Park of China
Overview
| Designation | UNESCO World Heritage (cultural, 1978) US National Park |
| Location | Southwestern corner of Colorado |
| Latitude, longitude | 37.3, -108.4 Google Maps |
| Nearby cities | Cortez, Durango |
| Highlights | Ancestral Puebloan ruins |
| Area | 52,000 acres |
| Nearby sites | Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Capitol Reef National Park |
| Themes | Cave, Prehistory, Cliff, Culture, Archaeological sites |
About
Mesa Verde National Park is in the southwestern corner of Colorado. It became a US national park in 1906, and in 1978 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural site.
Visitor map
Travel tips
Getting there: the park is in the south-west corner of Colorado. The nearest town is Cortez, about 16 km to the west, and Durango to the east, about 56 km, has a small airport. From the entrance it is another 30 km of mountain road, about 45 minutes, to Chapin Mesa where the main sites are.
Booking: Cliff Palace, Balcony House and Long House can be seen only on ranger-led tours, which need online tickets, which are released 14 days ahead and sell out quickly on busy dates.
Cliff Palace: this is the largest cliff dwelling in the park, with ladders and stone steps and some steep climbing; the tour takes about an hour.
Balcony House: this tour involves a 10 m ladder and a narrow tunnel, not suitable for anyone afraid of heights or with limited mobility.
Mesa top: without a booking you can still walk along Chapin Mesa to see the dwellings from a distance, along with open-air ruins and the museum.
Two loops: Chapin Mesa and Wetherill Mesa each have a loop road; Wetherill Mesa is more remote and some seasons it is closed, with access varying from year to year.
Season: May to October is the easiest time. The park is open in winter but cliff-dwelling tours stop and snow makes some roads hard. Thunderstorms are common on summer afternoons.
Where to stay: Far View Lodge and Morefield Campground are in the park, with the lodge open in spring and summer and best booked early; most visitors stay in Cortez.
More photos
Map
Photo credits: Mesa Verde National Park: Andreas F. Borchert (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)