Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, is a historic monument destination and archeological dream. Information on vacations, hotel accomodations, sightseeing and events.
Mesa Verde has been chosen by travelers from around the world as the number one historic monument destination in the world. Following a close second is the Vatican in Rome and in third place is the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.
Not bad company for a national park established in 1906. The park covers 521,123 acres of land and of that acreage, 8,100 is still pure wilderness. Mesa Verde National Park was the first park in the United States that was designated to protect archeological sites.
Located in the Four Corners area of Colorado, archeological sites in the park were built by Ancestral Pueblos between 600 and 1300 A.D. An estimated count of more than 650,000 people travel to Mesa Verde each year to hike up the wooden ladders 10 to 36 feet high and to lower themselves into excavated Kivas to get a look at life so many years ago.
Remnants of the stone cities these Puebloans lived in can be found on mesa tops and in steep canyons where as many as 217 rooms might have been hidden in the sandstone cliffs.
The modern-day Pueblo Indians are thought to be the descendants of this Indian culture known as the Anasazi, a Navajo word meaning "the ancient ones."
The park's ruins are located sporadically through the park. While not easy to get to, these dwellings were strategically placed by the Anasazis because of the offered protection from the elements and enemies. Chapin Mesa includes Cliff Palace, one of the most popular sites in the park, and Balcony House, a smaller dwelling high in the cliffs. You'll also find Spruce Tree House along Spruce Canyon Trail, Weatherwill Mesa, the site of Long House, Petroglyph Point Trail and Cedar Tree Tower. Most of the sites are self-guided except Cliff Palace and Balcony House.
Cliff Palace may have been home to up to 150 people. The tour you'll take will include a 75-foot ascent, climbing steps and several short ladders. This is not a tour for those that tire of hiking quickly. Fortunately, you can see Cliff Palace in the distance from across the canyon at either Sun Temple or Sun Point on the Ruins Road.
Balcony House is located on the Cliff Palace Loop. This tour is even more strenuous than Balcony House and it requires you to climb a 32-foot ladder and crawl on your hands and knees through a tunnel. The payoff is great however, as you enter the cliff dwelling perched 700 feet above the floor of Soda Canyon.
There's a lodge in Mesa Verde National Park called Far View Lodge. There are 150 rooms each with a private balcony. The Lodge sits atop a 2,000-foot high plateau. It is open from April through mid-October and the peace and tranquility promises no outside disturbances (they have no telephones or televisions in the room). There's also a splendid restaurant at the lodge called The Metate Room.
The Lodge's restaurant, Metate Room, serves contemporary menus of Native American food like buffalo sausage, barbecued rabbit and oven-roasted chicken breast filled with green chili stuffing.
The park is located in the southwest corner of Colorado just 36 miles west of Durango and 10 miles east of Cortez, Colorado. The entrance to the park is off US Highway 160 halfway between the towns of Cortez and Mancos. Once you reach the park entrance you will travel about 15 miles to the visitor center, shop, lodge and actual ruins.
