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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.

Traffic Crashes & Fatalities

Category: Substance Use

Traffic Fatalities

In 2025, there were 29 traffic fatalities; 19 of these (65.5%) were alcohol-involved crashes, in which the driver was under the influence of alcohol. By comparison, alcohol was involved in 34.6% of traffic crash fatalities in New Mexico and approximately 30% of traffic crash fatalities across the U.S.

In 2025, due in part to rural roads, along with high rates of alcohol-impaired driving crashes, New Mexico had the highest traffic crash death rates among the 50 states, with 21.5 traffic fatalities per 100,000 population, compared to 10.7 across the U.S.

With 29 traffic fatalities, San Juan County's rate is 24.1 fatalities per 100,000, above New Mexico's rate and over twice the U.S. rate. And with 19 alcohol-involved traffic fatalities, San Juan County's rate is 15.8 alcohol-involved traffic crash fatalities per 100k,, compared to 7.4 across New Mexico.

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Traffic Crash Fatalities (2025)

Traffic Fatalities in Alcohol-Involved Crashes

Percent Alcohol-involved (19 of 29)

Trends, Traffic Crash Fatalities

San Juan County has seen an overall decrease in the number of traffic fatalities, but most recently (2022 to 2025) there has been a gradual upward trend, including an upward trend in alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities since 2023.

Alcohol-Involved Traffic Crashes

In 2024, there were 213 alcohol-involved traffic crashes in San Juan County, up from a low in 2020 of 157, but in the same general range since 2021.

Of the 213 alcohol-involved crashes, 21 were with underage drivers (under age 21), up from 15 crashes in 2023.

Alcohol-Involved Crashes, Underage Drivers by Sex

Males are more likely to be the driver in alcohol-involved crashes compared to females. In 2024, males were the drivers in 13 alcohol-involved crashes, compared to 8 with female drivers.

Crash Severity

Alcohol-involved crashes are proportionally more severe--that is, significantly more likely to involve a fatality or injury--compared to non-alcohol crashes.

In 2024 of the 213 alcohol-involved crashes; 5.6% (12) of them were fatal crashes and 47.8% (102) involved an injury, and the reamining 46.7% (99) were 'property damage only' (PDO). By comparison, of the 1,965 non-alcohol involved crashes, 0.5% (21) resulted in a fatality, 28.9% involved an injury, and 70.7% were PDO.

County-specific alcohol-involved crashes: Community Reports for San Juan County, New Mexico Department Transportation, Traffic Safety; published in collaboration with UNM Geospatial and Population Studies (GPS):
https://gps.unm.edu/tru/crash-reports/community-reports.

Fatalities, Monthly Traffic Fatality Reports: 
https://gps.unm.edu/tru/reports/fatality-reports/index.html

National statistics for alcohol-involvement:
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov

2025 State Rankings
https://www.reyeslaw.com/the-most-dangerous-states-to-drive-in-2025/

Additional data and reports:
https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/fatality-statistics

Updated/Checked: Sept-Oct 2026

It is of note that different sources report different data for annual traffic crash fatalities. For example, NM IBIS reports that there were 39 residents killed in traffic crashes in 2024, compared to 23 reported by UNM / NM Traffic Safety reports, and 42 by CDC WONDER.

UNM explains that, "The database is compiled from Uniform Crash Reports, a statewide form that law enforcement agencies submit to NMDOT for any crash on a public roadway involving a motor vehicle that resulted in death, injury, or $500+ in property damage. No account is kept of unreported crashes, and the database does not include crashes on private property." See: https://gps.unm.edu/tru/traffic-crash-data-dictionaries.html

In other words, they rely on reports submitted by participating Law Enforcement agencies, based on location of the occurrence of the crash, rather than the decedent's residence. Whereas NM IBIS and CDC WONDER databases reflect information on residents' death certificates. (However, data on CDC WONDER for 'county of occurence' do not correspond to UNM/NM Traffic Safety reports; thus the differences are more likely due to different LE agency reporting practices.)