Can You Go Into the Cliff Dwellings at Mesa Verde?
Yes! Depending on the season and construction, Mesa Verde offers tours guided by a park ranger of
- Cliff Palace (the largest cliff dwelling) - 30 minute tour
- Long House (the second largest cliff dwelling) - 2 hour tour
- Balcony House (one of the most adventurous tours) - 1 hour tour
- Square Tower House (features the tallest standing structure in the park) - 1.5 hour tour
When Wetherill Mesa is open and rangers are available, self-guided (non-ticketed) tours may also be offered of Step House.
Is Mesa Verde National Park Worth It?
Mesa Verde is one of those places where you can feel the history all around you. It's cultural significance together with its natural beauty in the surrounding landscapes makes it easy for us to say absolutely YES! Mesa Verde National Park is a unique and interesting place that deserves a place on everyone's road trip agenda.
Mesa Verde National Park History
While we always like to include a bit of history in our posts, Mesa Verde National Park is all about history. This park is rooted in history and culture. A visit here is a lesson in what once was and what still is. It's a look into the past of the Ancestral Puebloans and how their lifestyle and choices shaped today for their descendants and much of the American Southwest.
People have been living here for over 700 years and the structures they left behind all those generations ago are simply amazing. To be able to walk amongst the history is truly incredible.
President Theodore Roosevelt recognized the importance of protecting this cultural history and the almost 5,000 archaeological sites that sit within the park. In 1906, he established Mesa Verde National Park as America's first cultural national park!
Today, after more than 100 years of preservation and protection, you can walk in the footsteps of the Ancestral Pueblo People and imagine what life would have been like for them. The official park film is a great way to learn more about the history of Mesa Verde...
Watch the Official Film of Mesa Verde National Park
Tips for Visiting Mesa Verde National Park
Do your research before you go. Due to the delicate nature of the historical sites in this park and the narrow, winding roads, closures are common. Some parts of the park are also operated seasonally. Try to plan your trip around scheduled down time if possible. Contact the park for the latest updates and schedules.
Spruce Tree House is the third largest and best preserved cliff dwelling in the park. Unfortunately, it has been closed to the public since 2015 due to the instability of a natural sandstone arch above the dwelling. It is unknown when it may reopen.
When you are planning your trip, be sure to look into the park's Cliff Dwelling Tours. These tours require a ticket for each participant. Tickets are available up to 14 days in advance through recreation.gov. During our visit, each tour ticket was $8. A Cliff Dwelling Tour allows you to hike into major archaeological sites such as Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Long House and Square Tower House.
When choosing ticket times, keep in mind where these sites are located within the park and the length of each tour. It can take a good deal of time to get from one site to another within the park. We chose to schedule tours for Cliff Palace and Long House on two separate days to make sure we had plenty of time. And, bonus... there is plenty to see along the way!
Wear comfortable, close-toed shoes with good tread for walking or hiking.
Enjoying a Ranger Tour
Fuel up the car before you arrive. As with most national parks, this is a large park. Don't risk running low on fuel during your visit.
September was a GREAT time to visit. It was warm without being too hot, busy but not crowded, and tours were still available. Tours are not offered during the winter. Much of this park is seasonal. So again, check with the park so you'll know what to expect.
We recommend taking plenty of water, a camera with a telephoto lens and binoculars for viewing dwellings from a distance.
And remember, Mesa Verde is not just about cliff dwellings. Yes, they are incredible to visit, but don't forget to seek out the mesa top ruins as well. These pueblos (or villages) are an equally important part of the history of the people who once lived here.
Is Mesa Verde Worth Visiting Without a Tour?
While we believe the tours add a lot to the Mesa Verde experience, we also believe that if you are unable to take a tour, Mesa Verde is absolutely still worth visiting. The scenic drives, museums, and scenic overlooks are amazing in this park. You'll find interpretive signs throughout the park and some of the pit houses and cliff dwelling ruins are viewable from pull-off areas or via short hikes.
Self-Guided Tours like the Step House, the Far View Sites Complex, Badger House Community and Soda Canyon do not require tour tickets. Step House is the only cliff dwellings ruin that you can enter without a tour ticket.
Bring your lunch, picnic tables are located in scenic areas throughout the park. If you prefer not to carry your lunch in, restaurants are available within the park.
Enjoy a hike. Mesa Verde offers a variety of hiking trails. Some are short; some are long. Some are paved; some are dirt. All offer incredible views and interesting stories. Make sure you budget enough time to enjoy exploring at least a short trail.
How Strenuous is Mesa Verde?
Mesa Verde National Park is one of those parks that can be as strenuous as you would like it to be.
Folks looking for adventure and a bit of a workout have multiple hikes to choose from. Most hikes in this park feature changes in elevation.
If you prefer a less strenuous visit, enjoy a scenic drive through the park and stop at as many of the scenic overlooks as you have time for.
Everyone should visit the Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center at the front of the park to begin a visit. The park also offers a museum, the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum, which was closed for renovation during our visit.
Check out the Mesa Verde National Park Accessibility Page for details about the accessibility of specific facilities and sites throughout the park.
Can You Just Drive Through Mesa Verde National Park?
Yes, you can enjoy a scenic drive through Mesa Verde, but unlike Rocky Mountain National Park, there is only one public entrance / exit at Mesa Verde National Park. So you'll be going out the same way you came in.
The park offers a free audio tour of some of the sites that are easily viewable along Mesa Top Loop Road.
The park roads are often winding and narrow. There is a tunnel after the campground. The park lists the tunnel clearance height at 20.5'. We don't recommend taking an RV past the campground turn-off. Towed vehicles are not allowed past the campground.
Vehicles traveling past Chapin Mesa to Wetherill Mesa must weigh less than 8,000 pounds and be shorter than 25-feet in length. The road here features steep grades and sharp curves. It is only open seasonally.
How Long is the Drive Through Mesa Verde National Park?
If you want to drive through all of the major sections of Mesa Verde National Park, you'll have to do a bit of back-tracking. The park roads are literally built on top of mesas. So a complete drive through will require you to drive all of Chapin Mesa in and out and then all of Wetherill Mesa in and out (or visa-versa) before heading back to the front of the park.
To give you some idea of distances, it is approximately 24 miles from the park entrance sign to Cliff Palace. The park estimates that travel time between the entrance and Cliff Palace is approximately 1 hour. It is another 22 miles from Cliff Palace on Chapin Mesa to the Wetherill Mesa Information area where you can hike to Long House or Step House. Estimated travel time for that drive is about an hour and 15 minutes. To get back to the park entrance from there, you're looking at another 28 miles or one and a half hours.
So, even with no stops, the estimated time to drive through all of the major areas of Mesa Verde National Park would take an estimated 4 hours.
How Much Time Do You Need at Mesa Verde?
We visited Mesa Verde National Park over two days. In those two days, we were able to visit the Visitor Center at the front of the park, drive the entire park, participate in two ranger-led tours and hike a few of the trails.
If we had visited on a third day, we would have hiked additional trails. We also would have tried to get tickets for the ranger-guided tour of Balcony House.
In our opinion, this is not a park that you want to rush through. It is large, spread out, and takes a good bit of time to travel around. You might think if you've seen one ruin or cliff dwelling you've seen them all. But, the truth is that each site is a unique experience with its own story. We highly recommend participating in park ranger tours or talks and spending time in the Visitor Center and Museum.
What is Special About Mesa Verde National Park?
Mesa Verde is the very first Cultural National Park to be established in the United States of America.
Mesa Verde and Yellowstone National Parks are the first recognized World Heritage Sites in America. Each of these national parks was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.
Mesa Verde National Park is also recognized as an International Dark Sky Park.
There are generations of archaeological history and cultural stories in this area. Today, Mesa Verde National Park protects almost 5,000 archaeological sites including 600 cliff dwellings. Experts say that the Ancestral Puebloan ruins here are some of the best-preserved ruins in North America.
You can take a guided tour of Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America.
Where Did Mesa Verde Get Its Name?
Mesa is Spanish for table. When Spanish explorers made their way across the Southwest, they called the raised lands with flat tops "Mesas" because they reminded them of tables.
The mesas in this area are green, covered in Piñon Pines and Junipers. Green in Spanish is Verde.
Hence, this area of green covered mesas became known as Mesa Verde or "Green Table".
Interestingly, geologists today say that this area is actually a "cuesta" instead of a traditional mesa. A cuesta is a mesa that is not exactly flat on the top. The land at Mesa Verde slopes slightly to the south. Over time it has been shaped by wind and water erosion into the canyons and "mesas" that we see today.
Hiking in Mesa Verde National Park
Much of Mesa Verde is protected land that is not open to public exploration. Hiking off of trails here is illegal. This is a park where you must stay on the established trails if you would like to hike. Hiking is available in the following sections of the park:
Morefield Canyon:
- Knife Edge Trail - 2 miles with an elevation change of 60 feet. Rated as easy.
- Point Lookout Trail - 2.2 miles with an elevation change of 400 feet. Rated as moderately difficult.
- Prater Ridge Trail - 7.8 miles with an elevation change of 675 feet. Rated as strenuous.
Chapin Mesa:
- Farming Terrace Trail - 0.5 mile with an elevation change of 150 feet. Rated as easy.
- Far View Sites Trail - 0.75 mile with no noted elevation change. Rated as easy.
- Soda Canyon Overlook Trail - 1.2 miles with an elevation change of 70 feet. Rated as easy.
- Petroglyph Point Trail - 2.4 miles with an elevation change of 227 feet. Rated as strenuous.
- Spruce Canyon Trail - 2.4 miles with an elevation change of 558 feet. Rated as strenuous.
Trail Sign
Wetherill Mesa:
- Step House Trail - 1 mile with an elevation change of 165 feet. Rated as moderately difficult.
- Nordenskiold Site No. 16 Trail - 2 miles with an elevation change of 95 feet. Rated as moderately difficult.
- Badger House Community Trail - 2.25 miles with an elevation change of 111 feet. Rated as moderately difficult.
- Long House Loop - 5 miles with an elevation change of 177 feet. Rated as moderately difficult.
During our visit, a few of the park trails allowed pets on leashes. Check with the park for current rules.
Mesa Verde is still considered sacred ancestral land. Please keep this in mind as you hike with respect to the land and its history.
Mesa Verde National Park Camping
The Morefield Campground hosts 267 campsites and is located 4 miles inside the national park. Most campsites here offer dry camping for tents or small RVs. There are 15 full hookup RV campsites.
The campground is managed by a concessionaire who takes reservations online. The park website states that a few campsites can fit RVs up to 46' long. However, after reading many reviews about RV camping inside Mesa Verde, we decided to stay nearby in Cortez, Colorado. During our visit to Mesa Verde, we drove through the campground in our truck.
What we saw during our drive through was an older campground in need of maintenance and repair. The campground roads were rough, curvy and often narrow with foliage growing into the lanes. There were very few campsites that could have fit our 34' motorhome. We came out of the campground very happy that we did not make reservations to stay there.
Our campsite in Cortez was less than 10 miles from the park.
Mesa Verde National Park Reservations
During our visit, Mesa Verde National Park did not require reservations for park entry. However, as we mentioned above, if you want to tour the cliff dwellings, you will usually be required to have a tour ticket.
Where is Mesa Verde National Park?
You'll find Mesa Verde National Park in Southwestern Colorado between Cortez and Durango on the Colorado Plateau.
This southwest corner of Colorado is full of interesting cultural history and Mesa Verde is a great starting point for exploring those stories. Another interesting historical site is just north of Cortez. Be sure to check out Canyons of the Ancients National Monument while you are in the area.
For More Information on Visiting Mesa Verde National Park
Visit the Mesa Verde National Park section of the National Park Service website.
Mesa Verde National Park Fun Facts
Park Size
81 square miles
Miles of Hiking Trails
almost 30 miles
Average Summer Temperatures
49° - 84°
Average Winter Temperatures
16° - 41°
Elevation
6,000' - 8,572'
A Few Photos from Our Visit to Mesa Verde National Park
Balcony House
Views for Miles
Visitor Center
Famous Cliff Dwellings
Waiting for the Long House Tour
Scenic Drive Pull Off
