Four Corners

Four Corners is the only place in the United States where four states intersect at one point: Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. At the granite and brass marker marking the border of the four states, you can place your feet and hands so that you are in all four states at the same time.

Both the Navajo and Ute people, who live in the area, set up booths in the summer selling handmade jewelry and crafts and traditional Navajo foods.

The Four Corners Monument is administered by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department. An entrance fee of $2.50 is charged.

We just had to do it. I don’t know why. It had no natural beauty; it wasn’t any sort of manmade wonder; it wasn’t even free. But something compelled us to pay our $10 so we could simultaneously place our left foot in Arizona, our right foot in New Mexico, our left hand in Utah, and our right hand in Colorado, thereby being in 4 states at the same time. It was like playing Twister.

The site where the 4 states meet was marked by an attractive granite and brass marker. We watched as people formed lines at each of the 4 sides of the marker. We lined up in Arizona. Then alternating turns, like at a 4-way stop sign, someone would step up to the marker, do their own creative approach to spanning the 4 states, and then move on. It was quite civilized.