Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

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Mesa Verde National Park near Cortez, Colorado is cited by National Geographic as one of the top cultural spots in the United States. And there’s a reason. Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, is home to one of the largest and best preserved Ancestral Puebloan or Anasazi ruins in the United States. Cliff dwellings, elaborate stone communities built in sheltered alcoves, are the main attraction. But they aren’t the only. The path from pithouse to pueblo made by this ancient culture from roughly 550 to 1300 A.D. weaves a story and speaks to a life both above and below the mesa top. So why take the kids? Mystery, ladders and intrigue.

Spread over 52,000 acres, Mesa Verde protects 4,000 known archaeological sites including 600 cliff dwellings. Yet a trip to this U.S. national park need not be overwhelming. The vast majority of sites are concentrated in two distinct areas: Chapin Mesa and Wetherill Mesa. If you plan your visit with care you’ll avoid driving from end to end repeatedly.

The Far View Visitor Center offers more than an update on park weather and roads. Unless you are staying at Morefield Campground, it is the only place to purchase tickets for ranger-guided cliff dwelling tours and learn about other programs and special events. Don’t forget to pick up a Junior Ranger activity sheet, geared to kids aged 4 to 12, and engage the kids from start to finish.

The Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum and self-guided Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling are a great place to begin an adventure with kids. Not only do they provide an introduction to Anasazi life, they allow families to tour at their own pace. When planning the remainder of your visit consider the availability of ranger-guided tours as well as the age and interest of the tots, tweens and teens.

Cliff Palace and Balcony House are the most popular ranger-guided cliff dwelling tours at Mesa Verde. Both are situated on Chapin Mesa and both require a good deal of climbing. The self-drive Mesa Top Loop Road, also on Chapin Mesa, follows the Anasazi from pithouse to pueblo.

Wetherill Mesa is Mesa Verde in a nutshell. In addition to Long House, Mesa Verde’s second largest cliff dwelling, this corner of the park boasts mesa top sites of note. And apart from getting there and getting away you don’t need the car to get around.

Anasazi Cliff Dwellings

Anasazi Cliff Dwellings Photo Gallery

There are several facts about cliff dwellings that make learning about Mesa Verde lots of fun. Did you know that:

The Anasazi, as the Ancestral Puebloans are commonly known, built cliff dwellings in alcoves or arched recesses of canyon walls.
The cliff dwellings were built with just three materials: sandstone, mortar and wooden beams.
The Anasazi used hard rocks from nearby riverbeds to shape softer sandstone blocks.
The walls of the cliff dwellings, brown today, were painted pink, red, yellow and white by their inhabitants.
The roofs, made of wooden beams, were a place of work and play.
The small t-shaped doorways helped keep the rooms warm in winter and cool in summer.
Kivas, rooms dug into the ground, were used for ceremonies and socializing.
The Anasazi reached the cliff dwellings by hand-and-toe-hold trails.