mesa verde tours 2022

Guided Tours Of Mesa Verde National Park

Home to the largest cliff dwellings in north america, southwest colorados most popular destination, one of only 20 world heritage sites in the us., mesa verde tours full-service, guided tours of mesa verde national park, why a guided tour.

Sit back and enjoy the scenery while our experienced, knowledgeable tour guides with over 50 years of combined experience take you through the park. With their knowledge, you will be able to ask questions, read literature, and listen to your own private tour of Mesa Verde National Park .

Tour with us ! You get to save time, gas, entrance ticket fees and go straight to the sites with our guided tours. All of our tour vehicles are comfortable with air conditioning for those hot summer months and heated for the chilly winter months. Have special needs or specific questions about our tours? Contact us . We are here to provide you the best Mesa Verde Tour EXPERIENCE.

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THE 10 BEST Mesa Verde National Park Tours & Excursions

Mesa verde national park tours.

• Historical & Heritage Tours
• Archaeology Tours
• Walking Tours
• Cultural Tours
• Sightseeing Tours
• Private Tours
• Multi-day Tours
• Up to 1 hour
• 1 to 4 hours
• 4 hours to 1 day
• 5.0 of 5 bubbles
• 4.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 3.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 2.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• Likely to Sell Out
• The ranking of tours, activities, and experiences available on Tripadvisor is determined by several factors including the revenue generated by Tripadvisor from these bookings, the frequency of user clicks, and the volume and quality of customer reviews. Occasionally, newly listed offerings may be prioritized and appear higher in the list. The specific placement of these new listings may vary.

1. Mesa Verde Express Tour

2. Mesa Verde National Park 1/2 Day Tour

3. Full-Day Mesa Verde Discovery Tour

4. 700 Year Tour - Half Day Mesa Verde Cultural Tour

5. 25+ National Parks Self-Guided Driving Tours Bundle

6. Mesa Verde Express Tour With Tickets To Cliff Palace

7. Mesa Verde National Park Self-Guided Driving Audio Tour

8. *CLIFF PALACE* Private Mesa Verde Tour

9. Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Mesa Verde National Park

10. Immersive Mesa Verde National Park Tour with Guide

11. Mesa Verde Comprehensive Tour

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What travelers are saying.

• Gloria O 0 contributions 0 5.0 of 5 bubbles going back in time exploring the cliff dwellers we had a wonderful learning experience because of the extensive knowledge of our tour guide Aaron. He shared so much history of the area that it encouraged us to do further research on the indigenous peoples there and their culture. Aaron also shared other sites that we might be interested in in other states. He had such a passion in sharing the stories on our tour that it made us want to explore more. we were very fortunate to have had him as our tour guide. Bob and Gloria Read more Review of: Mesa Verde Express Tour Written May 7, 2024 This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

• Mesa Verde Express Tour
• Mesa Verde National Park Self-Guided Driving Audio Tour
• Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Mesa Verde National Park
• Mesa Verde National Park 1/2 Day Tour
• Mesa Verde Express Tour With Tickets To Cliff Palace

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Touring cliff dwellings at mesa verde national park.

While there are thousands of archaeological sites at Mesa Verde National Park, just four cliff dwellings are regularly open for tours: Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Long House, and Step House.

It's both amazing and unfortunate that while there are hundreds of cliff dwellings within Mesa Verde's boundaries, just those four are open on a regular basis for visitors.

Maps of the mesas included within the national park's boundaries are dotted with ruins -- Double House, Sun Point Pueblo, Square Tower House, Sun Temple, Fire Temple, Cedar Tree House, Kodak House, and Jug House. And those are just the ones with names. There also are sites denoted simply by numbers -- 1644, 1645, 1676, 1452, 1801, 1291, and 1595 just to name a few.

The problem of opening these to the public has been a lack of money and manpower. Money to both stabilize ruins enough so they can be safely toured, and manpower to provide the tours and the ongoing stabilization and monitoring work. And then, too, there's the issue of access. Some sites are just too remote and difficult to reach to make public tours realistic.

Cliff Palace and Balcony House all are located on Chapin Mesa, while Long House and Step House are located on Wetherill Mesa.

Cliff Palace and Balcony House are popular ranger-guided cliff dwelling tours. During periods of high demand, you may be asked to choose only one of these tours per day. A tour of Long House, located on Wetherill Mesa, can be taken on the same day as the Cliff Palace OR Balcony House tours.

Tour tickets are $3 per tour, per person, regardless of age.

Purchase tour tickets at:

•Far View Visitor Center

•Morefield Ranger Station

•Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum (from October 21 to November 10 ONLY)

•Colorado Welcome Center, Cortez

Balcony House

This one-hour tour involves climbing a 32-foot (9.8 m) ladder, crawling through a 12-foot (3.7 m) long tunnel, and climbing up a 60-foot (20 m) open cliff face with stone steps and two 10-foot (3 m) ladders to exit the site.

Tour begins at the north end of the Balcony House parking lot, a 10-mile (16 km), 25-minute drive from the visitor center.

May 25 to September 3 -- Every half-hour: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

September 4 to October 20 -- Every hour: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

October 21: Closed for season

Cliff Palace

This one-hour tour involves descending uneven stone steps and climbing five ladders for a 100-foot (30 m) vertical climb. Total walking distance is 0.25 miles (0.4 km). Tour begins at the Cliff Palace Overlook, an 8-mile (12.9 km) drive from the Far View Visitor Center.

May 25 to September 3 -- Every half-hour: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

September 4 to October 20 -- Every half-hour: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

October 21 to November 10 -- Every hour: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

November 11: Closed for season

This tour starts with a tram ride to the trailhead. This 90-minute tour involves climbing two 15-foot (4.6 m) ladders within the site. The round- trip hike is 0.75 mile (1.2 km), with a 130-foot (40 m) gain in elevation exiting the site.

Tour begins at the Wetherill Mesa kiosk, a 12-mile (19 km) drive from the Far View Visitor Center. Allow 45 minutes for this drive. Vehicles over 25 feet (8 m) long are prohibited on the Wetherill Mesa road.

May 25 to September 3 -- 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.

September 4: Closed for season

Spruce Tree House is closed

Mesa Verde’s best-preserved and third-largest cliff dwelling, Spruce Tree House was constructed between A.D. 1211 and A.D. 1278. The site contains 130 rooms and 8 kivas built into a natural alcove. It is thought to have been the home to about 60 to 80 people. Unfortunately, issues with the stability of the rock ceiling to this dwelling led to its closure to the public in 2015 . Check with park staff to see if it's been reopened.

Allow 45 minutes to one hour for the 100-foot (30 m) descent and ascent on a winding path. Total walking distance is about 0.8 mile (1.3 km). The loop trail begins near the Wetherill Mesa kiosk. A ranger is available for questions. Step House is unusual in that two separate occupations exist in the same alcove; Modified Basketmaker, dating to A.D. 626, and a Classic Pueblo masonry pueblo dating to A.D. 1226. Trail to Step House open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Site closes at 5 p.m.

From late spring into early September the park offers special guided tours to Square Tower House and Mug House.

Meet at Cliff Palace Overlook. Tour is limited to 20 people.

Price: $10 per person Tickets sold ONLY at the Far View Visitor Center.

This strenuous 2-hour, 3-mile (4.8km) round-trip hike offers the opportunity to see a rarely visited cliff dwelling. Mug House, built about A.D. 1150, was likely home to approximately 80 to 100 people. The hike traverses an unpaved, uneven trail that descends 100 feet (30 m), and includes steep drop-offs, switchbacks, and scrambling up and down boulders. This hike may not be appropriate for young children or children carried in backpacks. Each hiker must be able to scramble over boulders and navigate steep gravel trails unassisted.

May 27 to September 2 -- Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 10 a.m. Meet at the Wetherill Mesa Information Kiosk. Tour is limited to 10 people. $25 per person

Square Tower House

A strenuous 2-hour, 1-mile (1.6 km) round-trip hike leads to a stunning and surprisingly intimate cliff dwelling. Unusual aspects of Square Tower House include an original kiva roof and the Crow’s Nest, both features that cannot be seen from the overlook. The hike involves exposed cliff edges, scrambling down rocky slopes, and climbing a 20-foot (6.1 m) ladder and two shorter ladders to visit a spectacular cliff dwelling. This hike may not be appropriate for young children or children carried in backpacks. Each hiker must be able to scramble over boulders and navigate steep gravel trails unassisted.

May 26 to June 16 and September 4 to October 6 -- Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8 a.m.

Meet at Square Tower House Overlook (MesaTopLoopRoad). Tour is limited to 10 people. $25 per person.

There also are other cliff dwellings that can be seen from park roads.

Mesa Top Loop Road

A 6-mile (10 km) driving tour has short, paved trails to 12 easily-accessible surface sites and views of cliff dwellings. High- lights include Square Tower House and cross-canyon views of Cliff Palace. The road is open 7:30 a.m. to sunset. Allow 45 minutes to one hour.

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Mesa Verde National Park Tours & Trips

Find the right tour for you through Mesa Verde National Park. We've got 26 adventures going to Mesa Verde National Park, starting from just 7 days in length, and the longest tour is 21 days. The most popular month to go is September, which has the largest number of tour departures.

26 Mesa Verde National Park tour packages with 503 reviews

• In-depth Cultural

Best of the Canyonlands (7 Days)

Overall the tour was very enjoyable. The scenery was beautiful. Though the Vail stop was a disappointment as most shops and eateries closed. Cruise Director was very informative and very knowledgeable of the places. Captain Ron was most helpful getting us on and off the bus. Also a very good driver.

• €100 deposit on some dates Some departure dates offer you the chance to book this tour with a lower deposit.

National Parks of Colorado

Wonderful trip, our guide Vickie went above and beyond. The hotel in Durango was the only low point. It was Too far and too dangerous to walk to town and restaurants when we had an evening on our own.

• Coach / Bus
• Sightseeing

Welcome to Colorado (10 Days)

Great trip thank you.

• Hiking & Trekking

Historic Trains of the Old West

Very well organized itinerary. Excellent guide and driver (Joseph and Charlie, respectively). The pace was upbeat! But ok in terms of handling the tour itself.

• Mountain Hikes

Grand Circle Experience

Guide is well-informed, flexible, kind, attentive and a good, careful, considerate driver. Vehicle is well-equipped and comfortable. Rest stops are spaced appropriately. Some accommodations are great, all are good. Native American guides add much to the understanding of the areas visited. Much is to be learned about history, culture, geology. A very good, well-thought-out tour.

Western Rails & Canyons with Rocky Mountaineer

Wonders of the American West (Small Groups, 10 Days)

Western USA National Parks Explorer (Moab And Mesa Verde)

• 10% deposit on some dates Some departure dates offer you the chance to book this tour with a lower deposit.

Through the Land of Canyons to California

Scenic Parks Explorer (15 Days)

A great experience except for grocery store junkets and fastfood lunches

Colourful Trails of the Southwest (End Albuquerque, 10 Days)

Colourful Trails of the Southwest (End Santa Fe, 10 Days) (15 destinations)

• Train & Rail

Historic Trains of the Old West with Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Southwest Native Trails (End Albuquerque, 11 Days)

Southwest Native Trails (End Santa Fe, 11 Days)

What people love about mesa verde national park tours.

Great trip, great seeing 4 national parks and 2 national monuments, good guide (Dave Showalter), nice hotels, good meals (except hotel free breakfasts).

Great tour encompassing almost 1200 miles over 10 days seeing incredible sites.

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Cliff Palace

Mesa Verde National Park Tours

Tours begin Monday, May 6. All reservations are available 14 days in advance at 8:00 am MDT. The tour starts 75 minutes from the park entrance at the Cliff Palace Overlook, near the Cliff Palace parking lot.

Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. Built between 1190 and 1280 CE, Cliff Palace was once home to over 100 people.Today, it stands as a testament to the engineering and artistic achievements of the Ancestral Pueblo people. Visit the park website for a virtual tour of Cliff Palace .

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If you plan on reserving a second tour on the same day, give yourself a minimum of 2 hours between the time you book this Cliff Palace tour and a Balcony House tour (e.g., an 11:00 am Cliff Palace tour requires a 1:00 pm or later Balcony House tour).

Select a date to see a list of times

Need to Know

On this 45-minute ranger-led tour , you will descend uneven stone steps and climb four ladders, with an elevation change of 100 feet (30 m). Total walking distance is 1/4 mile (0.4 km). This video shows tour details and challenges.

From the park entrance, drive 20 miles (32.2 km) to the all-way stop on Chapin Mesa. Turn left. Drive 0.4 miles (0.6 km) and turn left onto the Cliff Palace Loop. Drive 1.7 miles (2.7 km) to the Cliff Palace parking lot.

To make sure you arrive on time, allow 75 minutes to drive to Cliff Palace from the park entrance. Meet the ranger at the Cliff Palace Overlook. You MUST arrive 15 minutes early for a safety and logistics briefing .

Know your physical health and fitness before joining a Cliff Palace tour. Elevations range between 7,000 and 7,500 feet (2134 m and 2286 m) above sea level. Plan for all weather possibilities because conditions can vary.

Wear sturdy hiking shoes or boots and bring a minimum of 1/4 gallon (1 liter) of water per person. Ancestral sites are vulnerable to damage caused by rodents attracted to food crumbs. Food, gum, and chewing tobacco are not permitted within the site during your tour.

There are no height or age restrictions for this tour, but children must be capable of climbing the ladders on their own. Infants must be placed in a carrier and the adults carrying them must be able to maintain mobility and balance while climbing ladders.

Cameras are welcome, but you must be able to carry all of your gear while keeping your hands free to climb the ladders. No tripods are allowed.

May 6 to May 11: 9:00 am, 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:00 am, and 2:30 pm. 

May 12 to October 22: 9:00 am to 11:30 am every ½ hour and 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm every ½ hour. 

October 23: Tours are closed for the 2024 season.

$8.00 per person, ages 3 and up. You MUST physically print your tour reservation at home OR download it to your phone to show the ranger before joining the tour. You will NOT be able to join the tour without a valid tour reservation presented. Late arrivals may result in forfeiting your tour. No refunds for late arrivals.

Tour is limited to 50 people 

All tours will be conducted as scheduled. However, any tour may be delayed or cancelled if lightning occurs near the tour location or for a park emergency. 

All tickets are NON-TRANSFERABLE AND NON-REFUNDABLE unless the tour is cancelled by the National Park Service.

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2 Days in Mesa Verde National Park

See the best of mesa verde in our action-packed two day itinerary..

You could spend weeks exploring every nook and cranny of Mesa Verde National Park, a cultural gem located in southwestern Colorado. But what if you only have 48 hours? Don’t worry. We have you covered! Stick to our detailed itinerary, and you’ll hit all the most important stops

Early Bird Gets the Best Tour

Buy tickets in advance at recreation.gov for the Balcony House Sunrise or Earlybird Tour. These early tours will let you experience one of Mesa Verde’s most adventurous cliff dwellings before the heat of the day. On this tour, you’ll climb with a ranger up exposed ladders and through narrow tunnels to explore Balcony House, an Ancestral Puebloan compound on the side of a cliff.

If you’re not an early bird, it’s still recommended you reserve a tour of the Balcony House, Cliff Palace or Long House in advance at recreation.gov or by phoning the call center at 1-877-444-6777. Tickets sales open 14 days in advance of your desired tour date at 8 a.m. MST.

Tip: If you’re driving from out of the park, allow yourself an hour to get from the entrance to the Balcony House parking lot, as the roads are steep and windy and the speed limit is low.

Drive Through the Past

After finishing your Balcony House tour, drive Mesa Top Loop Road. You’ll pass 12 archaeological sites on this six-mile loop, including surface sites and the best views of Cliff Palace in the park. Give yourself plenty of time, as you’ll be stopping often to get out and admire the views.

Cool Off in the Museum

After spending the morning exploring Mesa Verde, you’re bound to be ready to cool off. Head to the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum to learn more about the Ancestral Puebloans that called Mesa Verde home in the 1200s. The museum is home to impressive dioramas, artifacts, a gift shop and an informative movie.

Dinner with a View

Make an advance reservation for dinner at the Metate Room ( www.visitmesaverde.com ). This southwestern-inspired restaurant located inside the park won the “Award of Culinary Excellence” for sustainable cuisine from the Culinary Federation of Colorado Chefs Association in 2010. A wall of windows offering beautiful park views, you might get distracted from eating if the food wasn’t so delicious. Think pan-seared rainbow trout with red pepper aioli and charred lemon, and salads made with ancient grains.

Learn Around the Fire

Attend a nightly free campfire program led by a ranger. These programs have been teaching visitors about the history of the park since 1907. Although the talks have moved from around a campfire to the Morefield Amphitheater, the tradition continues. Check the most up-to-date schedule at the museum.

Take a Hike

Hike the 2.4-mile Petroglyph Trail and see the only petroglyphs in the park. Start early to avoid the heat and keep an eye out for wildlife such as coyotes, black bears, turkey vultures, jackrabbits and wild horses, which are actually an invasive species.

Tour the Far View Sites

On this .75-mile loop, you’ll realize that Mesa Verde is much more than just cliff dwellings. The Ancestral Puebloans lived in villages on the top of the mesa before moving down into the cliffs. The loop will take you past the Far View House, four other villages and a dry reservoir.

View the Park from a Fire Lookout

Evidence of fire is obvious as you drive through the park. Stop by the Park Point Fire Lookout to get a feel for what watching this special park for fires must’ve been like. Originally built in 1939 and remodeled in 2009, the fire tower also is the highest point in the park.

Drive-In in Cortez

As you leave the park, stop in Cortez at the Burger Boy Drive In ( www.burgerboydrivein.com ) and go back in time again, though a little closer to present day this time! Park your car and give your order to your carhop and then sit back, enjoy your air-conditioning and scroll through your pictures of Mesa Verde as you wait for an old-fashioned brown bag meal of a burger, fries and a milkshake.

Don’t want your road trip to be over yet?

Continue to either Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park , which is 4 hours away, or Great Sand Dunes National Park which is 4.5 hours away. 

Download an official  Mesa Verde National Park map for basic road and attraction locations. Want a detailed topographical map of trails in the park and beyond? Buy the  Durango Cortez Trail Map at REI.com. Or get the National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map for Four Corners . The map for this unique area where Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico meet includes the Mesa Verde region, the Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway and much more printed on waterproof, tear-resistant material.

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As They Are: Exploring the National Parks

Mesa verde national park: 700 years tour.

For more than 700 years—nearly triple the age of the United States—Ancestral Pueblo people inhabited what we now call Mesa Verde, a cuesta rising above the Colorado Plateau. Beginning in the mid-500s and lasting through the late 1200s, Mesa Verde was constantly inhabited, first by small assemblages of family units in modest pithouses on the mesa top, and ultimately by complex villages climaxing in the dramatic, world-famous cliff dwellings, including the largest cliff dwelling in the American Southwest, Cliff Palace. Then by the end of the 1280s, Mesa Verde was abandoned completely as the Ancestral Pueblo people migrated en masse to the Pueblos along the Rio Grande in what is now New Mexico or to Hopi lands in Arizona.

Sean and I had budgeted 2.5 days to explore Mesa Verde in a series of four tours. While tickets for ranger-led tours into the cliff dwellings are only available two weeks in advance, bus tours operated by concessionaire Aramark were available to book months ahead of time. Usually we’re much more interested in ranger-led options than in those handled by private companies, but we figured that the 700 Years Tour would be a good introduction to the Park on our first morning. And it concluded with a ranger-led tour of Cliff Palace. As we booked the tour in early April, we weren’t necessarily certain we’d be comfortable riding a tour bus with some 30 other people, but we’d cross that bridge if we had to. As it happened, the Delta variant was not yet raging in Colorado when we were there, and everyone was required to be masked, so we felt comfortable. Unfortunately, the Cliff Palace tour was a no-go because road work in the Park made it completely inaccessible in the summer of 2021.

And so on Friday, August 27 we began our exploration of Mesa Verde.

I woke with my alarm at 6am. The tour began at 8am, so that gave me a bit of time to do a little work on the balcony of our room at the lodge. This would be a theme.

But the view was so incredible that it was nice to sip a coffee and work a bit as the sun rose.

Sean woke up, and we both showered and dressed for our morning tour.

We checked in for the tour at the nearby Far View Terrace complex, which contained the concessionaire-operated gift shop, cafeteria, and tour hub.

After checking in, we grabbed breakfast sandwiches and yogurt to eat outside while we waited to board the bus.

Tour guide Lee and bus driver Grady welcomed the twenty or so of us onto the tour bus and oriented us to what was in store over the next several hours. As we pulled out of the parking area and drove up to Park Point, our first stop, Lee shared some of the history of Mesa Verde National Park, which had been established in 1906. At only 52,000 acres, it is relatively small. But it contains at least 5,000 archaeological sites and 600 cliff dwellings.

At Park Point, the highest point on Mesa Verde, we were treated to huge views into four states: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Beginning the tour at Park Point helped to place Mesa Verde into its geographical context.

Beyond the table land of the Mesa Verde cuesta there are major geological markers in almost every direction: the Chuska Mountains to the southwest and the San Juan Mountains to the northeast, Sleeping Ute Mountain immediately to the west, Shiprock in the distance to the south. Even the Bears Ears are visible to the northwest on clear days.

A woman of a certain age remarked to me that this was the first truly clear day that they’d had in weeks. She noted that Shiprock would not have been visible otherwise.

Sean and I were lucky that while we were at Mesa Verde we had very little visibility impact from the wildfires raging in California.

After orienting us to the vista and landmarks, Lee called our attention to the Montezuma Valley north of and below Mesa Verde. Today the valley holds the towns of Mancos and Cortez, Colorado, combined populations around 10,000 people. In the time of the Ancestral Pueblo people, the valley was home to 30,000 people, triple the population.

Lee pointed out the roof of a Walmart in the valley and noted that it was nearly adjacent to one of the most important dwellings found there. It was a reminder that for all of the drama of Mesa Verde and the cliff dwellings, it was only a very small part of a larger Ancestral Puebloan world. The population of Mesa Verde proper was likely never more than 5,000 people, dwarfed by the population even of the adjacent valley.

The Mesa Verde area was the northern extent of an Ancestral Puebloan homeland that encompassed what is now the Four Corners region. From roughly 900 to 1150, the center of Ancestral Puebloan culture was the city at Chaco Canyon, 100 miles or so to the south. Chaco and other urbanized areas of the Southwest—such as the Hohokam culture and their canal-supported city at what is now Phoenix—were themselves the northern extent of an urban-oriented Mesoamerican tradition that reached its climax with the great city of Teotihuacan (~1-500 CE) near what is now Mexico City.

The people of Chaco and Mesa Verde were connected to the people of what is now Mexico by established trade routes. Macaw feathers from tropical forests and shells from the Sea of Cortez are among the artifacts found at Ancestral Puebloan sites.

The earliest Anglo archeologists from the northeastern United States saw this connection clearly in the early years following the Mexican American War (1846-1848). Montezuma Valley is named for Motecuhzoma, the final leader of the Triple Alliance, or Aztec Empire, executed by Hernán Cortés in 1520. An important Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site between Mesa Verde and Chaco is known as Aztec Ruins. While these Anglo-bestowed place names in the Southwest are not properly attributable to the Triple Alliance, they recognize the southward orientation of peoples of the region and the irrelevance of an international border that didn’t exist until the middle of the nineteenth century.

Even as American archaeologists in the latter part of the nineteenth century celebrated the existence of “antiquities of our own” in the recently conquered territory that had been northern Mexico, they also participated in a deliberate attempt to minimize the presence, sophistication, and accomplishments of the Native Peoples of the Americas. For example in 1866, Lewis Henry Morgan, father of American Anthropology, argued that Motecuhzoma was not an emperor but merely a warlord. (This assessment would likely have shocked Cortés).

This minimization of the population, cultures, and accomplishments of the Native Peoples of the Americas continues into the twenty-first century. Quite simply, the more sophisticated the Indigenous societies of the Americas, the more monstrous the genocide. Minimizing the cohesion of Indigenous polities makes the invasion seem benign.

Names and narratives are deeply part of the Mesa Verde story in the twenty-first century. The people of Mesa Verde, Chaco, Aztec Ruins, and thousands of other sites the Southwest were known throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as the “Anasazi.” I was curious whether Lee would address the name issue. He did early in the tour and quite well. “Anasazi” is a Navajo word. The Navajo and Utes inhabited the region after the departure of the Ancestral Pueblo people. And so it was in a Navajo context that the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde were originally defined. Anasazi means “ancient people” or “ancient enemy,” and has a negative connotation. In the 1990s, the modern Pueblo people requested that the National Park Service (and others) cease using the term Anasazi to refer to the peoples of Chaco, Mesa Verde, and elsewhere. Because no one knows how these people referred to themselves, the preferred name is “Ancestral Pueblo.”

“Ancestral Pueblo” is important also because it underscores that the people of Mesa Verde are the direct ancestors of the modern Pueblo people. Pervasive narratives around the “mysterious vanishing” of the people of Mesa Verde purposefully ignore that, while we may not fully understand why the Ancestral Pueblo people migrated from the Four Corners to the Rio Grande, we certainly know they didn’t vanish into thin air. They simply moved to Taos Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo, and the dozens of other Pueblo communities.

The Hopi, who trace their ancestors to the Ancestral Pueblo, call Mesa Verde “The Place of Songs.”

We climbed back on the bus and descended from Park Point down the gradual slope of the cuesta. As we headed south on Chapin Mesa, we passed through an area that was extensively burned in 2002. Much of the surface of Mesa Verde has seen wildland fire damage in the previous fifty years. The National Park Service at this Park has to walk a careful balance in fire management. Although occasional fire is part of the ecosystem, it can endanger the archaeological sites that are the Park’s priority to protect.

On Chapin Mesa, we stopped at the site of a pithouse from early in the era when the Ancestral Pueblo people inhabited Mesa Verde.

This is the site of a pithouse, one of the earliest permanent dwellings on Mesa Verde. The family that lived here was not isolated, but was part of a community. Their neighbors lived in at least seven pithouses nearby, and small fields or gardens were probably located close to the homes, wherever growing conditions were good. They raised corn, beans, and squash, hunted animals, and gathered an impressive array of wild plants. – National Park Service sign

Our tour disembarked the bus, entered the corrugated metal enclosure protecting the pithouse, and spread out around it.

Architectural details, such as the holes that would have held the posts supporting the roof, were still present.

As was part of a low, dividing wall.

In this 1,400-year-old pithouse, we could see some of the elements that would come to much fuller fruition in later Ancestral Puebloan architecture: the slight submersion, the central hearth, the cluster of community dwellings.

After our brief visit to the pithouse, we climbed back onto the bus for a short drive to Square Tower House.

As we approached, an NPS law enforcement vehicle passed us with siren blaring. It stopped at the parking area for Square Tower House. The bus pulled over and we disembarked, intending to walk out to the cliff dwelling’s overlook.

There were multiple Park Rangers onsite. Lee asked one what the situation was. Apparently there was some sort of emergency with a visitor on that morning’s tour to the cliff dwelling. The ranger asked Lee to keep our tour group away so that they would have room for whatever emergency procedure might be necessary.

This was Friday morning, and Sean and I had tickets for the tour into the cliff dwelling for Sunday morning. The woman of a certain age who had commented on how clear the skies were earlier pointed out the access ladders for the cliff dwelling. They were attached to the cliff face opposite. She noted that the ladders followed the same access route that the Ancestral Puebloans had used to reach Square Tower House. She said that particularly when we descended the lower ladder on our tour, we should look for the hand and foot holds hewn into the cliff.

I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of the ladders and rope access. But that was a reserve of bravery to find on another day. Meanwhile, it was back on the bus for our next stop.

Up next was another mesa top site. This time a series of three subsequent villages—from 900, 1100, and 1075 successively—each built upon the foundation of the others. This tradition of abandonment, return, and reuse was widespread at Ancestral Puebloan sites.

The third and final village was built around 1075, just before construction of the cliff dwellings began. While the village’s foundations and subterranean architecture are very well preserved, there was little stone rubble found at the site. It is quite possible that the stones used for this village were repurposed in the nearby cliff dwellings.

Ancestral Puebloan kivas likely developed from earlier pithouses. Kivas, however, were likely public spaces—religious, ceremonial, or political. Like the earlier pithouses, they featured a central hearth. Platform benches encircle the space. Depressions for foot drumming highlight the floor.

Post-excavation, it was easy to see how the newer kiva (left, above) had replaced and partly filled the older kiva.

We climbed back into the bus for the short drive to the intersection of Fewkes Canyon and Cliff Canyon, where multiple cliff dwellings, including the most famous, Cliff Palace, were visible. After not being able to see Square Tower House because of the emergency earlier, we’d waited all morning to see a cliff dwelling. Now, here they were.

Even at a distance, the size of Cliff Palace dwarfed the other cliff dwellings near it.

The evocative names—Cliff Palace, Mummy House, Fire Temple—have nothing to do with what the Ancestral Pueblo people would have called these places. Some of the names we have for the cliff dwellings are romantic (Cliff Palace, Fire Temple) while others are merely descriptive (Balcony House, Long House). Others are named for something found there (Mug House, Mummy House).

As our eyes became accustomed to seeing the dwellings, we began to notice more structures along the peripheries.

What led the Ancestral Pueblo people of Mesa Verde to move down into the cliff alcoves after some 600 years of living on the surface of the cuesta? We don’t know for certain, and the way that the National Park Service has discussed it has evolved over time (more on that in a subsequent post). But we do know that the construction of the cliff dwellings was something of a climax event. A segment of people on Mesa Verde or in the region moved into cliff dwellings during a period of roughly a century between the collapse of the the power center at Chaco Canyon and the complete emptying of the people of the Mesa Verde region.

Intriguingly, the structure known as Sun Temple (above) was built so late in the Mesa Verde era that it was unfinished at the time of the depeopling. It is similar in style to the structures at Chaco, and some archaeologists suspect it may have been a late, last-ditch effort to assert the power of Chaco at a Mesa Verde being abandoned.

Whatever the reason, there were many advantages to living in the cliff alcoves rather than in the canyon bottoms or on the mesa top. The dwellings were cool in summer and warm in winter. They were defensible. They were closer to water, both seeps in the cliff walls and springs and creeks in the canyons. However, even as the people moved into the cliff dwellings, they continued to tend agricultural fields on the mesa top.

Even from across Fewkes Canyon, we could see the remains of pigment on what had been interior walls of a structure in Fire Temple.

Our fellow tourists were mostly older than we were (although there was a family with two kids). I most enjoyed the woman of a certain age who knew a lot about the flora and fauna of the region and who pointed things out to us. We were a little baffled by the folks who didn’t know whether you could enter the cliff dwellings. How do you make it to the Park and onto a tour without having absorbed how to visit one of the dwellings? Lee patiently explained that there were tours led by National Park Rangers and that one cliff dwelling on Long Mesa was accessible without a tour.

We hopped back onto the bus and headed to the other side of Fewkes Canyon to Sun Temple.

The name Sun Temple didn’t come from any particular cosmological alignment, but from a decorative stone at one edge of the structure.

Whoever had been building Sun Temple before the work was abandoned, it was clearly intended to be impressive.

Near Sun Temple, we had a better view of Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in the Southwest.

Normally, Cliff Palace would be bustling with tours, including ours. But the road construction above it had cut it off, allowing for relatively rare photos of it without any visitors.

After everyone got their photos of Cliff Palace, we boarded the bus and drove to our last stop, the Chapin Mesa Historical District.

The Historical District was the original hub of visitor activity at Mesa Verde National Park and boasts a suite of buildings from the first half of the twentieth century constructed in a rustic Southwest architectural style. The area was developed under the guidance of one of the National Park’s earliest superintendents, Jesse Nusbaum, who had been hand-picked by legendary National Park Service founder, Stephen Mather, to improve the visitor experience, interpretation, and educational programs at Mesa Verde National Park.

Here on a veranda overlooking Spruce Tree House, Lee wrapped up our morning’s tour.

Spruce Tree House was also closed to visitors (and will be for the foreseeable future) after the Park Service discovered that the immense slab of rock forming the alcove’s ceiling is unstable. The Park Service continues to work on ways to stabilize it so that it doesn’t suddenly collapse and destroy Spruce Tree House.

We boarded the bus one last time to return to Far View Terrace. We tipped Lee and thanked him as we exited the bus. Although it was a concessionaire-operated tour, I thought Lee did a really fine job.

We grabbed a lunch of paninis and salad to go from the cafe at Far View Terrace and took it back to our room. There we sat on our little balcony and enjoyed the privacy and view while we ate.

I remarked that I could just sit and watch the view all day. But we had more adventures ahead of us that afternoon. We had tickets for the 3pm tour into Long House. After our morning of viewing them from the mesa top, we were excited to actually get to enter a cliff dwelling.

Juan, taking care of Elsa back in Chicago, posted an update to Instagram.

Further Reading:

Grant Noble, David, ed., The Mesa Verde World: Explorations in Ancestral Pueblo Archaeology, School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, NM, 2006.

Lekson, Stephen H., A History of the Ancient Southwest, School for Advanced Research Press, Santa Fe, NM, 2008.

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10 Epic Mesa Verde Tours on a National Park Road Trip in Colorado

Have you ever considered taking a national park road trip from Denver to Mesa Verde in Colorado?

Hey, even if you don't live in Colorado, plan to fly into Denver International Airport for your national park road trip and some epic Mesa Verde tours. Rent a car for your adventure and subsequent outdoor recreational activities and enjoy the amazing beauty that Colorado offers.

Check Google Flights for the best prices.

Stops to Make on Your National Park Road Trip from Denver to Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde National Park is located in the southwestern corner of Colorado and is one of the most amazing places to visit in Colorado . Mesa Verde, one of the first designated UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Sites in ALL of the world , features the cliff dwellings and archeological heritage of the Ancestral Puebloan people (600 to 1300 CE).

The distance from Denver to Mesa Verde National Park by car is approximately seven hours. If you plan to spend time exploring the national park and taking some of the guided Mesa Verde tours, you'll definitely want more than just one day for your visit.

From Denver to Mesa Verde, Colorado - courtesy of Google Maps

Add to your adventure with stops in :

• Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
• Breckenridge
• Chimney Rock National Monument
• Colorado Springs
• Vallecito Trail

Some of these stops will be a bit of a detour (see the above map), but hey, isn't that the fun of a road trip ?

Where to Eat

There are a few options of places to eat when you visit Mesa Verde.

Metate Room : This is the only sit-down dining available within the park and is open only for dinner. The Metate Room is in the main building of Far View Lodge where you can also find a gift shop and a lounge.

Far View Terrace Cafe : This economical and kid-friendly option is located just down the street from Far View Lodge where you'll find breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings served cafeteria style. If you have never tried a Navajo Taco before, you might want to try one here! You can even pick up some grab and go breakfast and lunch options.

Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe : Close to the Mesa Verde park headquarters and the Chapin Mesa Museum, this cafeteria offers a seasonal menu with appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts.

Far View Lounge : Above Far View Lodge, enjoy stunning views, watch a sporting event, and enjoy time with friends and family in a relaxing atmosphere. You'll find typical pub fare—appetizers, snacks, cocktails, beer, and wine.

Knife Edge Cafe : Within Morefield Campground, head on over to the outdoor patio to enjoy some pancakes and other breakfast foods.

Morefield Campground Store : Check out the Campground Store for basic food, snacks, and beverages, located in Morefield Campground.

Pack a Picnic : Plan a picnic lunch to bring with you and eat along the way as you explore the park or after you've enjoyed one of the Mesa Verde tours. Be sure to bring a packable cooler with you.

Where to Stay Before Your Mesa Verde Tours

Interested in immersing yourself in the atmosphere of the park? You have options for staying within the park as well as more options in the small towns, such as Cortez, outside the park. Note that it will take you about an hour to reach the top of the mesa from Cortez.

If you have the opportunity to stay within the park, I highly recommend it. You'll have better access to the attractions and cliff dwellings.

If you plan to stay for more than one day, there is camping in Mesa Verde National Park as well as reservations available at the Far View Lodge .

The lodge is conveniently located at the center of the park—about 15 miles from the entrance to the park. Far View features amazing views to the south over Mesa Verde and is available for reservations from spring to fall.

Camping in Mesa Verde National Park

"Morefield Campground is located just four miles from the park entrance. The 267 campsites are located within a high grassy canyon filled with Gambel oak, native flowers, deer, and wild turkeys. A camp store offers registration, food, and camp supplies. Firewood, gasoline, showers, a coin-operated laundromat, and a kennel are located nearby. Each site has a picnic table, gravel tent pad, and fire pit/BBQ grill." ~ Check NPS.gov for reservations

Things to Pack for Mesa Verde Tours of the Dwellings

If you are planning a road trip from Denver to Mesa Verde, a few of the items you will want to add to your road trip packing list include:

• Hiking boots
• Camelbak water reservoir and pack
• Hat or visor

Check my Amazon Storefront for ALL of your TRAVEL GEAR

Tips for Visiting Mesa Verde National Park

You might have guessed that Mesa Verde National Park sits on a mesa. The elevation of Mesa Verde is 8,572 feet at its highest point. As such, the temperatures get pretty hot in the summer months if you are planning outdoor recreational activities.

Some tips for your visit?

• Plan for an early start to avoid peak crowds
• Visit at a cooler time of the day
• Get an early start to maximize your time in the park
• Wear sunscreen
• Drink lots of water

You'll find the visitor center and park entrance kiosk outside the park; once you enter Mesa Verde National Park there is still a twenty-minute drive to reach the top of the mesa. Entrance requires an America the Beautiful Park Pass or a pass to Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde Tours: Self-Guided

There are a number of self-guided Mesa Verde tours that you can add to your itinerary, especially if you are only planning to spend one day in Mesa Verde National Park .

1. Cliff Palace

Along the Cliff Palace Loop Road, you'll discover one of the largest cliff dwellings in North America. You can view the Cliff Palace from the Cliff Palace Overlook as well as from Sun Temple on the Mesa Top Loop.

2. Cliff Palace Loop Road

The 6-mile Cliff Palace Loop Road features cliff dwellings and overlooks as well as access to the Soda Canyon Overlook Trail.

3. Far View Sites

It is an easy ¾-mile walk among the pinyon-juniper forest on the mesa; the short walk connects a community of farming villages and an ancient reservoir. Far View features one large kiva (living area) surrounded by 30 to 40 rooms. Three smaller kivas were added at a later date.

4. Mesa Top Loop Road

Mesa Top Loop Road is also a 6-mile driving tour featuring 700 years of Ancestral Pueblo history, villages, cliff dwellings and overlooks.

5. Park Point

Park Point features a short walk to the highest point in the park at 8,572 feet. With spectacular views across the Four Corners Region, you'll want to be sure to have your camera ready to go.

Looking through the telescope

6. Spruce Tree House

Who comes to Mesa Verde without wanting to see the amazing cliff dwellings carved into the side of the mountain? Spruce Tree House Overlook offers a view of the park’s best-preserved cliff dwelling.

Mesa Verde Tours and Dwellings: Guided Tours

If you wish to see the Mesa Verde Dwellings up close and personal, then you'll definitely want to reserve your space on one or more of the guided tours offered by the park service.

Take note of the physical requirements for these hikes as you will be climbing ladders and scaling the side of cliff using carved footholds.

Stone Steps Carved Out of Rock Cliff in Mesa Verde

Tickets and Reservations

Be sure to have a copy of your receipt to go on a tour. You can use a screenshot of your receipt or bring a paper copy. Ticketed tours with a ranger are required to enter the cliff dwellings. Tours run from mid May to the middle of October.

" Tour tickets can be purchased only on recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777. Tickets are available 14 days in advance, 8:00 am MT, on a rolling daily window. For example, tickets for May 17th will be available starting May 3rd at 8:00 am MT. Demand for tour tickets is high. We recommend reserving tickets as soon as they become available. " ~ Recreation.gov

Cliff Dwellings & Tours

Mesa Verde National Park is open year round; timed-entry reservations are required between May and October. Once in the park, tickets are available for ranger-led tours of a number of cliff dwellings.

7. Cliff Palace

Get up close and personal with Cliff Palace. As the largest cliff dwelling in North America, the architecture and design is amazing. It was built between 1190 and 1280 CE, and offered residence to over 100 people.

Getting to Cliff Palace requires you to climb down uneven stone steps and four ladders. Total walking distance is 1/4 mile.

Cliff Palace

8. Balcony House

Scaling ladders as the Ancient Puebloans must have done and then squeezing through a narrow tunnel on your hands and knees makes this a tour for adventurous souls. Some of these passages were used over 800 years ago!

Check the website for the tour specification and times.

Square Tower House

9. Square Tower House

Square Tower House is the tallest standing structure in the park complete with original plaster, paint, roof, and rock art. Mesa Top Loop offers a great view of the tower from the overlook, but the ranger-led tour of Square Tower House is a glimpse into one of Mesa Verde's most impressive cliff dwellings.

The hike to Square Tower House is a strenuous 90-minute, 1-mile round-trip hike. If you have a fear of heights, you may wish to view this dwelling from one of the overlooks. The path is unpaved and uneven and includes cliff drop-offs, switchbacks, and two ladders for you to climb down. Each tour participant must have the ability to climb over boulders and navigate steep trails unassisted.

10. Ranger-led vs Ranger Assisted Tours

Ranger-led tours are hour long tours through some of the ancestral dwellings. The ranger-assisted tours are timed-entry experiences that allow you to move through the cliff dwellings at your own pace. Rangers are stationed along your route to answer questions and facilitate your experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the elevation of mesa verde national park.

The elevation of Mesa Verde ranges from 6,800 feet in the south to 8,570 feet along the northern border.

Is it possible to spend 12 hours in Mesa Verde?

You will get a chance to see a lot of the dwellings within twelve hours. If you plan to participate in any of the ranger-led tours, you may wish to give yourself an extra day to explore.

What is the Mesa Verde meaning?

Mesa Verde is spanish for "green table" .

What is the best time of year to visit Mesa Verde?

While Mesa Verde National Park is open year round, the best time to visit would be from May to October. This is also the time that you would need to have timed-entry reservations to enter the park.

What is a kiva in Mesa Verde?

Kivas, a Hopi word, were underground rooms that tended to be round and small household areas that were used for daily activities as well as for special ceremonies on occasion.

What is the landscape on the mesa?

Having suffered through three big fires, much of the mesa is fairly barren. There are some trees closer to the overlook points.

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Final thoughts on 10 epic mesa verde tours on a national park road trip in colorado.

On our first visit to Mesa Verde National Park, Chris and I marveled at the cliff dwellings. I found myself wondering how the Puebloan people climbed down to their homes using small footholds and ladders? What about small children? Did these homes keep intruders out? You may wonder the same.

Be sure to sign up for one of the Mesa Verde tours to experience an up close and personal experience for yourself.

You will surely leave with a greater sense of their building skills, adaptability, methods of self-preservation, and a general sense of day to day life on the mesa.

You may also enjoy these posts about Colorado...

• 15 Best Places in Colorado This Summer for Family Travel
• 25 Best Hikes in Colorado Near Denver
• All Aboard for the Best Adventures in Glenwood Springs!
• 10 Best Things to Do In Breckenridge in Summer
• Top 10 Fun Family Adventures in Colorado Springs
• 5 Best Things to Do In Estes Park, Colorado
• 10 Best Things To Do in Rocky Mountain National Park

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Peaks, Plateaus & Canyons Association

Supporting Parks and Public Lands on the Colorado Plateau

Mesa Verde Fall 2022 Updates

Autumn is a great time to visit the park.

Visitors to Mesa Verde have decided: autumn is a great time to visit the park! Tours are selling out, the Mesa Verde Association bookstore at the Visitor Center is super busy, and the Far View Sites are in continuous demand by people from all over the U.S. and beyond.

In a recent five-day period, volunteers (some of whom are MVA board members) staffing the Far View Sites interacted with over 1100 visitors. And that was only about a third of the people who came to see this amazing farm community that was home to Ancestral Pueblo agriculturalists for centuries before they ever moved into the alcoves. If you visit the park this fall, be sure to see these six excavated mesa-top sites, including three family structures, a small reservoir, and two larger public buildings.

Fall is a great time to immerse yourself in Mesa Verde, because even when we’re busy the entrance lines are short. And the Far View Sites will share lesser-known details of an earlier time when daily Ancestral Pueblo life was centered around their farm fields.

If you make plans to visit the park this autumn please know there is a rock scaling project leading to 30-minute traffic delays. Visit www.nps.gov/meve/planyourvisit/conditions.htm for more information on how this project may affect your trip planning.

2022 Star Party

In April 2021 Mesa Verde National Park was recognized for its certification as the 100th International Dark Sky Park. Since receiving the certification for its remarkable night skies, Mesa Verde has enhanced its astronomy-based interpretive programs.

As part of Mesa Verde’s night sky public programming, the park hosted a Star Party on September 24th. The event was comprised of three presentations including, a ranger-lead talk on the importance of night skies, Navajo storytelling and astronomy, and hands-on telescope viewing and stargazing.

Park Rangers had anticipated around 200 attendees at the event, and expectations were blown out of the water with almost 600 participants. The success of the 2022 Star Party demonstrates the public’s desire for night sky viewing and education.

As the 2022 season comes to an end, Mesa Verde National Park is working on plans for celebrating and appreciating the wonder of the night skies with the public in 2023.

Red Sky Drum Group Inspires Reflection

It’s late June, the sun is getting low in the sky, the air is warm but not too hot, and a sweet and subtle aroma of flourishing vegetation wafts through the breeze. I’ve brought my husband and two young sons to the campground amphitheater at Mesa Verde to enjoy a performance by the Red Sky Drum Group.

“Wow, look at all those eagle feathers!” My son says pointing towards the regalia adorned by one of the performers. As we exit our car, we can’t help but admire the ethereal, traditional attire of these Ute dancers. I feel this experience is going to enlighten our understanding of the people who have called this area home for centuries before ourselves.

Mark Wing steps forward on the amphitheater stage, he welcomes the audience and introduces the members of his family that will be performing alongside him this evening. He informs us that in addition to their traditional dances, the group will also be sharing various Ute stories.

Before the drumming and singing begins, the performer describes the intricate details of the outfit they’re wearing and the context in which their dance is traditionally performed.

When the dances begin, we witness the evocative sounds and movements of a culture deeply rooted in the landscape.

Before performing a traditional warrior dance Mark Wing embarks on a story about Ute Mountain and the surrounding landscape. I know Ute Mountain as the “Sleeping Ute”, and I can see a portion of it from my kitchen window.

Mark shares with us that Ute Mountain is indeed a sleeping Ute, a great warrior who is resting. This warrior fought a great battle on behalf of the Ute people in what is now known as the Montezuma Valley.

Remnants of this battle are still found on the landscape; the canyons and washes were formed from the warrior’s footsteps. Now the warrior is resting under a blanket of changing seasons, until the next time the Ute people need his strength to help defend them once again.

This compelling story humbles me and reminds me that the land I live on, and call home, is not solely mine but part of the history of a people who are often overlooked. I am truly grateful for the willingness of Mark Wing and the rest of the Red Sky Drum Group to share their stories, songs, and dances with outsiders such as myself and my family.

Submitted by Sarah Rank, MVA Business Manager – Photo credit: NPS

This is an excerpt from the Mesa Verde Museum Association’s Member Newsletter. To find out more about MVMA and how to get your own copy delivered, visit the Mesa Verde Museum Association website .

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Last updated: September 21, 2022

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