mesa verde book tour

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. Mesa Verde Express Tour With Tickets To Cliff Palace

5. 700 Year Tour - Half Day Mesa Verde Cultural Tour

6. 25+ National Parks Self-Guided Driving Tours Bundle

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.

• 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
• 25+ National Parks Self-Guided Driving Tours Bundle

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Alerts in effect, a sacred place.

For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Today, the park protects the rich cultural heritage of 26 Pueblos and Tribes and offers visitors a spectacular window into the past. This World Heritage Site and International Dark Sky Park is home to over a thousand species, including several that live nowhere else on earth.

Need help deciding on a Cliff Dwelling Tour or want to make a reservation? Click this link.

As the seasons change so do many of the operating hours. Get to know what will be available when you visit.

Information on the park entrance fee, Mesa Verde Annual Pass, and America the Beautiful passes. Learn how to purchase online!

Temporary and longer-term road or facility closures can occur anytime of year, especially in winter. What will change or affect your visit?

Learn more about hiking in Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park is committed to providing inspiring experiences to people of all abilities.

Get important information about visiting the park with your pet(s), ways to keep them safe, and where to take them.

Watch the official Mesa Verde National Park film, which shows daily at the Mesa Verde Museum.

Download the park app, audio tours, and podcasts before your visit, or to learn more about Mesa Verde from home!

Last updated: April 22, 2024

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PO Box 8 Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330

970-529-4465

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Mesa Verde Tours: Know Before You Go

Professional guided tours vs. going solo.

Mesa Verde is the gem of the Southwest. Once the home of the ancestral Pueblo people, today the national park hosts some of the best preserved archeological sites in the United States, including 600 cliff dwellings. The park offers visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the history of the ancestral Pueblo and experience their culture firsthand. Book your Mesa Verde guided tour today.

Mesa Verde Tours

With nearly 5,000 archeological sites and more than 40 miles of road winding through the park, Mesa Verde can take days to fully explore. For those of you with less time to spend, local tour experts Durango Rivertrippers & Adventure Tours offer their advice on the best ways to appreciate the park’s offerings.

Know Before You Go

With so many points of interest to choose from, you’ll need to plan ahead which areas you’d like to visit. Be aware that some of the cultural sites are not available to explore during certain times of the year. Others will require a guided ranger tour to access. Remember that all cliff dwelling tours are strenuous and may require hiking and climbing ladders. Don’t forget to bring plenty of water and sunscreen. The rigors of hiking the park plus the higher altitude make dehydration and severe sunburns a legitimate concern.

If you’re going it alone, expect to pay a fee to enter the park based on the number of occupants in your vehicle. You must purchase tickets to visit the cultural sites requiring a ranger-guided tour to access, including the infamous Balcony House, Cliff Palace, and Long House. These tickets sell out fast and must be purchased in person, so don’t wait until the day of your visit to purchase them. The park is large. You will need to pick up a map of the area to navigate to points of interest, including the cliff dwellings , museum, and research center. This is where the benefits of a Mesa Verde guided tour become readily apparent.

Professional Tours vs. Going Solo

Planning a trip with a tour provider simplifies matters greatly. Some tour groups, including Durango Rivertrippers & Adventure Tours , provide transportation to and from the park itself in addition to navigating you directly to points of interest. Not only will you save time and gas by avoiding a meandering trip around the park, your trip price includes the sometimes elusive tickets to the guided ranger tours.

A knowledgeable tour guide can greatly enhance your visit to Mesa Verde . The educational benefits begin during the drive when your tour guide explains the history of the area and preps you for your Mesa Verde encounter. Exploring the park’s self-guided sites and educational facilities are more impactful and engaging for families with the guidance of your tour guide.

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Your Guide to the Mesa Verde National Park Tours in 2022

Mesa Verde is a U.S. National Park known for its Cliff Dwellings and ancient architecture that goes back years ago. So history and cultures buff will surely appreciate the park, and the best way to do that is to join a tour or two with the park ranger. 

Table of Contents

Mesa Verde Self-Guided Tours: Can You Tour Mesa Verde On Your Own?

Mesa verde tours.

• Cliff Palace
• Balcony House

How Long Does Each Tour Take?

• The Cliff Palace tour takes approximately 30 minutes. 
• The Balcony House  tour takes approximately 60 minutes. 
• The Long House tour takes approximately 60 minutes.
• Driving time . Mesa Verde National Park is huge; believe me, most of your time will be spent driving.  
• You are required to show up 15 mins earlier before each tour to go over the safety information. 
• There may be delays or any unforeseen circumstances during your tour or after. 
• Sometimes, the tour can go longer than anticipated . 
• 2 hours between the time you book this Cliff Palace tour and a Balcony House tour (i.e., 9:00 AM CP and 11:00 PM BH).
• 3 hours between the time you book this Cliff Palace tour and a Long House tour (i.e., 10:00 AM CP and 1:00 PM or later LH).
• 4 hours between the time you book this Long House tour and a Cliff Palace tour (i.e., 10:00 AM LH and a 2:00 PM or later CP). This will allow you a little extra time to enjoy the sites at Wetherill Mesa and drive to Cliff Palace.

Mesa Verde Tour Cost

• General Admission: $8
• Infant (age 2 and under): $1
• Cancellation Fee: $1 per ticket

How Difficult Is Each Tour?

It’s not so much about hiking to do each cliff-dwelling tour at Mesa Verde National Park. However, each tour requires climbing up and down to go through a cliff dwelling, and the effort can be anywhere from easy and moderate to difficult , depending on your physical conditions. Therefore, the tour is not for you if you have mobility issues or concerning physical health. So plan accordingly before purchasing any tour tickets. 

Best Cliff Dwelling Tours at Mesa Verde

• The Cliff Palace  tour is the easiest and fastest tour, and it’s also the most popular cliff dwelling picture you see when you google Mesa Verde National Park. You go through the tour listening to the ranger’s narrative and move through the cliff dwelling without touching anything. 
• The Balcony House tour requires a better fitness level and takes an hour to complete. It’s also the hardest tour to get tickets because they only offer 3 tours per day with a limited amount of tickets sold. It is one of the most adventurous tours in the park as you move through the cliff dwelling by claiming tall ladders, squeezing your way through a narrow tunnel, etc. See the photo below. This tour lets you touch the dwelling (but not all) as you move through the site. 
• The Long House  tour also takes an hour and is a little further away to drive to it. It’s the least popular Mesa Verde National Park tour and can also be challenging to move through the cliff dwelling. 

How to Book Mesa Verde Tours?

• First and foremost, ensure the cliff dwelling or road is not closed for the date you will visit the park for your tour. 
• You can view the alerts from the official Mesa Verde National Park website .
• Go to the Recreative Gov website and create an account if you do not have one. 
• Sit down and figure out what dates and times you want to do the tour and how many tickets you will need. You can see each Mesa tour hours here:
• All tour reservations can be booked online 14 days in advance at 8 AM Colorado or Mountain Standard Time (MST) . Therefore, 14 days before your desired tour date, set a reminder before 8 AM Colorado time, and get your credit card ready. 
• I suggest you perform a “mock” reservation on a sample date without paying for the reservation to familiarize yourself with the booking process for the tour tickets and quantities you want.
• Simply go to the Recreation Gov Mesa Verde Tour website to book. 
• Remember that the  Balcony House  tour can be sold out in 2-3 minutes, so be strategic and ready to book in front of your computer if this tour is high on your list. 

Best Places to Stay Near Mesa Verde National Park

• I suggest you stay in Cortez to better use your time because Mesa Verde National Park is huge, and you will spend most of your time driving to the park entrance and each cliff dwelling site from the park entrance. 
• Durango is a more interesting town with more attractions, especially its scenic train ride between Durango and Silverton , but it can be far from Mesa Verde. Lodging is also more expensive. 
• If you want to stay in the National Park, there’s a Far View Lodge  inside the park, and they accept pets for $25 per night. 
• Holiday Inn Express Mesa Verde-Cortez – pets are not allowed.
• Hampton Inn Mesa Verde/Cortez – pet fee is $50 per stay, up to 2 pets allowed. 
• Best Western Turquoise Inn & Suites – pet fee is $20 per night, up to 2 pets allowed. However, when I called them, they said $20 per stay, so please double-check. 
• Baymont by Wyndham Cortez – pet fee is $15 per stay, up to 2 pets allowed. 
• Also, some more budgeted  Choice Hotels  are available too. Each hotel charges a pet fee per night instead of per stay, which can add up. 

Are Dogs Allowed In Mesa Verde National Park?

• Never leave your pets in the car unattended. 
• Take turns watching your pet and checking out the cliff dwelling overlook if there are two of you. The Cliff Palace overlook, for example, is not far from the parking lot, so one of you can watch your pet while the other snap a quick photo of the Cliff Palace. A few overlooks along the Cliff Palace loop are just a few steps away from the parking space. 
• Take turns doing each Mesa Verde tour by allowing ample time between switching. 
• Walk the Long House Loop with your pets. The loop is 5-mile long, but you don’t have to do it all. The path is well paved, and some archaeological sites, including the Long House overlook, are where you can enjoy the views with your pets.
• There are also dog kennels near Mesa Verde if you are comfortable. 

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Far View Site Tour

700 years of history.

Please Note : Per current state recommendations, guests will be required to wear a mask.

Operating Dates

• May 2 - October 20  

Join experienced NAI Certified tour guides as they take you back in time to the world of the Ancestral Puebloans. This bus tour includes short walks, visits to archaeological sites covering a 700 year time period, and features some of the finest examples of Puebloan life and architecture in Mesa Verde National Park.

• Tour Overview
• Tour Prices

In-Person Tour Reservations

If you are interested in reserving you tour in person please refer to the locations below.

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Mesa Verde National Park

Established in 1906 by theodore roosevelt, mesa verde national park is the first national park of its kind “to preserve the works of man.”.

Experience history like never before as you explore Mesa Verde National Park. Once the home of the prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan peoples, Mesa Verde is now a World Heritage Site recognized for its rich archaeological relevance. Offering nearly 5000 archaeological finds as well as some 600 cliff dwellings, Mesa Verde National Park contains some of the best preserved archaeological sites in North America.

Walk the same footpaths as the Ancestral Puebloans. Explore their homes, view dwellings built of sandstone and mud mortar into the sides of the overhanging cliffs. Visit their mesa top towers. Trod on the land that nurtured their farming terraces. It’s easy to imagine yourself living and working as the Ancestral Puebloans did in their ancestral homes amidst the beauty of Southwest Colorado.

Located near the scenic Four Corners, Mesa Verde National Park provides a unique opportunity to experience the prehistoric history of Southwest North America. At elevations of more than 8500 feet, the park boasts breathtaking views of Colorado as well as spectacular canyon scenery.

Arrived 1,400 Years Ago

Long before Europeans explored North America, a group of people living in the Four Corners region chose Mesa Verde for their home.

Thrived for Over 700 Years

For more than 700 years the Ancestral Puebloan Peoples and their descendants lived and flourished in Mesa Verde and the surrounding areas.

Departed 800 Years Ago

Then, in the late A.D. 1200s, in the span of a generation or two, they left their homes and moved away.

Preserved 110 Years Ago

On June 29, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park to “preserve the works of man,” the first national park of its kind.

A Civilization in the Cliffs

Ancestral Puebloans originally resided and farmed on the mesa top for around 600 years. Late in the 12 th century, some of the people began building pueblos beneath the overhanging cliffs and continued to farm on the mesa. For nearly a century the Ancestral Puebloans built and remodeled their Cliffside homes before beginning their migration into present day New Mexico and Arizona. The Mesa Verde occupation ended by 1300.

Today some 600 Pueblo cliff dwellings have been recorded, from simple one-room units to the multi-storied Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Square Town house. The cliff dwellings allow us to walk in the footprints of the Ancient Puebloans and experience their reverence for this land. The ruins provide us with a link from the prehistoric to our own present day way of life in the American Southwest.

Years of History

Home of the ancestral puebloan people.

For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here, eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls.

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