Day 22 of our 30-day Southwest Grand Circle Caravan – Mesa Verde National Park (Part 1)

We were lucky enough today to experience the culture of the Ancestral Puebloan people at Mesa Verde National Park, with a pair of great friends. Mesa Verde is an archaeological preserve is the nations largest and features 5,000 known archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings.

Most of Mesa Verde National Park must be seen via personal vehicle. There are no shuttle buses in this National Park. Once you get to overlooks, or archaeological sites you can walk around or take a tour. At the Visitor and Research Center there is an awesome over 20-foot bronze sculpture, "The Ancient One."

They offered excellent information outside and inside. If you want an up close look at some of the ruins, you must purchase a tour ticket. All of the tours include climbing ladders, some include crawling through an 18 inch tunnel. Climbing ladders is not my thing ... so no up-close tours for us!

From the park entrance we headed into the park. As we climbed the mountain and negotiated the switchbacks, our first stop was the Mancos Valley Overlook. 

The Mancos Valley historically, has always been the “Gateway to Mesa Verde.” Looking to the east, you can see the La Planta Mountain Range. In the 1890’s, when people heard about the discoveries of the cliff dwellings, they took the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. The rest of the trip, to the cliff dwellings was not so easy! The tough 25 mile trek involved a wagon ride, horseback, and foot. It included a nearly vertical climb to the top of the Chapin Mesa. In 1919, the automobile and graded road, the travel time was reduced to three hours (each way.)

To get the the "other side" of the mountain, you must go through a tunnel. It is not as long as the tunnel we went through at Zion, you can see the other side and there are no windows with a view! But it is still amazing that they created the tunnel to get further into the park.

Our next stop was the Montezuma Valley Overlook. Of course, tou can see the Montezuma Valley, but also the Sleeping Ute Mountain on the left, the Hovenweep National Monument (center,) and the Abajo Mountain Range (Utah) in the distance toward the right. The low clouds, enhance the pictures a great deal!

From here, you can see the remnants of the Knife Edge Road, which was built in 1914 as an entrance to the park. The original road was narrow and appeared to hang on the sheer bluff. Though the old road is gone, the “knife edge” notion remains, as the Knife Edge Hiking trail sits on the side of a bluff. Can you see the knife edge?

We passed some beautiful wild flowers on the side of the road. Nancy and I made Charlie, her Charlie, stop so we could get a few pictures. There were no cars behind us when we first stopped, but there was quickly 5 cars behind us. Naturally one of them was from our caravan group and they had to comment on the hand held radios we have!

The Park Point Overlook has the highest elevation on the mesa and offers an unobstructed 360 degree panoramic view of the area. Back in 1905, while Congress deliberated the proposal to establish Mesa Verde National Park, its attention focused on the magnificent view seen from this point. 

In reference to the trail that at that time left the Mancos-Cortez highway the 58^th Congress stated, “This backbone or ridge is rolling in outline and from the highest hill over which the trail runs is one of the grandest and most extensive views in the country.” We would have to agree!

Fire Lookout is still manned by National Park Service Rangers during the height of fire season. There is a map of where fires occurred in the park, it is amazing that almost every mile of this park had a fire at one time or another. This map details fires from 1933 to 2008. Fire damage is evident everywhere, but the new growth is also visible! 

The Bircher fire in July of 2000, was by far the most devastating. The lightning strike ignited 23,000-acre fire. In August of 2000, the Pony fire burned another 5,300-acres.

We stopped at the Geologic Overlook next. My Charlie, was like ... "oh, good ... we get to see more rocks!" Well, he was right ... we could see the Menefee Formation of rock. 

After depositing Point Lookout Sandstone, the sea completely withdrew from the area, leaving a flat, coastal plain. Swamps developed as small, slow-flowing streams wound their way to the sea in the northeast. As plant and organic material decayed and accumulated, dark, fine-grained shales formed. Thin beds of sandstones and coal seams can be found within this formation. Leaf impressions, tree branches, and other fossilized plant remains are located in the shales. 

Far View Sites is a mesa top farming community with 6 features still visible. Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Mummy Lake (a man-made reservoir), Megalithic House and Far View Tower. 


In ancient times, this community was a place of modest homes interspersed with small farm fields. It was a place filled with people, vibrant life, and constant change. In this less than a square mile there was nearly 50 villages identified! These farms provide a glimpse into the Ancestral Pueblo life from 900 AD to 1300 AD. 

There were signs everywhere that said no climbing on walls, this squirrel did not read the signs?

The Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum is 21-miles inside the park. At the muesum, we enjoyed dioramas of Ancestral Puebloan life, toured many, many exhibits, watched a film on Puebloan life and park information.

We could see the Spruce Tree House from this location. This was our first view of cliff dwellings. It is the third largest cliff dwelling and was constructed between 1211 AD and 1278 AD. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural alcove measuring 216 feet width and 89 feet deep. 

It is thought to have been home for about 60 to 80 people. It was discovered by two local ranchers chanced upon it while searching for stray cattle. A large tree, which they identified as a Douglas Spruce, was found growing from the front of the dwelling to the mesa top. It is said that the men first entered the dwelling by climbing down this tree, which was later cut down. There used to be a ranger guided tour, but issues with stability of the house has stopped those tours.

This is one half of our touring ... I will continue the adventure in part 2.