By Mariah Cannon

Mesa Verde has got to be one of Colorado’s most stunning National Parks and I don’t think you could convince me otherwise! Throughout the park you’ve got petroglyphs telling stories from decades before us, crazy rock formations and carvings, ruins and buildings from the Piute tribe that once inhabited the land, and endless hiking opportunities.

In the guide below, I’m going to share some of my favorite things I did during my time at the park as well as add some things that are totally worth your time while in the park. Starting mainly from right outside the park, however I’ll mention a couple of spots in the nearby town of

As always you do need an America the Beautiful Pass for the park entrance or it’s $30 per car.

Where is Mesa Verde?

Mesa Verde is located near the Southwest corner of Colorado and spans across 52,000 acres and is filled with stunning scenery! Some nearby towns are:

• Mancos, CO – 27 miles, 45 minutes
• Cortez, CO – 30 miles, 50 minutes
• Durango, CO – 56 miles, 1 hour 20 minutes

Getting There

The park is best explored by car and is mostly easy to navigate and any vehicle should be okay within the park. If you’ll be flying in, here are the closest airports:

• Grand Junction Regional Airport, 4 hours
• Albuquerque International Sunport, 4 hours.
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, 6 and a half hours.

Permit System

For certain hikes and activities i.e. ranger led tours in Mesa Verde National Park, you do need to purchase a permit in advance on Recreation.gov. The areas I mention in this blog post that need to have a permit are Balcony House, Cliff Palace, Oak Tree House, and Square Tower House. Tickets for these tours are $8 as of when I am writing this (September 29th, 2024).

Best Time to Visit

The best time to visit the park is May through September as that’s when the cliff dwelling tours and other tours are offered as well as when you’ll encounter the best weather. It can get hot in the park during the height of summer and weather can change in just a few moments with the elevation ranging from 6,000 to 8,500 feet. Be prepared with layers, a rain jacket, and plenty of hydration!

Places to Stay

• Far View Lodge located inside Mesa Verde is a unique stay with every amenity possible!
• If you’re looking to camp within the park, Morefield Campground is the only campground in the park with over 260 sites of all different types.
• A little further away in Cortez is Grizzly Roadhouse bed & Breakfast, a quant and cozy area to stay.

Day 1

1. Start your morning with breakfast at Oscar’s Cafe in the town of Mancos which is technically the closest town to Mesa Verde.
2. Make a quick stop at Spruce Tree House, just a short walk from the parking area to overlook the dwellings. The trail down to a self guided tour is closed indefinitely due to some rock falls from an alcove surrounding the dwelling.
3. After fueling up and making your way into the park, begin your adventure at Spruce Canyon Trail, a trail that takes you through the canyon
4. Next up, make your way to Petroglyph Point Trail, this trail takes you through Soda Canyon and brings you to many cool rock formations, petroglyphs, unique flowers, and epic views.
5. Take a stop at Square Tower House and marvel at the 27 foot tall structure, which over time has been stabilized to preserve the rest of the structure.
6. Continuing on the one way loop road, next is an overlook located 50 feet from the parking lot, Sun Point View is a beautiful view of over 30 cliff dwellings throughout the alcoves and canyon walls.
7. To end your first day in the park, head to Sun Temple, only a few minutes walk around will take you back in time to some very different and unique structures.
8. Head to Cortez to grab some delicious dinner at Fiesta Mexicana, a great authentic and family owned restaurant with multiple locations in the South West.

Day 2

1. Start off day two in the park by grabbing some liquid motivation and a sweet treat at Silver Bean Coffee.
2. Heading into the park, make your first stop the Point Lookout Trail, a 2 mile trail that gains a little over 500 feet and takes you to the iconic lookout in the park with sweeping views all around.
3. As if one wasn’t enough, stop at the Knife Edge Trail, another gorgeous 2 mile out and back trail where you’ll find plenty of solitude. It’s typically a more secluded area and there were deer hanging out near it when I was there.
4. After that, make your way to the Far View Sites Complex
5. Cliff Palace Loop Trail where you’ll get to an overlook of the Cliff Dwellings, which are insane. If you want to go down to the dwellings and actually get to explore them closer you’ll need to get a permit that I mentioned above.
6. Another great spot, continuing on the loop is Balcony House Loop, an hour long ranger guided tour. This said to be one of the more difficult tours due to having to drop 100 steps and climb a ladder, but some of the most epic views of the dwellings!
7. If you desire more adventure and walking, Soda Canyon Overlook is a 1.2 mile trail that takes you down an easy path to 3 different viewpoints of the soda canyon and some cliff dwellings across the canyon walls.
8. A fun, less popular walk is the Farming Terraces Trail, here you’ll find more solitude and see some of the areas where the Pueblo’s built their farming areas. So much history!

Let’s Get Adventuring!

Mariah