And here’s a best-kept secret: if you like friendly small towns, you’ll LOVE Bloomfield, a little community east of Farmington with 8,000-plus friendly souls, small-town prettiness, great small restaurants and lodgings and a location that makes it truly “the heart of the Four Corners.” From Bloomfield, you’re less than a day-trip from Salmon, Aztec or Chaco; you’re practically within an expert cast of the San Juan. You can find your best fishing, day-camping or picnicking sites at the Pine River, Cottonwood or San Juan River campgrounds at Navajo Lake, and still sleep in a comfy bed that night. If all that’s not enticement enough, Janet Mackey at the Bloomfield Chamber offers another—Bloomfield has a brand-new and “wonderful” municipal swimming pool. What could be a better base camp for your Four Corners adventure?
The northwest quarter of New Mexico is in what’s called the “Four Corners Region,” referencing the fact that this is the only place in the U.S. where the corners of four states meet neatly – New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. A Four Corners Monument marks the spot on the geographic surveys where the corners are contiguous. And indeed, there is a Four Corners Economic Development Agency that is trying to diversify and grow the economy of the region, which is historically dependent on oil and gas production. Director Christa Romme says the agency is concentrating on six different areas, one of which is tourism.