Mesa Verde National Park is one of 3 national parks in Colorado. The park was established in 1906 and preserves the largest collection of Ancestral Puebloans’ dwellings in the United States. This exceptional collection is of great cultural and archeological value and gives us insights into the lives of the ancient Anasazi. Because of that Mesa Verde is recognized as one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
We visited the park in July of 2021 while both the Cliff Palace and the Balcony House were closed for road repairs. Fortunately, this was our second visit to the park and we had gone into those dwellings with a ranger before. Even though we weren’t able to go on a guided tour this time, we were still able to get great views of the ruins and enjoyed visiting other sites. Below I describe the best of Mesa Verde in a quick guide.
Best of Mesa Verde - a quick guide
A word on timeline and history
The first Ancestral Pueblo people came to the Mesa Verde area in the 6th century and for almost 600 years lived mostly on top of the mesas in pit houses and later in kivas. Towards the end of the 12th century, for reasons not fully understood, they started to build their villages beneath the overhanging cliffs. They lived in the cliff dwellings for about a hundred years and then towards the end of the 13th century they left the area completely.
A word on sightseeing the park
As you visit Mesa Verde National Park, you’re going to be able to see both the cliff dwellings as well as mesa top archeological sites. Most of the cliff dwellings can only be visited with a ranger, so stop by the Visitor Center and purchase your tour tickets.
There are two main mesas along which most of the archeological sites are located. They are Chapin Mesa and Wetherill Mesa. The latter is only open from May to October, so keep that in mind. I recommend making time to visit both Mesas as both offer interesting archeological sites.
1. Highlight of Wetherill Mesa - Step House
Step House was the only site we visited along the Wetherill Mesa road. The 1 mile loop hike was lovely and the ruins were quite well-preserved. The National Park Service provides a great description of the site here.There is also a ranger present at the entrance to the cliff dwelling, so if you have, you’ll be able to ask. Check at the Visitor Center for opening and closing times for Step House. When we visited, the last admission for the day was at 3:30. It would be a bummer to drive that far (it is slow driving in Mesa Verde!) and not be allowed to visit the site.
Chapin Mesa
2. Far View Community
The Far View sites are a testament to a thriving farming community. Along the one mile trail, you’ll be able to see ruins of 5 villages as well as a dry reservoir.
3. Spruce Tree House
Spruce Tree House is one of the largest and best preserved cliff dwellings in the park. It used to house between 60-80 inhabitants. It has 130 rooms and 8 kivas, which served as ceremonial places. This is one of the cliff dwellings that you can visit on a self-guided tour without a ranger. Unfortunately, in the summer of 2021 it was closed to visitors. You do, however, get beautiful views of it from the start of the trailhead. There is also a viewing terrace with seats above the trailhead, which allows you to relax and admire it.
4. Square Tower House
You can view Square Tower House from a viewpoint or you can sign up for a tour with a ranger via Recreation.gov. We didn’t go on a tour but instead enjoyed the views from the overlook. Square Tower House is very pretty and showcases the tallest standing structure in the park.
5. Sun Point Pueblo
When you visit Sun Point Pueblo, you will see remnants of multiple small rooms with a ceremonial kiva and a tower. The kiva-tower structure is sheltered by a roof. An interpretive sign inside shows a diagram depicting the entire complex.
6. Sun Temple
It appears that not much is known about the true purpose of the Sun Temple structure. The speculation is that it may have served a ceremonial function or been used as an observatory. It is a small site, located right by the parking lot, so stop by and walk around it.
7. Cliff Palace
Cliff Palace can only be visited on a ranger-led tour. This year the site was closed, so we were not able to visit it. We did, however, visit it in the past, and truly enjoyed the guided-tour. Even if you don’t get to go on a tour, you will have lovely views of it from the Mesa Top Loop Road.
The Cliff Palace was a house to about 100 people. It had 150 rooms and 26 kivas. It served a ceremonial and administrative function. You can read more about Cliff Palace here.
Interested in other ruins in the Four Corners?
Now that you’ve read the Best of Mesa Verde – a quick guide, discover some of the other Native American sites in the Four Corners region:
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