Farmington Travel Guide

Farmington is a large city in the northwest corner of the state. It sits on three rivers: the San Juan, the La Plata, and the Animas. Started as an agricultural town that supplied the mining communities to the north in the San Juan mountains, Farmington has grown due to an influx of retirees who seek a temperate place in the southwest.

It's perhaps the least "southwestern" of the cities in Northwest New Mexico, not being a part of the colonial past, and the downtown feels distinctively midwestern. Still, the large numbers of Navajos who live and work in town will tell you that you're not in Kansas, although the relationship between the Indians and the townspeople has not always been amicable.

Plenty of lodging, trading posts, and a very good visitor center await the traveler seeking to enjoy the area. The historic downtown is worth a visit, and the Farminton Museum on the San Juan River deserves a stop. Farmington is a good jumping off point for exploring the Bisti Wilderness, the Navajo Nation, Shiprock, and other nearby public lands and attractions. Fishing and other watersports can be enjoyed on the rivers, or up the road at Navajo Lake State Park, one of the state's bigger reservoirs.