Mesa Verde, CA Road Trips

The name of the park is Spanish for "green table", referring to the vegetation found at the tops of the plateaus in this area; while members of a Spanish expedition were the first Europeans to visit the area, they never got close enough to see the ruins. Instead, the first known "rediscoverers" of the ruins were members of the Ute tribe, who wintered in the area (but not in the ruins themselves as they believed them to be sacred) in the late 1870s. While most of what exists today was built by the Ancestral Puebloans ("Anasazi" in older texts), the site has evidence of being inhabited as far back as c. 9500 BCE, when nomadic hunter-gatherers made camps in the canyons. The earliest rock structures and rock art date to the Archaic period (6000 BCE to 1000 BCE), when people began to build (semi)permanent structures in the cliffs. After the Archaic period came the Basketmaker culture (c. 1000 BCE to 750 CE), when corn and beans were introduced to the region and, as you could guess, basket weaving became common. Pithouses (houses dug into the earth) were the main form of domicile at this time. The Ancestral Puebloans chose Mesa Verde as their settlement 1,400 years ago, around the year 750 CE. As the population grew, the Ancestral Puebloans moved from pithouses to pole-and-adobe houses built above ground. The pithouses became kivas (ceremonial rooms) as the mesa top villages became larger and more complex. Stone masonry replaced the poles and mud of earlier houses, as villages rose two or three stories high, became more compact, and had many rooms.

Travelers should be aware that access to the various cliff houses involves navigating (sometimes several) wooden ladders, and that wheelchair access may be limited or nonexistent. That being said, not everything in the park is below the cliffs. The park has many scenic vistas where you can observe the natural beauty of Mesa Verde. Just off the main park road is 1 Montezuma Valley Overlook, 2 Park Point Overlook, and 3 Geologic Overlook. There are also good views from the Far View area, the Chapin Mesa Museum viewing deck, and the two loop roads on Chapin Mesa. Historic District (21 miles from the park entrance). Most of Mesa Verde's old park service buildings can be found here, with many of the structures here dating back to the 1920s. The park headquarters, Spruce Tree Terrace restaurant, post office, museum, and a picnic area are located here. Self-guided tour maps are available. 4 Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum (From the park entrance, drive 20 miles (32.2 km) to the all-way stop on Chapin Mesa. Turn right. Drive about 0.7 miles (1.13 km) to the museum parking lot.). April–October 8AM–6:30PM, October–April 8AM–5PM. Located at milepost 20, the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum has exhibits about the culture of the Ancestral Puebloans, with artifacts from the region and dioramas illustrating life in Mesa Verde centuries ago. A 25-minute orientation film is shown every half-hour. A museum store, water, restrooms, cafe, gift shop, and post office are all located nearby. (updated Jun 2020) 5 Spruce Tree House.

Cliff Palace, Balcony House and Long House are some of Mesa Verde's greatest and most outstanding cliff dwellings. Guided tours are the only way to get up-close with them. Tickets cost $8 per person, per tour, and must be purchased online at recreation.gov or calling 877-444-6777. Due to the popularity of the Cliff Palace and Balcony House tours, visitors may be limited to only one of these two tours per day in summer (Long House can be visited on the same day, however). Try to arrive early for ranger-guided tours as they tend to fill up quickly, particularly in summer. By mid-morning you should be prepared for at least an hour long wait for a place in a tour group. Be forewarned that each tour does involve traversing uneven stairways and tall wooden ladders. While the overall distance you travel on the hiking tour isn’t very far, the nature of the trail, high altitude, and extreme temperatures all combine to make the hike a little grueling for the average couch potato. 1 Cliff Palace (Chapin Mesa). early-April through early-November. Tour starts at the Cliff Palace overlook on the Cliff Palace Loop Road. This one-hour tour descends 100 feet to Mesa Verde's largest and most famous cliff house. Along the way you must climb five 8–10 ft ladders. $5. (updated Jan 2018) 2 Balcony House (Chapin Mesa). late-April through early-October. Tour starts at the Balcony House parking area on the Cliff Palace loop road.

Food is available at four locations in the park: 1 Far View Terrace Café. May–October, 7AM-7PM. A variety of somewhat-overpriced food in several styles (burgers, pizza, Southwestern, Native American, etc.) is available in this cafeteria. The dining room has a large window facing some of the mesas and canyons of the park. 2 Spruce Tree Terrace Café (near the Chapin Mesa Museum). Daily 11AM-3:30PM (extended hours in the summer). Burgers, sandwiches and salads. $4–$8. The Metate Room (within Far View Lodge). May–October, breakfast 7AM-10AM, dinner 5PM-9:30AM (dinner & breakfast). A surprisingly sophisticated dining experience located in the otherwise mediocre Far View Lodge. The Metate Room offers an excellent dinner service and as well as gorgeous views that can extend as far as 100 miles out on a clear day. The food is an innovative take on Southwest cuisine, with dishes such as the Blue Corn and Pinenut Dusted Trout ($22) and Marinated Grilled Quail with Chili Polenta ($27) combining upscale dining with regional ingredients. The restaurant also offers a great list of Colorado wines. Casual dress. $15–$30. 3 Knife Edge Cafe (next to the Morefield Campground store). May–September, 7AM-10AM. Open for breakfast during the summer months.

You can purchase soft drinks, juices, and drinking water at any of the restaurants and cafes around the park, including at Chapin Mesa, Far View, the Morefield Campground store, and the ranger station on Wetherill Mesa. There is an espresso bar at the Far View Terrace & Marketplace. For alcohol, there's just about only one place in Mesa Verde where you can get it, and that's at The Metate Room restaurant in the Far View Lodge, which offers an extensive wine list.

1 Far View Lodge, near the Far View Terrace Marketplace, toll-free: +1-800-449-2288. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 10AM. Open May–October. This is the only hotel in the park and it's best described as "rustic." There are 150 rooms in a motel-type layout, all non-smoking and with private balconies. There are no TVs in the rooms and the property is showing its age. Although the rooms can be quite pricey during peak season, don't expect luxury. However, if you're OK with clean, no-frills lodgings in a very convenient location, it's a good bet. When booking, request a room at the front of the lodge (rooms numbered in the 100s); many of these do indeed have breathtaking "far views." However, many of the rooms toward the back of the property have their views obscured by other buildings or trees, which the hotel operators can't remove as they're protected within a national park. $110-140. Lodging is also available in the nearby towns of Cortez, Dolores, and Mancos and farther away in Durango. 2 Morefield Campground. This is the only campground in the park. The campsites are quite nice, most of them with lots of trees for privacy (and the campground rarely fills up), and all of them have a table, bench, and grill. There are also 15 RV sites with full hookups (recommend reservations if you wish a full hookup site). The restrooms are clean, and there are free showers. At the entrance to the campground is a store (where you can get gas, groceries and camp supplies), an RV dumping station, and a 24-hour laundromat. Open mid-May through mid-October.

Driving is just about the only way to get to Mesa Verde. The entrance to the park is 9 miles east of Cortez and 35 miles west of Durango on US Highway 160 (formerly US Highway 666). The road into the park is steep, narrow, and winding, so make sure your car is in good shape, that it has plenty of gas, and that its brakes are in proper working order. A gas station in the park is located at the Morefield Campground, which is still several miles from the top. Cortez has a small airport with daily flights to Denver on Great Lakes Airlines. Durango has a larger airport with daily flights to Denver on United Express, and to Dallas/Fort Worth and Phoenix on American Eagle. Rental car outlets are available at both airports.

There are four main areas of the park: Morefield Campground is just inside the park, 4 miles from the entrance. Another 11 miles in is Far View, where you can drive another 6 miles to Chapin Mesa or turn right and drive 12 miles to get to Wetherill Mesa. For the most part you will need private transportation in order to move throughout the park. The only public transit available is on Wetherill Mesa, where a tram services the area that is otherwise inaccessible to automobiles. The roads are steep, narrow, and winding, so make sure your car is in good shape and has plenty of gas. You can get gasoline at the Morefield Campground store. Watch out for rocks that may have fallen on to the road and take it slow. Be courteous to other drivers and stick to your side of the road. Keep in mind that the Park Rangers enforce safe driving on this road and will not hesitate to hand out tickets for unsafe driving. Trailers and towed vehicles are not permitted beyond Morefield Campground. If you're not camping, you can park these vehicles in the parking lot located near the entrance station. The road to Wetherill Mesa (open Memorial Day to Labor Day) has sharp curves and steep grades, so vehicles on this road are restricted to less than 8,000 pounds and 25-feet in length.

Visits to cliff dwellings can be strenuous; many require climbing uneven steps and ladders, involve large elevation changes, or are near steep cliffs. Almost all of the trails in Mesa Verde are difficult. It can get very hot in the summer, and even in the winter it can be quite warm, so drink lots of water and put on the sunscreen. Be careful while driving, as the roads are filled with sharp curves and often fallen rocks. Make sure your car is in good shape, especially your brakes, and make sure there's plenty of gas in the tank, as there is only one gas station in this large park, and that's at Morefield Campground near the base of the mountain. Many portions of the roads are up against cliffs, so keep an eye out for rocks that may have fallen onto the road. To protect the fragile archaeological sights in the park, don't sit, stand, lean, or climb upon anything at the sights (that includes ancient walls, structures, ruins, etc.). For current and constantly updated park information, you can tune your radio to 1610AM.