Mesa Verde. America's first National Park dedicated to preserving historic culture and the works of Man; a jewel among jewels in the park system, protecting some 600 cliff dwellings and more than 4000 total archaeological sites. Initially dedicated in 1906 by Teddy Roosevelt, Mesa Verde is now a recognized World Heritage site and perhaps our best source of clues to the lives and practices of the Ancestral Puebloan people (sometimes called the Anasazi).
As this is a "Things To Know Before You Come..." diary, I will primarily focus on what to do and what to know about in the area. For a more in-depth look at the park's past, I would like to redirect you to two excellent Ojibwa diaries - the first on a history of the Ancestral Puebloans within Mesa Verde, and the second on the history of exploration and protection of the park and its resources.
Please continue below the fold to begin your tour...
Getting There
Mesa Verde is located in the Four Corners region - the only point in the country where four states border each other (Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado). Located just east of Cortez, Colorado, Mesa Verde is centrally located - for its time. By today's standards it is a bit out of the way from the major travel routes. Most people visit Mesa Verde as part of a longer trip to the American Southwest, coming from Moab, Utah (3 hours away along the route formerly known as the Devil's Highway, now renumbered to US 491), or perhaps from Page, Arizona (4.5 hours) or one of the area's two other most famous cultural parks, Chaco Canyon or Canyon de Chelly (each 3 hours away). Visitors planning their trip exclusively around Mesa Verde might check out flying in to Durango and renting a car, or perhaps taking the longer trip from Grand Junction - a more than four hour trip to the base of the park.
Yes, I said "to the base of the park", where you will find a generous sized NPS campground and also a parking area to leave your trailers and fifth wheels. They aren't allowed past the campground due to the steep winding road leading up to the top of the mesas and in to the main section of the park. Visitors with larger RVs should also be wary of the roads within the park; Wetherill Mesa in particular has additional vehicle restrictions. One more note on the roads and I'll get off the depressing part of the park and in to the good stuff - if you aren't staying in the Far View Lodge on the mesa itself, plan on it taking more than an hour to reach your touring destination within the park; though it's only 15 miles to the visitor center from the campground, the roads are really slow going at times.
Maps are good things when trying to get an idea of the scale of your trip. I offer two links:
* An NPS map of the park (PDF)
* And a Google map of the region
The Main Attraction
Step House
Mesa Verde has more than 4,000 archaeological sites, but most people have one thing in mind when they think on it - cliff dwellings. From a tourist perspective, seeing the cliff dwellings falls into one of three categories, which the park literature also tries to make clear. Most of the park's 600 cliff dwellings are not accessible to the public - in fact, only five are regularly open for public tours. Visitors may enter two of the five - Step House and Spruce Tree House - without a reservation or a ranger guide; interpreters are on site at both sites during the warmer months. The other three - Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Long House - are accessible only via ranger-led tours for which you must purchase a reservation in person at the Visitor Center (or, after that closes for the season, at the Chapin Museum). During busy days you may be asked to choose between Balcony House and Cliff Palace, so you might want to decide ahead of time which you'd rather see.
Spruce Tree House is the only dwelling open during the winter months. Located near the Chapin Museum (the only park facility open during the winter), Spruce Tree House is one of the park's more scenic structures IMHO, and one of the park's two self-guided cliff dwellings. Access is by a somewhat steep paved trail through a valley; the park lists the site as being handicap accessible with assistance, noting that the trail does not meet the legal grade requirements.
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in the park. Located (self-referentially) on the Cliff Palace Loop Road, it is the busiest guided tour in the park. All of the park's guided tours involve ladders and stairs; at Cliff Palace you will need to negotiate five separate 8-10 foot ladders and a 100 foot climb on the tour of this ancient architectural wonder.
Balcony House is a much smaller complex, but the architecture is quite interesting and the tour route enticing to those in to a bit of adventure. Tour participants get a hint of what the inhabitants of these cliffside communities experienced daily in their commute to and from their farming plots... a 30' ladder, a tunnel and more than 50 feet of climbing up an exposed (sloped) rock face are among the challenges of the tour.
An Adobe-painted Structure at Balcony House
Step House, located on Wetherill Mesa, only partially meets the cliff dwelling criteria. It is under a cliff wall, but the cliff does not immediately continue below the alcove. Like Spruce Tree House, it is open for self-guided tours. Access is by steps and paved trail; the park service says that handicapped access via the exit trail is possible with assistance, again with the caveat that the trail does not meet legal grade requirements.
Finally, Long House, also on Wetherill Mesa, offers a longer tour of a large cliff dwelling than the other tours. Two fifteen foot ladders add some spice to the tour.
Wetherill Mesa is only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day; once there, visitors can view Step House or take a tram around to a number of sites on the mesa - including the Long House tour.
Aside from touring these five cliff dwellings, the park roads and trails offer overlooks to a number of other dwellings, including the famous Square Tower ruin.
All That Other Stuff
Mesa Verde isn't just about the cliff dwellings, though. Two recognized Native cultures (correction: nzanne, who worked in the park, comments below that the Basktemakers were just an early phase of the Ancestral Puebloan people and not a separate culture) left relics behind at Mesa Verde, beginning in 500AD and continuing until about 1300AD. At first they started with pit dwellings. Then they advanced in to building raised structures at the top of the mesa before moving to the cave cliff dwellings. Finally came the construction of Sun Temple, back on the mesa top, before the region was abandoned.
Far View Tower
Chapin Museum offers a look into the lives of the people who lived here, complete with a number of artifacts from around the mesa and interpretive exhibits expanding on that evidence.
As you tour in your car (or on Wetherill Mesa in the tram), you will come across a number of sites dedicated to these surface ruins. I highly recommend taking the time to view them for the value they bring to seeing the breadth of the civilization that lived here. Sun Temple and the Far View complex are particularly visual in nature, but by no means representative of the rest of what's available if you really explore all of what the park service presents.
Technicalities
Speaking of touring in your car... Visitors are restricted to the roads and marked trails within the park, and within park regulations. The mesa top sites are all closed overnight, and the park will apply a serious LART in the form of fines specified by antiquities protection law for violations; no camping is allowed on the mesa top. Pets are also seriously restricted; pets are permitted at the campground and along the paved roads, on leash only once they're outside of your vehicle. Pets may not be left tied, and thanks to the baking desert sun, you shouldn't leave them in your vehicle, either - board your pets while visiting!
The best place to stay from a convenience standpoint is the relatively small Far View Lodge. It's not anything to write home about - not as nice as most park lodges - but the views across the New Mexico and Arizona desert are incomparable, and not having to drive up the park entrance road in the morning is a blessing. Barring that, you can stay in the park campground at the base of the mesa or at one of several commercial campgrounds just outside of the park. Cortez and Mancos both offer commercial lodging.
Food accommodations are similar, though a note should be made for the Metate Room, Aramark's quite nice dining room at the lodge, specializing in wild game and local flavoring. Both the Chapin Museum and the Far View Visitor Center have attached dining areas for more casual eating. I'll put a special appeal in here for drink - have some more water! No, really. It's dry in the desert, and you're at elevation; your body probably won't admit it to you, but it's still thirsty!
Entrance To Sun Temple
In The Area
As I started this diary by noting, Mesa Verde isn't exactly close to anything prominent. But it's also not really far away from many of the other sights of the Four Corners region and beyond. You might consider some of the following when planning a longer trip to go beyond Mesa Verde:
Haven't had enough cliff dwelling? Try the Ute Mountain Tribal Park, Hovenweep National Monument, or travel a bit further to Canyon de Chelly or Chaco Canyon.
Want more desert scenery with some Native overtones? Try Ship Rock (visible from Mesa Verde most days), or perhaps Valley of the Gods or Monument Valley Tribal Park. Antelope Canyon outside of Page also qualifies as being Native, but it's not really associated with Native history.
Or how about just some more parks? Canyonlands Needles District and Arches are only 3 hours away, and Natural Bridges isn't much further. Glen Canyon is also in driving range.
Leaf-peeping, skiing, or hiking in the mountains? Head back to Durango and then up the million dollar highway, or drive up to Telluride. Aspen fall season is generally the third week of September, possibly into the fourth week that far south. Also, I might suggest taking the train out of Durango - the Durango & Silverton Railroad - which offers special photo tours in leaf-peeping season and will drop off hikers in the mountain wilderness.
This is another in the "Things To Know Before You Come..." series of diaries profiling U.S. National Parks with an eye toward travel. You can catch these diaries every Tuesday, or catch up with diaries you've missed at the Park Avenue group blog page. On Thursday the group has an in-depth national park profile series contributed by our readers, and we have just started a Saturday morning series profiling our state park systems.
That's a lot of diaries to co-ordinate... so we have a weekly Photo Friday & Open Thread where we ask for your input and your help. You can vote on next week's "Things To Know Before You Come..." diary and find out how to offer your help in writing diaries for the Thursday national park or Saturday state park series. If you'd like, bring pictures of your favorite parks to share!
Here are a few more pictures from the Creative Commons to whet your appetite for Mesa Verde!
A Different Kind of Skyline, by Justin Kern
Lightning Strike over Cliff Palace, by Justin Kern
Kiva Ladder, by Jim Dollar