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.
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 San Juan River is a 383 mile long major tributary of the Colorado River and a primary drainage for the Four Corners.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Tobacco & Vaping

Category: Substance Use

E-Cigarettes / Vaping - High School Youth

E-cigarette/vape product use among high school students has become the most frequently used substance among youth, with 18.5% reporting past month use on the most recent 2023 Youth Risk & Resiliency Survey. San Juan County's rates are similar to New Mexico (18.8%) and the U.S. (17.1%).

Two out of five (39.6%) high school students reported they have used e-cigarettes/vapor products at some time in their lives.

In contrast, cigarette smoking has become significantly lower as a mode of tobacco use, reported by 3.5% of high school youth.

Used E-Cigs/Vape Product
Past 30-day, High School
Smoked Cigarettes

Trends, Tobacco Use - High School

Cigarette smoking among high school students has decreased significantlly over the past several years, from 19.5% in 2011 to the current rate of 3.5% in 2023. Other modes of tobacco use, including cigars and hookah use have declined as well. 

E-cigarette use / vaping among high school students peaked in 2019, but the overall trend has been steady since 2015. 

E-Cigarettes / Vaping - Middle School Youth

One in five (19.6%) middle school students reported using electronic vape products/e-cigarettes at some time in their lives, and one in 10 (9.2%) reported using electronic vapor products in the past 30 days. 

San Juan County's rates are similar to rates among middle school students across New Mexico, with 21.9% reporting lifetime (ever) use, and 10.4% reporting past 30-day use.

In addition to personal use, 23.1% of middle school students reported they had been exposed to second smoke from being in a room with a cigarette smoker in the past week. This percentage has remained unchanged since the question was added to the middle school YRRS in 2017.

Used E-Cigs/Vape Product
Past 30-day, Middle School
Smoked Cigarettes

Past 30-day, Middle School

Second-hand Smoke

Middle School (exposure, past 7 days)

Trends, Tobacco Use - Middle School

There has been a gradual downward trend of cigarette smoking and other tobacco use among middle school students, with the exception of vaping/e-cigarette use which peaked in 2019, and then decreased to 9% in 2021 and 2023.

Flavored Vape Products, Youth

One in 10 (10.3%) middle school students and 18.6% of high school students reported using "flavored" vapor products/e-cigarettes, flavored to taste like menthol, mint, clove or spice, alcoholic drinks, candy, fruit, chocolate, or some other non-tobacco flavor.
Used Flavored E-Cigs/Vape Product
Past 30-day, Middle School
Used Flavored E-Cigs/Vapor Product
Past 30-day, High School

Tobacco Use - Adults

Among adults in San Juan County, cigarette smoking has decreased to the current rate of 7.9% in 2023. This is below New Mexico's rate of 13% and the U.S. rate of 11%.

Note that the county's sample size in 2023 for CDC's adult survey (BRFSS) was smaller than in the past, and supplementary estimates by the CDC of cigarette smoking among adults is significantly higher (20.5%). (See sources/notes below.)

Smoked Cigarettes
Adults, Past month
Used Vape Product
Adults, Past month

Trends, Tobacco Use - Adults

Tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking, among adults has trended downward. E-cigarette or vape product use among adults is estimated at 6.8%, down from a peak in 1010 of 15.3%. Smokeless tobacco has trended downward over the past several years, to it's current rate of 2.8%.

ADULTS:

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Readily available at 
https://ibis.health.state.nm.us/.

National adult statistics, available from the CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence/index.html

YOUTH:

New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS), New Mexico Department of Health. 
http://youthrisk.org

National Youth Data: National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS):
https://yrbs-explorer.services.cdc.gov/#/

Updated/Checked: Sept-Oct 2026

CDC Places provides alternative "modeled" estimates which are particularly useful to leverage when sample sizes are relatively smaller, such as it was for San Juan County's BRFSS (2023).

The YRRS is administered across New Mexico with high school and middle school students in the Fall of odd-numbered years, by the NM Dept. of Health and NM Public Education Dept.

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the National CDC system of health-related telephone surveys. The years 2004 to 2010 are land-line only; 2011 to present represent the use of combined land-line and cell-phone data collection protocols.