Cliff Palace Scene - Mesa Verde NP

June 29 of 1906, Mesa Verde National Park was established while Theodore Roosevelt was president. This 52,000 plus acre mesa holds the ruins of hundreds of building sites used by what are now called the “ancestral pueblo people.”

Twenty-seven pueblos and tribes are represented within this park and the National Park service has developed a relationship with these groups that allow their active participation in the maintenance and development of the park.
Mesa Verde has a single, large campground with paved roads, nearby facilities including showers, hookups and a camp store. A spectacular road climbs from a little east of Cortez to the mesa level. The park carries a “dark sky” certification and offers hiking trails and self-guided driving and walking tours.
The main feature of this park are the dwellings of the ancient occupants who settled here between about 550 A.D. to the late 1,200’s. Their settlements demonstrate an advancement from “basketmakers” and “hunter-gatherers” who lived in pit houses, to above ground houses made of sticks and mud occupied by people who farmed more, and then culminated in a more advanced culture that returned to dwell in the safety of the alcoves found in cliffs with more elaborate stone/masonry construction, multi-level housing and many “kivas.” By this time, the population probably numbered in the thousands, and then, suddenly, they left for reasons not fully known. Visiting the actual ruins like Cliff Palace shown here requires a ranger-led hike and reservations. It took us far too many years to come here, finally making a trip in 2024. To really see the park, plan on at least two to three days.