A great road trip to take to this summer or fall, is through the beautiful American Southwest. I started this journey in Albuquerque, New Mexico, driving up the state to Farmington, NM, to The Four Corners, and then to Monument Valley in Utah. These are my picks of fun things to see and gluten free places to eat while road tripping in the American Southwest.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Old Town is a great first stop when visiting Albuquerque. Old Town was the first neighborhood established by the Spanish, founded in 1706. It’s comprised of several blocks of historic adobe buildings where you can find artisan shops, restaurants, the beautiful San Felipe Neri Church, and museums. If you’re a Breaking Bad fan, you’ll be happy to find the Breaking Bad Store located in the square as well.
I traveled in early summer and the weather was nice. The heat here is not bad (compared to Texas heat). If you decide to come during the fall, don’t miss the famous Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival. It’s a must see but you’ll need to book your hotel months in advance .
Sandia Peak Tram
Another fun thing to do in Albuquerque is to take the Sandia Peak Tram. It’s $29 for an adult ticket, round trip, with discounts for children, seniors, and military. It is much cooler at the top, so you may want to bring a jacket. You’ll be greeted with stunning panoramic views! If you’re up for hiking, the Sandia Peak Mountain has over 100 hiking trails with so much natural beauty. Come back in the winter to ski the 25 miles of slopes at the Sandia Peak Mountain Ski Area.
Petroglyph National Monument
An amazing place filled with history in Albuquerque, is the Petroglyph National Monument. It is the largest petroglyph site in North America. Archeologists have dated some of the petroglyphs as far back as 3000 years old! Some of these designs, carved on volcanic rock, were created as early as 400-700 years ago by Native Americans and Spanish settlers.
Gluten Free Eats – Clowndog Hotdog Parlor
A fun place to eat with Gluten-Free options is Clowndog Hotdog Parlor! It’s a carnival themed restaurant with so many options for your hotdogs. There are other items available on the menu such as macaroni and pasta. After you’re seated your server will hand you a menu with markers where you’ll mark your order on the reusable menus, making it a fun way to order. I ordered their gluten-free hot dogs and they were so good! The gluten free buns came toasted with a bit of butter.
Gluten Free Eats – Weck’s
A great place to eat breakfast is Weck’s. They have several locations in New Mexico, including Farmington where we stayed, and offer a gluten-free menu. I ordered the Build Your Own Omelet. I noticed that green chile seemed to be everywhere in New Mexico, so I added it to my omelet. It was delicious, but don’t add unless you can handle hot/spicy! 😉
**Disclaimer – As always, take to your server if you have a food allergy.
The Four Corners Monument
The The Four Corners Monument is a must visit and bucket list location. My family and I stayed in Farmington, New Mexico, and drove an hour and a half to The Four Corners Monument Navajo Tribal Park. There are so many colors you’ll see along the way! At one point while driving through Arizona, everything around us was covered in bright orange sand and felt like we were in a scene from Star Wars. The red, orange, and brown sand and rocks made me feel like we were truly in another world! Pictures really can’t do this amazing scenery justice! We arrived at The Four Corners and paid a small entry fee. The location is in the Navajo Nation. During this time (summer of 2022) masks were required so please bring one. I didn’t see any available on site. After you park, you can walk over to the center to take a photo. That is the only time you are allowed to briefly remove your mask. As you walk around, you’ll see information posted in each state’s corner of their history. Bring a hat or sunscreen as there’s not too much shade. Natives are on site with small shops selling souvenirs. I met an amazing artist who paints beautiful pottery and ornaments. My family purchased some T-shirts, bows with arrows, and turquoise jewelry. They also purchased Navajo Frybread. Unfortunately, it’s not gluten free so I couldn’t try it, but it looks and smells like a funnel cake with cinnamon instead of powdered sugar.
Things to Do Around Four Corners
After leaving the Four Corners, we drove not too far up the road to take a picture at the Welcome to Colorado Sign, and Welcome to New Mexico sign (which are right across the street from each other). A must visit place nearby is the Teec Nos Pos Trading Post founded in 1905. It’s a great stop for a break and stock up on snacks and great souvenirs you won’t find anywhere else. Luckily we arrived right before they closed, at 6 pm sharp. We drove from New Mexico through Arizona to get to The Four Corners. Then took Colorado to get back to New Mexico.
Monument Valley – Utah
Monument Valley is another bucket list location and must see! It is in the middle of nowhere but worth the drive. Just be aware that you may lose cell phone service for a part of your trip. It’s a Navajo Tribal Park and located between Arizona and Utah. We went the next day, driving from our hotel in Farmington, NM, which was a 3-hour drive. We drove through Ship Rock, New Mexico where you’ll see the huge Monodnock/sacred Navajo peak which is picture worthy and has a lot of interesting history.
Before you arrive to Monument Valley, you’ll see the Welcome to Utah sign. There is a rest area with bathrooms nearby. We skipped the Monument Valley Visitor Center and drove out to the valley. It is so beautiful! We brought our cameras and a drone. There are places to pull over on the side of the road to take pictures. There was one area in particular that was a very popular spot. This beautiful location has been the backdrop in many movies including Forrest Gump, Mission Impossible II, 2001: A Space Odyssey and more. It was also featured in an episode of Doctor Who with Matt Smith.
Mexican Hat – Utah
About 25 miles away is a rock formation called Mexican Hat. You can visit here for a hike, or do what we did, and stand at a distance under the sombrero looking rock so that it appears you’re wearing a hat 
Not too far away from Mexican Hat is Goulding’s Trading Post. It’s built into the mountainside and beautiful! They have a restaurant, museum, lodging, RV campgrounds, and more. The original owners who were sheep traders, bought the place back in the 1920’s and conducted business with the Navajo people. There is some amazing history of how the Goulding’s brought Hollywood to the area! The filming of the John Wayne movie Stagecoach was filmed in the area and helped with the financial hardship they endured due to The Great Depression in the 1930’s. We met the current owner’s and their super cute dog who greeted us as we entered the gift shop.
