Cliff Palace in the afternoon light, Mesa Verde National Park / Rebecca Latson

Mesa Verde National Park is one of those National Park Service units focusing upon the architecture, culture, and landscape of the Ancestral Puebloans who inhabited this area for over 700 years (600 – 1300 CE), leaving behind 600 cliff dwellings and over 5,000 known archaeological sites. There’s plenty to do, see, and learn about at Mesa Verde, and this Traveler’s Checklist can help you make the most of your time exploring the park.

Map of Mesa Verde National Park / National Park Service

• Go camping. The Morefield campground with its 267 sites is operated by park concessionaire Aramark, and reservations are accepted but not required to stay here. If you are looking for something a little more “brick-and-mortar,” check out the Far View Lodge inside the park. Enjoy dinner at the lodge’s Metate Room Restaurant, which received the “Award of Culinary Excellence” by the American Culinary Federation Colorado Chefs Association in the area of sustainable cuisine. If there’s no room at the lodge, then check for options in the nearby town of Cortez, eight miles west of the park. Durango is 56 miles to the east.
  
  
• Even during summer, early mornings and late evenings will be cool, so pack a jacket for those times. Make that jacket a fleece or down one for the cooler months of autumn and winter. Pack a pair of sturdy boots, too, for your hikes and cliff dwelling explorations.
  
  
• Take plenty of water for your adventures. It’s dry out there, no matter which season you visit.
  
  
• Stretch your legs and begin with a self-guided tour of ruins such as the Farview Sites Complex, Spruce House, or Step House.
  
  
• Take a ranger-assisted tour of a cliff dwelling (Cliff Palace, Long House).
  
  
• Take a guided backcountry hike to a cliff dwelling off the beaten path (Mug House, Spring House, Square Tower House). These ranger-led hikes are to cliff dwellings are not available for the general public's exploration (Square House) and/or located further away and not viewed from any overlook.
  
  
  

  Last bit of light on Cliff Palace during a Twilight Tour, Mesa Verde National Park / Rebecca Latson

• Join an evening program like the Cliff Palace Twilight Tour. The mixture of twilight shadows and setting sunlight makes this an awesome opportunity for photographers.
  
  
• Go for a hike. There are a number of trails within this national park. However, if you only have time for one or two hikes, then take the 2.2-mile roundtrip Point Lookout Trail for views of the Montezuma and Mancos valleys, or the 1.2-mile roundtrip Soda Canyon Overlook Trail, for views of Balcony House and other archeological sites, or the more rugged and “adventurous”  2.4-mile roundtrip Petroglyph Point Trail  to view a petroglyph panel.
  
  
• Take a tour of the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum, one of the oldest museums in the National Park Service. Note: As of May 2021, this museum was closed until further notice due to Covid-19.
  
  
• Stop at all of the park overlooks for views of the cliff dwellings, park landscape, and geology.
  
  
• Watch (and photograph) sunrise at either the Mancos Valley Overlook or Park Point (or both, if you are staying in the park for a few days).
  
  
• Bicycle the roads and trails of the park. Check with the park to find out which trails are accessible to bicycling.
  
  
• If you visit Mesa Verde during the winter, bring your snowshoes or cross-country skis. The cliff dwelling tours are stopped for the season, but you can still make your way through the snow to overlooks to view the cliff dwellings.
  
  
• If you visit the park during autumn or winter, don’t forget to pack traction devices for your boots to help navigate icy patches at the overlooks and on trails.
  
  
• Take your binoculars or telephoto lens for some birdwatching. Because of the different habitats within this national park, you might see birds such as owls, hawks, eagles, hummingbirds, sparrows, vireos, nuthatches, jays, and woodpeckers, to name a few.
  
  
• Stay up past dark and stargaze over the cliff dwellings. Since there are no large cities in the Four Corners Region, there’s not much light pollution, making Mesa Verde a great location for viewing (and photographing) the starry night sky.
  
  
• Take a side trip to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, managed by the Bureau of Land Management and approximately 12 miles west of Mesa Verde National Park. Like Mesa Verde, Canyons of the Ancients is home to the physical remains of humans that inhabited the area for 10,000 years, including kivas, cliff dwellings, and pueblos.
  
  
• Currently (May 2021), a number of the park’s activities and amenities are limited or closed due to the pandemic, so remember to check the park’s website for any alerts and closures due to Covid-19, construction, or weather-related damage. You’ll also need to check the site to find out if and where pets are allowed.
  
  
• As you make your trip plans, remember, the coronavirus pandemic is not over, yet. Per the National Park Service, whose parent organization is the Department of the Interior: “To protect the health of those who live, work, and visit America’s national parks, face masks are required in all NPS buildings and facilities. Masks are also required on NPS-managed lands when physical distancing cannot be maintained, including narrow or busy trails, overlooks, and historic homes.” So, travel safely, take some masks, practice social distancing and wash your hands often.
  
  
  

  Sunrise at Park Point, Mesa Verde National Park / Rebecca Latson