Mesa Verde National Park

In southwest Colorado, about an hour from the famed “four corners” where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona meet, is Mesa Verde National Park.

Mesa Verde NP was established in 1906 to preserve and interpret the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from 600 to 1300 CE. The park contains 5,000+ archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings, across 40+ miles of roads.

We spent three half-days exploring the park, and we highly recommend it. Between an ancient history nerd (Jon) and a geology nerd (me), Mesa Verde NP kept us marveling.

Here’s our experience, as well as some tips on enjoying Mesa Verde National Park!

First stop, Visitor Center!

The Visitor Center is just outside the entrance gate to the park. It’s where you can purchase your tour tickets, peruse educational and interactive exhibits, shop souvenirs or supplies, and take a potty break before driving up the mountain. Don’t forget to take in the view – there are picnic tables for a lovely breakfast or lunch.

Tour, you ask?

Yes! Mesa Verde NP offers three ranger-guided tours of select cliff dwellings – Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Long House.

I’ll talk more about the tours below, but for now, you just need to know that tour tickets are only $5 a person. For $5 a pop, I highly suggest the experience!

Insider Tip: Tickets do sell out! Come to the Visitor Center the day before to purchase your tour tickets for the next day. That will give you more options for time slots, especially if you’re trying to avoid the hottest time of the day. The Visitor Center is a quick stop off the highway. If you can’t make it to the Visitor Center, you can also buy tickets at the Morefield Ranger Station or the Durango Welcome Center in Durango.

We’re Going in Circles!

Mesa Verde NP involves more driving than I have ever experienced at a National Park. It’s 40 miles of uphill turns, picnicking, and repeatedly getting in and out of the car to follow self-guided tours.

Because so much driving is involved, it’s easiest to think of Mesa Verde as three loops – 1. Chapin Mesa Loop, 2. Mesa Loop and 3. Weatherill Mesa Loop.

Loop 1: The Chapin Mesa Loop is the most popular loop, as it contains many of the park’s “must-dos.” These include:

• • • The Cliff Palace and Balcony House tour meeting spots,
    • An excellent view of the Spruce Tree House (at a distance – as of this writing, the cliff dwelling is closed due to the danger of rockfall),
    • The Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum, and
    • The Petroglyph Point Trail, a 2.4-mile loop that takes you to the largest petroglyph panel in the park.

Before heading to our Balcony House tour appointment, we decided to high-tail it through Petroglyph Point Trail. The park sign said the 2.4-mile loop would take 2 hours, but with a steady, faster pace we finished it in an hour. The trail is varied, with tight squeezes, uneven rocky steps and excellent views, perfect for an adventurous trail run. If you have time though, take breaks to soak in the many canyon viewpoints and enjoy the cool, shady spots provided by the lovely sandstone cliffs.

Insider Tip: On busy days, the Ute Reservation opens for business, selling water, food (including a local specialty, fresh fried bread!) and souvenirs. It’s one of the last stops of the Chapin Mesa loop. There’s a big marquee at the turn in; you can’t miss it.

Loop 2: The Mesa Top Loop is a 6-mile drive passing through surface dwellings (pithouses) and viewpoints to many of the cliff dwellings (including Cliff Palace).

The loop is designed as a self-guided tour with informational and illustrative signs. Because the exhibits are in chronological order, you can see the progression in both size and design over the centuries.

The Mesa Top Loop was great to experience with our dog Willie, since most of the “trails” are paved and thus dog-friendly. There isn’t a lot that dogs can experience at Mesa Verde, so these short trails give him a little respite from riding in the van. Since the pavement is hot, we definitely recommend doggie shoes to protect little paws from the heat.

If you’re low on time, we highly recommend Sun Point Temple and Overlook, at the end of the loop – you get a panoramic idea of how many cliff dwellings can be hidden in plain sight!

Insider Tip: Have binoculars? Now is the time to use them! For bonus points, be the generous soul that makes someone’s day by gifting them a glimpse through your binoculars.

Loop 3: The Weatherill Mesa Loop is the least visited and requires the longest drive of the three loops. Okay, it’s more of a road than a loop; you have to go out and back. From Weatherill Mesa, you have access to:

• • • The Long House tour meeting spot,
    • The Step House self-guided tour, and
    • The Long House Loop 6-mile paved trail, the longest dog-friendly hike the park has to offer.

This section of the park has a vastly different landscape in the spring and summer. Compared to the other loops, the scenery here is lush and the wildflowers more abundant. If you have time, I would recommend fitting this in, even if you don’t drive the entire route.

Cliff Dwelling Guided Tours

As mentioned, Mesa Verde NP offers three ranger-guided tours of select cliff dwellings – Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Long House.

The Cliff Palace and Balcony House tours are each 1 hour and only ¼ mile of walking distance. The Long House tour is 2 hours long and involves 2 ¼ miles of walking.

Always check the website for the exact tour times and the most up-to-date information.

Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling, with 150 individual rooms that once held as many as 175 residents. It really takes your breath away to see what remains today and to imagine how it must have been then. See my write-up of the Cliff Palace Tour here.

Insider Tip: If you don’t do the tour, you can still get an excellent view of Cliff Palace and maybe even eavesdrop on a tour in progress. At the Cliff Palace stop, a paved trail runs past the tour group waiting area to a wonderful overlook that is open to all, ticket or not. Just don’t pass the sign that says “tickets required beyond this point.” The view of Cliff Palace from above is truly awe-inspiring.

Balcony House is deemed the most adventurous cliff dwelling tour. There’s climbing ladders and crawling through tight spaces, with some excellent, possibly vertigo-inducing, views.

Long House is the most in-depth tour. Due to time constraints with Willie in the van and the heat, we weren’t able to participate. While I can’t say anything about this tour specifically, I can assume that if you love ancient archaeology, you should definitely consider this as an option.

Want Even More?

Historical sights aside, I really loved just watching the landscape. Sitting passenger-side along the many miles of roads, I had plenty of time to soak in the rocky cliffs and colorful flora. I even glimpsed four wild horses galloping down a mountainside!

Stop for a snack break at one of the many rest stops and picnic tables along the road. Just remember to pick up after yourself. Don’t leave any snacks behind for wild animals – or for domesticated dogs who love to eat random stuff off the floor, like Willie!

Other awesome things you can do:

• Stargazing! Mancos and Montezuma Overlooks are recommended as the best stargazing spots. There’s no overnight parking, but the entrance gate is open 24 hours a day, so you can soak up the stars and leave the park whenever you’re ready.
• All I can say is, GO YOU! And, good luck? Be safe; the narrow road is dangerous enough with certain drivers who don’t think the speed limit applies to them.

Insider Tip: Can’t get enough history? There’s a podcast for that! Mesa Verde Voices is a podcast series exploring the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo People.

Entrance Fee

You can go to the Mesa Verde website for specific rates and schedules.

In general:

• • • Between January to April, a 7-day pass is $15 per private vehicle, regardless of how many people are in the vehicle.
    • Between May to October, a 7-day pass is $35 per private vehicle, regardless of how many people are in the vehicle.
    • Entrance to all National Parks is free if you have the America the Beautiful Pass, which is currently $80 for a year.

Where to Stay

There are two ways to stay within the park:

• • • Far View Lodge, with its top-of-the-world views, or
    • Morefield Campground, with excellent access and amenities for a campground

Both are reservation only. Note that trailers are not allowed past Morefield Campground. If you’re not camping, you have to leave your trailer in a parking lot just after the front entrance gate.

Outside of the park, the two closest towns are Cortez and Mancos, each with hotels, motels, RV parks and campgrounds.

VanLife in Cortez, CO:

Even though we are fully equipped to boondock in our van, we decided to get a motel to keep our dog cool during the day. We needed the van to get around Mesa Verde NP, and didn’t want to leave him locked inside in the heat.

While the Morefield Campground within Mesa Verde has dog kennels, the cost of leaving him in a kennel was about as much as the motel room, so that didn’t make sense for us.

We stayed two nights at the Travelodge in Cortez, using our Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and two nights boondocking at a nearby park.

• • • The Travelodge – After living in a van, even a three-star hotel can be luxurious – a shower, toilet, fridge, microwave, ice machine, and free carb-tastic breakfast?! The best thing about the Cortez Travelodge is its location – it’s walking distance to several grassy parks that make dog-walking much more enjoyable. Too often, hotels are in urban areas where dog walks are limited to parking lots and over-pooped sidewalks and bushes.
    • Boondocking – we passed on the local Walmart in favor of the Recreation Center parking lot. We were told that overnight parking is officially not allowed there, but that the chances of someone bothering us were slim. So, we took our chances. We were undisturbed and greatly enjoyed the change of scenery. Willie did too!

For vanlife, we highly recommend Cortez.

Cortez calls itself the “City of Parks,” with 625 acres developed for the enjoyment of residents and visitors.

Parque de Vida is my favorite – the grass is greener, the trees are tall for maximum shade, and the restrooms are open 24 hours. There’s a recreational center, a community garden, volleyball courts, soccer nets, a baseball diamond, playgrounds and plenty of covered picnic tables and BBQ grills.

At this park, I also had the fortune of walking upon the Cortez Hot Air Balloon Festival! It was beautiful to witness on a cool early morning.