Sand Canyon contains many Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites. The popular Sand Canyon Trail is 6.5 miles (one-way) from Sand Canyon Pueblo down to the lower trailhead in McElmo Canyon.
Southwest of Cortez, up McElmo Canyon to signed trailhead, about 15 miles west of Cortez. Spring or autumn best times, but I rode it in mid-summer at sunup. 6000'<br />
http://www.tripleblaze.com/trail.php?c=3&i=509