Thoreau (Navajo: Dlǫ́ʼí Yázhí) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States.

Thoreau is located in central McKinley County at an altitude of approximately 7,140 feet (2,180 m) above sea level, and is 5 miles (8 km) east of the Continental Divide.

Thoreau is located in a broad valley beneath a large escarpment of Entrada sandstone, which marks the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau to the north.

The highways lead west 30 miles (48 km) to Gallup, the McKinley county seat, and southeast the same distance to Grants.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Thoreau CDP has a total area of 39.5 square miles (102 km2), all land.

Common plants include pinyon pine and juniper trees, sagebrush, tumbleweeds, and some short, sparse grasses.

Summers are relatively mild, due to Thoreau's high elevation and persistently low humidities.

Thoreau is located within the Navajo Nation, which is the largest Native American tribe in the United States.

Thoreau is a local trading center for artisans, who create through rug weaving, sandpainting, silversmithing, potterymaking, and making turquoise jewelry.

[9] It is also known as the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Academy, named after the first Native American Catholic saint in North America.