My favorite place in Colorado was Mesa Verde National Park along the Trail of the Ancients! Established in 1906, it protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Mesa Verde is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mesa Verde National Park
2018 Price: Free due to my Annual Pass (Fee would have been $30 for a 7-day pass)
History
Ancestral Puebloans were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region (northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, southwestern Colorado, and northwestern New Mexico).
For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people had thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Pueblos were first built on the mesa top after 650 CE and the cliff dwellings began around the late 1100s. By 1285, they abandoned the area and moved south.
Approximately 600 cliff dwellings built of sandstone and mud mortar have been recorded in the park and over 4,000 more archaeological sites have been discovered. Cliff dwelling sites range from small storage chambers to large villages with up to 200 rooms. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America.
Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings
There is a drivable loop road from which you can see multiple dwellings. The photos below show examples of dwellings viewable from the loop road.
You can also take a ranger-guided tour into an actual cliff dwelling. Tour tickets become available 14 days in advance and sell out quickly.
Balcony House Guided Tour
We arrived first thing in the morning and all tours were already sold out except one. The available tour was of Balcony House which requires visitors to walk down a 100-foot staircase into the canyon; climb a 32-foot ladder; crawl through a 12-foot by 18-inch-wide tunnel; and climb up an additional 60 feet on ladders and stone steps.
I’m afraid of heights but I really wanted to see a cave dwelling. Since the tickets were only $5, we decided to give it a go. The first (and longest) ladder is wide enough for two people to climb side-by-side at once. Mom climbed next to me, so I was able to overcome the fear.
It was amazing to actually be in the structure and to see how they lived! Balcony House is a typical Mesa Verde cliff dwelling. The medium-sized, two-story structure has 38 rooms and two kivas. Both kivas are the signature keyhole-shape. It sits 600 feet above the floor of Soda Canyon. Balcony House was named for the balconies in one of its courtyards, North Plaza.
By the time we’d climbed the final steps back to the road, I felt very accomplished for just doing the physical stuff. That combined with seeing how much work and time went into constructing the dwellings made this an incredible experience.
For more history and information about specific dwellings, the Mesa Verde Association offers downloadable guides.
Cortez
After our day at the park, we drove to our accommodation for the night in Cortez, Colorado.
Baymont by Wyndham Cortez
2018 Price: $215 for two nights
I had the BEST Mexican food I have ever eaten at La Casita de Cortez! Although it was busy and we waited to be seated, it was very worth it! I highly recommend the arroz con pollo.