Mesa Verde was like my Disney Land as a kid. It combined all the things I loved best: Intrigue, Mystery, Climbing, Crawling through tunnels that seemed to last forever. Imagining another time and way of life. The first time I went I was probably six. I was the kind of kid who loved nothing more than exploring: climbing trees, making secret forts, spending whole days well out of sight of my mom on the rambling south Texas ranch we lived on at the time. As an older kid I loved it for the mystery. Wondering who these people were, why the cliff dwellings were built – the simultaneous excitement and frustration that cam from having just shy of enough information to build a complete story and answer around made me giddy. I filled up more than one little notebook with stories inspired by that setting.
I hadn’t been back to Mesa Verde since becoming a parent, and I was beyond excited to take my own children to see this amazing site. They had an amazing time, and I’m so excited to share our tips with you.
- Book tours ahead of time!
This is the first and very most important piece of advice. If, like me, you remember just driving in and wandering around freely you could make the calamitous mistake of not signing up for tours before they fill up and not getting to see anything close up. Virtually everything requires a tour and a guide now. At first I was a little huffy about it, but it really is necessary to protect this treasure for future generations. The guides are also fantastic (and I’m not generally a “guided tour” kind of person) and we learned a ton. So arrive early, or even the day before you want to take your tour, and book everything you want to see while you are there. We did all three main tours and didn’t regret any of them.
2. Do not underestimate how big the park is.
Driving from the entrance of the park to any of the main sites can easily take an hour. Driving from one site to another can also take an hour. If you do the visitor center, Balcony House and Longs House, then leave the park that could be 4 hours of driving. Plan your days accordingly. On the plus side the views are breathtaking. Like, so-breathtaking-you’ll-have-to-pull-over-and-stare-so-as-not-to-drive-off-a-cliff breathtaking.
3. Take the guided tour offered by Ute Mountain Tribal Park
Ute Mountain Tribal Park gives an amazing tour of areas that you can only access with a tribal guide. We signed up for the full day tour, but due to the rain and remote dirt roads, they had to cancel the part of the tour that leads to remote and basically untouched cliff dwellings. The half day tour was still worth the trip, though. It was fascinating and thought-provoking to get a different side to the history of this incredible historic part of the country.
We actually stayed at the Ute Mountain Casino, which had really great rates and was close to the tour (one note – while the rooms are smoke free the rest of the casino is not. If you are sensitive to smoke you should definitely stay elsewhere).
4. Take some time to wander.
There are a few areas where you don’t have to have a guide. They aren’t the most dramatic, beautifully preserved dwellings. They are largely on the mesa tops. There aren’t as many people and you aren’t on a schedule, so it’s a great place to really imagine what life might have been like here so many years ago.
5. Pull off at the scenic stops.
You won’t be sorry. Views of the cliff dwellings from across the canyon are awe-inspiring. The view from Far View is not to be missed.
6. Be prepared.
Water, snacks, picnic lunch supplies, rain gear, layers, sunscreen. None of these are optional items!
If I went again, I would structure our trip a little differently. I would drive down to Ute Mountain again and probably stay at the casino for one night, and take the full day tour the next day. I’d probably make reservations at the hotel in the national park for the next two nights (or maybe camp, if I were feeling adventurous…). Both the hotel and the camping sites tend to fill up quickly, so I would need to plan farther in advance than just a few days.
Do you have any tips for Mesa Verde or the surrounding area?
Fifty-two Daring 