Mesa Verde National Park

our reason for coming to Cortez was to explore Mesa Verde national park (#25 for us together on our USNP list). After a brilliant sunrise we headed into the park, best known for its cliff dwelling structures that the native Americans in the area built 700-1200 years ago. The three main ones to see have overlooks to see these dwellings along with others from afar, but you need a reservation for a ranger led hike to actually get close to them. Overall there are 600 dwellings within the park, which was very surprising to us. We tried like hades to get a permit to Square Tower House but the reservations were gone the second it opened for the day we were there. Luckily our second choice was available and we snagged our permits to explore Balcony House. We were extra lucky to get the first tour of the day (when you have the most peace and quiet in the structures) and extremely lucky to have one of two Indigenous Ranger interns. The fairly new program (this is its third summer) employs local indigenous people as interns to help lead conservation efforts and provide input on practices moving forward along with contributing historical information which previously was ignored or considered mythological. The ranger interns combine park interpretation, public speaking, and their cultural upbringing which made for a truly special tour.
We learned about the history of the indigenous people who initially settled on the top of the Mesa and stayed there for approximately 700 years until a “mega drought” forced them to the seep springs that naturally formed in the cliffs below. The families that built these dwellings still continued their way of life including forming dance floors and kivas for ceremonies. We really enjoyed the tour including the ladders the park has placed to climb to the dwellings and the tunnel you had to crawl through to exit (there’s a picture of Thomas, our guide, holding a blue frame at the beginning of our tour to show the size of the tunnel).

The rest of our day was spent exploring short trails to overlooks of various structures and viewpoints then relaxing with the dogs. We had dinner at a lovely farm to table restaurant in Cortez then sat by our propane fire and took in the mountain views around us.Read more