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Show I Perfect Vacation Land In Four Corner States Is Yours And in all four states, there are members of 37 different Indian tribes and pueblos. The West still lives in the "Four Most West." The Four Most West, by nature of the geography, offers a vast array of activities. In one tour, you can get your fill of trail riding;in another, it's all b y foot back-packing into remote areas of wilderness. You can ride in a 19th Century Pullman restored) as you travel along the sides of a thrashing river or placid lake. There is fishing in a thousand lakes and rivers. You can hunt big game, upland birds, or waterfowl. Golf fifty different courses as part of one package. . Cook dinner and spend the night in an outlaw cave. Watch Indian ceremonial dances. Visit the inside of a Navajo hogan. Climb to the ruins of Anasazi cliff swelling . built about 1100 AD. Spend days exploring the maze of canyons around Lake Powell, either houseboat or a small but comfortable launch. Tour Bryce, Grand Canyon,' Zion, Canyonlands, and Rocky Mountain National Parks, ski cross county or downhill; dine on Navajo fry bread or succulent suc-culent filet niignon. So, as Smith says: "Where does one begin?" iThe states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah touch borders just about 350 miles north of Mexico. It's ,$ gorgeous country, within its borders are more 'than 420,000 square miles of mountains, i deserts, lakes, and rivers, comprising one sixth of the total ' I land area of the 48 contiguous states. And while he wide open spaces offer such remarkable scenic attractions as Rocky Mountain, Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce National Parks, only 2.8 per cent of the U. S. 'population lives in these four states. . : . Result: cosmopolitan I population enclaves (Denver, 1 Phoenix, Salt Lake, Albuquerque) that tend to generate industrial dollars, while outside the cities, tourism is one of the few dollar-' dollar-' generating activities these states can count on. With the energy crunch of the , early 70's, these four states, t heavily dependeng o - automobile tourism, decided 1 1 that together they would look to -; the development of package tours. Under the direction of J ' the federal government's Four Ij Corners Regional Commission, the four states, calling them-' selves "The Four Most West," set about designing package tours with broad interest. The first tours are now being of- . fered. "It became apparent in the very beginning that the variety of these four states would be the biggest asset we would have to reckon with, " says Brad P. Smith, director of the Four Corners Regional Tourism Organization, the marketing arm of the program. Mr. Smith has a point. Together these four states have 10 national parks, 37 national monuments, 32 national forests, 1,500 state parks, campsites, state and . national historical sites and recreation areas, 2 grasslands, 20 wilderness and primitive areas. The four states are uniquely rich in scenic, historical and recreational activity sites. A quick look at your map tells the story. In Arizona, spectacular spec-tacular Grand Canyon heads the list. In Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park. In Utah, magnificent Lake Powell reflects the red rock country. And in New Mexico, it's the influence of 17th century Spain ' at Santa Fe. |