Campsites are plentiful, both on the canyon rims and on the canyon floor. Natural overlooks provide excellent vantage points for observation and photography. The canyons generally parallel each other, trending northeast to southwest as they cross the Colorado-Utah border. Squaw and Papoose canyons join near the southern boundary of that unit, running for 15 miles in all. The canyons begin as rocky arroyos but cut rapidly into the Dakota Sandstone and Morrison Formation to form rugged, steep canyon walls of exposed rock outcrops, boulders, and talus slopes.
Road spurs lead to a number of jumping-off points into the canyons.
The lower end of the canyon crosses the Utah-Colorado state line about 25 miles northwest of Cortez, Colorado. Cross Canyon is only 3 miles north of the Cutthroat Castle group of ruins in Hovenweep National Monument and is almost adjacent to the BLM's Lowry Ruins National Historic Landmark. Access is via any of several roads turning west off U.S. Highway 666 near Cahone, Colorado. The road to Lowry Ruins is a good route to the rim of the Ruin or Cow Canyon tributaries. A wide variety of vegetation occurs in the area, with pinyon-juniper forest and sagebrush dominating the canyon rims and mesas, and rabbitbrush, Mormon tea, mountain mahogany, Gambel oak, serviceberry, and cliffrose on the slopes.