The Aztec Ruins National Monument, on 318 acres, consists of dwellings and sacred structures built by Ancient Pueblo Indians in the 12th and 13th Centuries.
Navajo Lake is a 3800 feet long and 400 feet deep reservoir located in northeastern San Juan County, created from a dam completed in 1962.
The La Plata Mountains, seen from San Juan County, are a small subrange of the San Juan Mountains in sw Colorado, and includes Hesperus Mountain at 13,332 feet.
Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness (Bisti Badlands) is a 45,000-acre wilderness area full of rock formations made of sandstone, shale, mudstone, and silt.
The eggs and hoodoos in the Bisti Wilderness were formed in sand and silt revealed 73 million years ago when the Western Interior Seaway receded.
Angel Peak Scenic Area is located 15 miles south of Bloomfield in San Juan County, with over 10,000 acres of rugged terrain, badlands and deep canyons.
Shiprock (Tsé Bitʼaʼí, "rock with wings") is a 27 million year old volcanic rock formation, designated as a National Natural Landmark, rising 1,583 feet above the desert.
The San Juan River is a 383 mile long major tributary of the Colorado River and a primary drainage for the Four Corners.

Alcohol Use

Category: Substance Use

Alcohol Use - Adults

Self-report of alcohol use among adults in San Juan County is typically below the state and U.S. rates.

It is estimated that the prevalence of heavy episodic (binge) drinking in the past month, is 13.8% (2023) among adults in San Juan County report, the same as New Mexico's rate and just below the U.S. rate of 15.2%. (See sources and notes below.)

Chronic heavy drinking is reported by 2.9% of adults in San Juan County, compared to 5.3% across New Mexico and 6.1% across the U.S.

Binge Drinking, Adults
Chronic Heavy Drinking

Trends, Adult Alcohol Use

Overall, alcohol use among adults has declined over the past several years. Binge drinking has remained relatively consistent. (See notes/sources below.)

Alcohol Use - High School

Among high school students in San Juan County, 12% reported past month alcohol use, and 5% reported binge drinking (defined as 4 or more drinks for girls and 5 or more drinks for boys) on a single occasion. 

Self-report of alcohol use among high school students in San Juan County are generally below New Mexico and the U.S.

Binge Drinking, HS Youth
Current (Past 30-day) Drinking

Trends, High School Youth Alcohol Use

There have been significant decreases in all measures of alcohol use and related risk behaviors. Most recent results (from 2019 to the most recent survey in 2023) show further decreases in alcohol use among high school students.

For example, past 30-day alcohol use among high school use decreased from 22.7% in 2019 to 11.7% in 2023.

Early initiation of alcohol use, or “first drink before age 13,” is an important indicator that is a predictor of alcohol dependence later in life. This indicator among high school youth in San Juan County decreased from 30.4% in 2009 to 18.6% in 2019, and then decreased further to 13.4% in 2023.

Alcohol Use - Middle School

On the most recent Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS), 17.6% of middle school students reported having ever drank alcohol, 5.1% reported "current" or past 30-day alcohol use, and 2.4% reported binge drinking in the past month.

Lifetime ("Ever") use of alcohol among middle school students in San Juan County is lower than the overall New Mexico rate of 24%. Similarly, 8.1% of middle school students in San Juan County reported drinking alcohol before age 11, somewhat lower than New Mexico's overall rate of 12.8%.

Ever Drank Alcohol
Current (Past 30-day) Drinking
Binge Drinking, MS Youth

Trends, Middle School Alcohol Use

Overall, alcohol use among middle school youth has trended downward. After a substantial decline from 2019 to 2021, alcohol use indicators remained relatively unchanged from 2021 to 2023.

Youth Data:
Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS), NM Dept of Health.
County Report: www.youthrisk.org

Adult Data:
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), CDC.
https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence/

State and County adult survey data retrieved from New Mexico's Indicator-Based Information System (NM-IBIS).
https://ibis.doh.nm.gov 

Additional information and national BRFSS data are available from the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/

Adult Binge Drinking: CDC Places: https://www.cdc.gov/places. (See notes.)

Updated/Checked: Sept-Oct 2026

CDC Places provides modeled, supplementary estimates for survey results based on smaller sample sizes. For example, in 2023, the sample size for San Juan County's BRFSS was relatively small (n=346) compared to previous years when it was greater than 600. Throughout this website, for indicators that are available, CDC Places is used as a reference to leverage the most accurate data possible.

The Youth Risk & Resiliency Survey (YRRS) is administered across New Mexico with high school and middle school students in the Fall of odd-numbered years, by the New Mexico Dept. of Health in collaboration with the New Mexico Public Education Dept.

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the National CDC system of health-related telephone surveys.

Definitions:

  • Binge drinking (youth and adults) is defined as 5 or more drinks (for males or 4 or more drinks for females) on one occasion. Among adults, chronic heavy drinking refers to more than two drinks per day for males and more than one drink per day for females.
  • Chronic drinking is defined as more than 1 alcoholic drinks per day (for females) and more than 1 drinks per day (for males).