Mesa Verde National Park, the nation's largest archaeological preserve, holds much more than history for Native peoples, environmentalists and lovers of open skies and wide vistas.
The 52,485-acre park, which sprawls over 82 square miles of high mesa, deep valleys and canyons, is the first home of today's Puebloan peoples. The more than 5,000 preserved sites include 600 cliff dwellings in various sizes.
Visitors can marvel at the ingenious, cozy, multi-story homes, storerooms and ceremonial sites under cliff faces and built with stone and mud-based mortar.
They can also learn valuable ecological lessons in the park. Humans have lived in Mesa Verde and surrounding areas for about 12,000 years. By 500 C.E., people had transitioned from hunting and gathering to an agriculture-centered economy.
Step House on Wetherill Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
Permanent homes were built, restored and left behind for newer people who moved in. Traders made their way to the area, offering feathers, chocolate, turquoise and other exotic items.
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Terraces built to increase food production still line some narrow valley floors.
The turkeys that Ancestral Pueblo people once kept for meat and feathers now run wild in the park alongside bobcats, bears, mountain lions and other wildlife, including the ever-present coyotes and not-so-common banded lizards.
Far View House at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
After nearly 1,000 years of living and working off and on in the area, the ancestors of the contemporary Pueblo peoples finally left the area. Some scholars believe that was due to a prolonged drought, others to civil upheaval.
An interpretive video showing at the Mesa Verde Mesa Museum showcases modern-day descendants discussing the region's history and how their ancestors brought their lifeways, their dryland agricultural traditions, pottery and basketry arts to their new homes.
Location
Mesa Verde is in southwestern Colorado, about a 1.5-hour drive east of Cortez.
Why it matters
Mesa Verde continues to hold great cultural significance for the 27 pueblos and tribes whose ancestors once called the canyons, farms, cliffside and mesa dwellings home or who have other ties to the area.
It's also a World Heritage site and an International Dark Sky Park.
Tribal cultural practitioners, archaeologists and historians continue to explore and learn from the many constructions hidden within the folds of valley and canyon walls. Puebloans, Navajos, Utes and other local tribal people come to showcase their arts and their social dances.
What to see
Mesa Verde changes with the seasons. Adventurous winter visitors can venture through snow on snowshoes or cross-country skis through the snow. Spring brings flowers, in-park camping and lodging, and the start of guided tours.
Sun setting near the Knife Edge at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
Summer is Mesa Verde's busiest season, with night sky events, ranger talks and tours, bird walks and cultural demonstrations. And fall offers quieter times with fall foliage, cool temperatures and lots of uncrowded trails.
Visitors with varying mobility can all find meaningful experiences in the park. Step House in Wetherill Mesa, as well as mesa-top buildings, are the easiest to reach.
Entering other cliff dwellings requires reservations. One popular tour includes Cliff Palace, which contains 150 rooms and 23 kivas and once housed about 100 people. And more physically fit visitors can take backcountry tours, which require climbing steep ladders to reach high dwellings and hiking rugged terrain.
Ask a local
On the way, stop at Four Corners Monument, the only place in the United States where four states meet. Native food and handcrafted items are offered for sale. Admission: $8 per person.
The park has limited food options. However, just outside Mesa Verde's main park gate on U.S. Highway 160 is what locals call a standout Native-owned food stand. Fry Bread Plus More offers Navajo tacos and burgers, blue corn mush and classic fry bread.
Several food options are available in Cortez, including Mexican eatery La Casita De Cortez, the Loungin' Lizard, which received a Travelers' Choice award from Tripadvisor and even a sushi restaurant, Stonefish Sushi.
