This is #1 of a 3-part travel series on my family’s summer vacation, on which I also read 4 books!
Mesa Verde National Park is a lesser visited national park, which was fine by me with some of the other national parks getting slammed with visitors this summer.
Located in Southwest Colorado, Mesa Verde -also a World Heritage site – is the only U.S. national park that focuses on culture; its lands include hundreds of cliff dwellings where the Pueblo people made their homes hundreds of years ago. Many of these dwellings can be viewed and even walked through. It is incredible to think of the skill and construction that went into these and especially because the dwellings have lasted so long.
This park also has jaw dropping views but the dwellings and other historical artifacts provided something “extra” especially for my kids who can only appreciate scenery for so long.
Prior to visiting, I was confused about how to approach this park, so hopefully I can explain some things here to help you maximize your own trip if you decide to go – and you should!
What to Know Before Visiting Mesa Verde
First, know this park is HUGE. Ideally, you would want at least two days to explore it though it could be done in one, very long day.
There are two distinct areas 1) Chapin Mesa and 2) Weatherill Mesa. I recommend focusing one day on each of these areas. You have to drive into the park about 30 mins (to near Far View Terrace) before you even have to choose which of the two mesas you will drive farther towards.
Far View Terrace (again, 30 mins into the park) has a restaurant and gift shop. Near this area (please check map you will get at entrance for exact location), the park branches off into the two separate areas mentioned above. It seemed to me that the more popular/crowded was the Chapin Mesa while the Weatherill Mesa took longer to get to and was not as crowded. We were staying in our RV at a very close resort but if we were not I would have wanted to stay in the park at Far View Lodge, to be at the center of it all!
The tours I booked (more on this below) were both in the afternoons, so we had leisurely mornings swimming and then ate lunch at Far View Terrace and browsed the souvenirs. The Far View lunch is cafeteria style but it was really quick and good. They also do a breakfast from 7-10 a.m. so if you are an early bird you could start with that. It may seem a bit expensive for what you get, but I figured we were supporting the national park system, especially because we used my daughter’s Every Kid Outdoors pass to get us in FREE. This is an amazing program for all 4th graders in the United States. But you have to sign up in advance and have your paperwork to give to the ranger upon entry.
The highlights of the park are the cliff dwellings, but if you aren’t able to reserve (in advance) a tour for those, please know there is still lots to see and do, and you can still walk through at least one dwelling without any ticket or reservation.
I will share our itinerary below which may not work for everyone but still may be helpful. After that, I will share highlights from both of the areas. Also, know that the map you get at entrance will be very helpful to know what to see!
Our Mesa Verde Itinerary
Day 1: We took the Aramak 700 years tour that meets at Far View Terrace. We took the 1:30 p.m. tour but the morning tour would be nice if you are an early bird because the park is much less crowded in general. This tour was a good overview of the park, we were driven around in an air-conditioned bus to several sites, all on the Cliff Palace side. These were all sites you can view on your own but 1) you get historical and cultural overview from a guide and 2) you don’t have to drive yourself. My husband appreciated this because he always wants to look at the scenery but you can’t when you are driving because the canyons are so deep you don’t want to take your eyes off the road. 3) The tour is chronological, starting with the earlier housing areas not going straight to the cliff dwellings.
***If you do the Aramak tour, I recommend starting your Mesa Verde visit with this tour before going off on your own so you don’t overlap on anything. Generally it concludes by getting you into Cliff Palace (actually why I signed us up but then Cliff Palace was closed for construction in the meantime so that didn’t end up working out for us.) It was still a nice tour but was a bit expensive and it’s not necessary. Since this was a four-hour tour, that was it for our day!
Day 2: After lunch and shopping again at Far View Terrace, we drove to Weatherill Mesa (at least 30 more mins) and took the official Long House tour which I got us tickets for online after much perseverance. The tickets go on sale 2 weeks before, and they sell out immediately (links below). But if you keep refreshing and checking back throughout the day they do add more in or they fall out of people’s carts, not sure which. Sometimes days later you will see them pop up too as people cancel. So don’t give up!! After hiking to Long House (truly spectacular!!) we walked the self-guided Step House tour. It was a hot day, and after both of these, we were exhausted.
Chapin Mesa Don’t Miss
- “Far View Sites” (not to be confused with Far View Lodge or Terrace), this is an uncrowded area that had several villages attractions to walk to, including the Coyote Village which were remnants of housing.
- Balcony House and Cliff House, even if you can’t get tours you can see quite well from the viewing areas
Weatherhill Mesa Don’t Miss
- Long House, if you can get a ticket, know that know that Long House entrance (ticket only) takes an additional approx. 20+ mins to walk to from the lot where you park for both Long House and Step House experiences.
- Step House, which you can view on your own without a ticket; it takes about about an hour.
- For both, make sure you have plenty of water!!! There is a water bottle filling area near the parking lot. Doing both of these tours consecutively may leave any children exhausted and complaining 🙂 But if you are driving all the way down to this area you may as well do both if you can.
When we came back, I ordered my son this because he never found any other souvenir he wanted!
Helpful Links & Restaurant Recommendation
Mesa Verde National Park official website
More information on reserving Cliff Dwelling tour tickets here.
Also if you are looking to dine out in the area, we highly recommend Shiloh’s Steakhouse in Cortez.
Next Stops on Our Vacation
Great Sand Dunes National Park