Visiting The Nations of the Four Corners Cultural Center In Utah

The Nations of the Four Corners Cultural Center can be found in Blanding, Utah and is a free outdoor museum open to the public. The cultural center is owned and operated by the San Juan Foundation.

The mission of the center is to preserve the history and heritage of the Four Corners region. The outdoor exhibits represent the multiple cultures that lived in this area including the Ute, Paiute and Navajo Indians as well as the Mexicans and LDS Pioneers.

It’s a self-guided tour through the park and a informational pamphlet with a map can be picked up at the kiosk at the entrance. The walking trail winds you through sites that represent all the different groups that contributed to the history of this area.

The tour can take as little time as you want or you can spend half a day hiking around the area. If you just explore the buildings it won’t take you more than an hour to see everything. If you want to check out Prayer Arch or the cave dwelling you’ll definitely have to had more time to your visit.

We hiked to the arch, but decided to skip out on the cave. It was already early afternoon and super hot so we called it a day. There’s really not much shade here at all so plan your visit accordingly to escape the heat of the day.

The museum is split up into sections with each section dedicated to a different cultural group that inhabited the area. A typical home site is represented for each group in their section. The greatest part of this tour is you can actually step inside these dwellings and experience how they lived.

You can walk inside a Navajo hogan, a Ute teepee or a Paiute wikiup. See what a typical pioneer or Mexican home looked like during the time. They also have reconstructions of a Navajo sweat lodge, outdoor oven and shade house.

One of my favorite installations was the observation tower. Though not very tall you could still climb to the top and get a lay of the land. There were some great views from the top for sure.

There are multiple informational plaques located throughout the tour that give you more information on the buildings you encounter and history of the people that inhabited them. Not only is this a cool experience, but a very educational one as well.

Even with the map they provide (it’s not the greatest) be prepared to get turned around while walking the trails. They intersect with each other constantly and can be a little hard to follow at times. We spent a good ten minutes trying to find the Marriage Trees, but never did.

If you’re in the Blanding, Utah area The Nations of the Four Corners Cultural Center should not be missed. The city may be small, but is packed with other great attractions like the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum and Dinosaur Museum. They are both excellent places to visit.

There are tons of ruins and hiking in the area and a lot of BLM land for boondocking as well. The Natural Bridges National Monument is also not too far away and was absolutely incredible. The entire area is spectacular and we loved the two weeks we spent here.