Dates we visited: Oct 29th - Oct 30th 2020
Where we stayed: Sundance RV Park

After braving a blizzard at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, we headed down to the southwest corner of colorado to visit Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde was the first park that we visited that was established primarily for archeological reasons. The area was set aside to preserve and study the Ancestral Pueblo heritage and relics in 1906. The Puebloans called this place home from roughly the year 600 till the year 1300. According to the Park Service, the area preserves over 5,000 archaeological sites and more than 600 cliff dwellings.

Pit Houses to Cliff Dwellings

One of the most fascinating things about this park is the ability to see how the Puebloan people progressed and changed over time. Early in their time here they built and resided in “Pit Houses” that were complex structures built into the ground. These were sometimes solitary and sometimes grouped together. Larger “Kivas” were also nearby and served as gathering places and for social functions.

Then, over time, they moved out to the cliff dwellings. Archaeologists are still studying this migration, what prompted it, and what eventually prompted the Puebloan people to abandon the incredible cliff structures and move out of the area. Try as I might, I couldn’t wrap my head around thinking about the first person that was like “Hey, why don’t we build a house on those cliffs over there? What do you all think?”

Sunrise

We opted for a before sunrise entry to Mesa Verde, and were rewarded with some spectacular views and had the park essentially to ourselves. We made several stops along Mesa Top Ruins road to explore and hike. Some of our favorites were: Park Point Overlook, Far View House, Square Tower House.

There are numerous other pull-offs where you can get a view of some of the most complex cliff dwellings and we stopped at many of them. Normally, it is possible to get a guided tour of these, but that was limited or unavailable due to Covid, so we had to settle for observing them from afar.

We only spent one day at this park, but this is one of those places that you could easily spend a month exploring all the various archaeological sites, hiking trails, and scenic areas. All three of us left the park with a greater respect for the native inhabitants of the area, and a wonderment for the engineering prowess they possessed for their time.