National Parks Zone
Mesa Verde National Park
After driving up Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park’s park road onto the mesa you can explore ancient Anasazi cliff dwellings and enjoy the beautiful scenery and wildlife.
Colorado
1999, 2003
About The Park
Mesa Verde National Park combines southwestern beauty with Anasazi culture. It is not the typical Southwestern desert beauty because Mesa Verde lies on top of a mesa and has a climate all its own. Mesa Verde is Spanish for green table and it is a far greener place than the surrounding areas below. The canyons have far more trees and shrubs and tucked into them are many cliff dwellings among the 5,000 archeological sites. The Anasazi abandoned them around the year 1300 probably due to a prolonged drought.
Mesa Verde lies about 40 miles west of Durango, Colorado on U.S. Highway 160. When you turn off Highway 160 the road in is steep, narrow and winding and will take you up about 2000 feet in elevation. The elevation at the top ranges from about 7000 to 8500 feet.
The first stop in any park should be the visitor center on Chapin Mesa. In Mesa Verde it is even more important because if you want to take any ranger guided tours of cliff dwellings they must be purchased in person and no more than two days in advance and they sell out quickly. For the major cliff dwellings like Cliff Palace (pictured above), Balcony House and Long House on Wetherill Mesa, you can only visit these on a ranger guided tour.
Wildlife
Bears, mountain lions, Rocky Mountain Elk, bobcat, mule deer, feral horses, raccoons, weasels, coyote, foxes, porcupine, prairie dogs, many species of bats and birds.
On the subject of mountain lions. You will see a rather large specimen mounted in the vistor center that certainly might cause some to not want to hike in Mesa Verde. I have heard that you have a better chance of being hit by lightning than even seeing a mountain lion. They hear you coming long before you have any chance of seeing them and disappear. They want nothing to do with us. A ranger in Bryce Canyon told me that in 10 years he had only seen tracks in the snow. They rarely attack people but when they do it’s often children or females hiking or jogging alone. So if your hiking with children you never let the children lag behind or get too far out ahead.
Lodging
Far View Lodge
If you’re staying in the park, which is always recommended, the Far View Lodge is a long 15 mile drive from the park entrance but the best option. The last time I stayed at the lodge was in 2003 and it was still pretty rustic. No telephones, no TV but the rooms have a balcony with beautiful views. From what I see on the national parks website now there is still no TV or phone but the rooms now have complimentary Wi-
With the Far View lodge as your base it is convenient to explore both Chapin Mesa and Wetherill Mesa which is open generally from May to October. If you’re not staying in the park, the next best lodging option is in Cortez, Colorado, about 20 miles from the park entrance, where there’s a Holiday Inn and a Hampton Inn.
Durango, while having many more lodging options, is basically a 100-
Hiking and Touring
Cliff Palace
Cliff Palace is the biggest and the photograph most often seen when researching Mesa Verde. If you have to pick only one tour I would recommend Cliff Palace.
Balcony House
Balcony House is probably the most strenuous because you have to climb a 32 foot ladder to get to it. You also have to crawl through an 18” wide, 12 foot long tunnel. That’s not for everyone.
Long House
Long House, on Wetherill Mesa, is a two hour tour and the longest of these three ranger guided tours. You have to climb two 15 foot ladders and walk about 2.25 miles.
Spruce Tree House
You used to be able to visit Spruce Tree House, which was right behind the museum and wheelchair accessible, but due to rock falls, that site was no longer open to visitors. You still can take the Petroglyphs Point trail which is off to the side of it.
Petroglyphs Point Trail
On our first trip to Mesa Verde we arrived in the afternoon and after settling in we drove over to the museum and took the path behind it down to Spruce Tree House to see the cliff dwellings. After walking around them for a bit we saw that there was a hiking trail to see some petroglyphs. It was through a gate with a sign out sheet. There as also a sign saying that the gate closed at 6:15 PM and since, this was supposed to be a relatively short hike, a little over a mile each way, I felt certain we would be back by then. It was just about 5 o’clock. Since we had come from the museum we didn't have any of the usual and necessary items that one would hike with which were in my backpack back at the car. My wife had a pocketbook.
As we started hiking it became apparent that we were starting out in the crotch of the canyon and were hiking up along the side. As we continued along the side of the canyon it became apparent that the bottom of the canyon was rapidly dropping away from us. But for the fact that there was plenty of shrubbery on the down slope one would have a feeling that we were on a ledge which we essentially were. The views, however, were magnificent. By the time that we got to the petroglyphs, which were on a single panel of rock, it was apparent that we weren’t going to be able to walk back to the gate as I expected. I see today on the map that this is a loop hike but at that time I don’t recall it being a loop (possibly because it was a last minute decision and I knew nothing about the hike). I do recall having to boost my wife up a big rock so we could scramble up to the top of the Mesa and hike back. Since it was dusk, and we were in mountain lion country without hiking sticks, or the hunting knife that I always hike with, we beat a hasty path back.
1906 Antiquities Act
Mesa Verde was also part of the reason for the passing of the 1906 Antiquities Act which protected government land by outlawing the collecting of cultural treasures, minerals and fossils. In 1891 a collector from Sweden, Gustaf Nordenskiöld, took 18 crates of Mesa Verde artifacts back to Sweden. The government tried to stop him from taking these artifacts out of the country but found there was no law prohibiting him from doing this so he was allowed to leave with them. The collection eventually went to the National Museum of Finland. So, sadly, what may be the finest collection of Anasazi artifacts is probably in the basement of a museum in Finland.
Other Points of Interest
If you’ve seen enough of Mesa Verde and are looking for something else to do there’s the Durango & Silverton Railroad in Durango. It’s a terrifically scenic ride along the side of the mountains to the town of Silverton Colorado. It was an old mining railroad that was resurrected for tourists. Many people take a bus back from Silverton. We took the train back and it was much more empty and quieter.
The Four Corners Monument is about 50 miles away. There’s also Hovenweep National Monument with ancient dwellings which is also about 50 miles away in a slightly different direction.
Mesa Verde National Park Photo Gallery
Other Resources
Mesa Verde National Park on the National Parks Service website -
Other National Parks and National Monuments Within a Day’s Drive
Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park These are places of steep canyons and iconic arches and are both outside of Moab, Utah and are about 140 miles to the north and about 2.5 hours.
Petrified Forest National Park Home of the Painted Desert and 225 million year old petrified logs is 235 miles to the south and about 4 hours.
Great Sand Dunes National Park is a 30 mile long sand dune with one dune reaching 750 feet high. It is 200 miles to the southeast and about a 4 hour drive.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park This spectacular canyon is 153 miles north and about a 3 hour drive.
Grand Canyon National Park -
Grand Canyon National Park -
These national monuments are on Navajo Tribal land and are as worthwhile to visit as any national park.
Monument Valley Tribal Park Famous for its massive sandstone buttes and as a backdrop for many a Hollywood western movie is about 140 miles west and about a 2.5 hour drive.
Canyon De Chelly National Monument Ancient cliff dwellings carved into the sides of a steep canyon is about 145 miles southwest and about a 3 hour drive.
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Updated 02/11/23 7:04 PM