this great chasm of the Southwest, thereby avoiding most of the usual throngs of visitors who come to the park. For lunch we plan on taking you to the best restaurant in the park. After lunch we will have time for some last minute photos and shopping, and then you'll be heading out the eastern entrance of the park, at Desert View. We will make time for a couple of stops along the way, so that you can see how the canyon changes from one location to the next. Once at Desert View, the view off to the east overlooks the famed Painted Desert where the expansive Marble Platform lies far below the lofty perch of the canyon. The exquisite colors and desert-floor scenery of this vast setting are beguiling to say the least. By mid-afternoon you will be driving across that far distant landscape, headed to one of our very special and favored haunts in Utah, MONUMENT VALLEY. Sit back and relax along this approximate 4 hour ride, with two intermittent stops along the way: the first overlooking the Little Colorado River gorge, said to be the "baby Grand Canyon;" and the next at the Cameron Trading Post on the Navajo Indian Reservation, where you may want to do some shopping for Native American art. You'll spend a comfortable night in a modern hotel in Kayenta (Arizona), which is just 20 miles outside of Monument Valley. After you have had time to freshen up, you'll enjoy a fine dinner to complete your long day's travel.

DAY 04/WEDNESDAY:
Wake to the splendor of the high desert. Just after breakfast, you'll drive to Monument Valley, which is considered to be the quintessential geologic backdrop for Western movies as well as other modern day films. Most of Monument Valley actually lies in the state of Utah, just across the border, so welcome to your second piece of the Four Corners. Once inside the expanse of this formidable valley where stands the enormous remains of mind-boggling sandstone relics, you will be introduced to a Navajo speaker who will talk to you about the history of the Navajo People, or "Dineh" (pronounced, "dee-nay" meaning "the People") as they now preferred to be called. Afterwards, your host will drive you into the valley where some of the world's most famous sandstone buttes and mesas stand in commanding silence. If ever you've seen a John Ford-John Wayne Western saga, chances are you saw this stunning backdrop. Once the tour of the outlying country is over, you will head back to Kayenta for lunch, and soon depart for the next scenic attraction in your tour, this time heading to Colorado's famous MEAT VERDE (meaning, "green table") National Park. Along the way your host will pull off the main highway and visit a nearby marker where the corners of the four states all come together. Sometime late in the day you'll spend the night in Cortez, which is the tribal seat of the Ute Indians. From a far distance you can see one of their most famous landmarks, "Sleeping Ute Mountain." After freshening up, you can be sure the choice of dining is as topnotch as there are selections on the menu to choose. From Cortez you can see a long distance across the desert. Among other visible alluring buttes and angular mesas, far off Shiprock, a towering volcanic neck, stands like a lonely sentinel upon the desert floor.

DAY 05/THURSDAY:
No trip to Colorado is ever complete without first seeing the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, which fits the third piece of your Four Corner State's tour. Mesa Verde became the first National Park of its kind back in the early part of this century and some have called its profound ruins the Disneyland of American archaeology. Much of the day will include touring these formidable cliff dwellings set in great open rock alcoves. First "discovered" by Richard Wetherill - although long before him already known by the Ute Indians - Mesa Verde soon revealed its enigmatic secrets to the world. It is easily the most popular archaeologic preserve in North America and the most famous site of its kind that depicts a former way of life never to be seen again. Your expertly guided tour will give you the best that Mesa Verde has to offer: Sometime after lunch your next stop is New Mexico, the final piece to add to your Four Corner State's tour. By late in the afternoon you will be arriving in Gallup, where you will spend the night in the town's most famous hotel landmark. Scores of movie stars once stayed in this picturesque Old West atmosphere, where mementos, signed as autographed pictures, adorn the rustic walls throughout the hotel. There is also a fine restaurant in the recently renovated hotel, where you will enjoy another excellent dinner. If time permits when you arrive, Gallup has many stores that sell very fine Hispanic and Native American art. Bienvenidos! and welcome to this, the Land of Enchantment.

DAY 06/FRIDAY:
After breakfast, you will drive to EL MORRO National Monument, a prominent historical setting about an hour's drive south of Gallup. Spanish for "The Bluff" (or "The Headland"), El Morro has been a customary stop for passers-through since archaic times when Indians first carved petroglyphs in the huge cliffs. The first "modern" inscription was left in 1605 when Don Juan de Onate stopped long enough to carve his name and his famous message into the soft sandstone of "Inscription Rock." Your host will explain its significance to you. Since his time many others, some famous, have also added their names. If you're up to it, there is a winding trail that leads to the top of El Morro where a partially excavated Anasazi pueblo stands, with exhilarating views along the way. After your morning's tour of El Morro, you'll then head back west again, this time driving to the ZUNI Pueblo, which is the largest of New Mexico's 19 pueblos. After lunch at the pueblo, Native American style if you prefer, you'll have time to walk around the area. The pueblo itself is built on the ruins of the ancient site and one of the legendary "Seven Golden Cities of Cibola." Before leaving you should take time to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission - originally built by the Spanish in 1629, and later destroyed in the famous Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Since that time it has been rebuilt a number of times. More recently in time the Zuni artists have restored (and added) to the art work found inside the old church. These murals depict Zuni culture and should not be missed. Regrettably, no photographs are to be taken. If you are interested in Native America art, the Zuni fashion and create some of the most striking silver and turquoise jewelry anywhere around. Later in the afternoon you will depart for nearby Arizona, thus completing your tour of the Colorado Plateau country. Your next stop along the way is the PETRIFIED FOREST National Park, just across the border from New Mexico. Before visiting the park you will spend the night in Holbrook, where you can look forward to yet another great night's sleep, proceeded by an equally fine dinner.

DAY 07/ATTURDAY:
Just after breakfast, you'll take a final tour of this famous national park. The northern part of the park protects a small but dramatic part of the Painted Desert - the same desert you first drove through on the other side of Flagstaff. Here in this strange, haunting landscape you'll find a mind boggling region of striking buttes, mesas, and the ubiquitous badlands that make up much of the feature of the Painted Desert. Petrified Forest is renowned for its scores of petrified trees that litter the ground. These fossilized remnants date back 225 million years ago when trees were carried along in rivers from faraway mountains down to what was then a huge, low-lying swamp. Over eons of time, the cells in the wood were gradually replaced by water-borne minerals that transformed the logs into brightly colored quartz and jasper crystals. Because the relics in the park are protected by federal law, take only photographs and leave only your footsteps. Just after lunch it will be time to head back down the highway to Phoenix. Sometime by the early evening you will be let off at your hotel where your host will bid you farewell, safe travels and happy trails. The evening as well as dinner is on your own, but your spacious comfortable room is still on us. Bus/limo or cab service is available and there are decent to fine restaurants within walking distance if you prefer to eat away from the hotel).

HAPPY TRAILS from all of us here at ECOSOUTHWEST.COM and we hope to see your smiling face on this exciting adventure. Contact us (preferably by e-mail) and let us know if you need more information. We're good for it and a whole lot more.

FYI: The following (average) mileage between the major scenic points is what highlights this particular tour:

Phoenix	Sedona	116 m.
Sedona	Flagstaff	35 m.
Flagstaff	South Rim	82 m.
South Rim	Cameron	59 m.
Cameron	Kayenta	99 m.
Kayenta	Monument Valley	25 m.
Kayenta	Cortez	118 m.
Cortez	Gallup	136 m.
Gallup	El Morro	55 m.
El Morro	Zuni Pueblo	40 m.
Zuni Pueblo	Gallup	44 m.
Gallup	Holbrook	96 m.
Holbrook	Petrified Forest	21 m.
Holbrook	Flagstaff	94 m.
Flagstaff	Phoenix	145 m.

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