Son of a Sailor

Mesa Verde and surrounding canyons don't have ruins, these spaces are still considered homes and the Hopi tribe still has ongoing spiritual and living connections with these places.

Both my wife and I have been to Mesa Verde National Park before, but we had never been there with family. This park is both remote and busy, a commitment to get to….wish we had done more homework before arriving.

**Pagosa Springs to Mesa Verde, then back to Durango to spend the night.**

Mesa Verde National Park was the first park in the United States specifically designated a National Park in order to protect man-made structures and remains. The Park encompasses 52,000 acres which includes designated wilderness areas and is approximately 81 square miles total. Believe it or not, there are over 5,000 man made structures within the park, with more being identified every year. The Hopi, Zuni, Navajo (Dine) and Apache tribes all have connections to this land and a number of living Native Americans trace their lineage directly back to the people who once lived here. There is strong belief that these places are not ruins, not abandoned but instead current Native Americans have spiritual and living connections to these places. The people who lived in these places didn’t mysteriously vanish like once thought, instead they moved to pueblos and villages still occupied in northern Arizona and New Mexico today.

Waking up in Pagosa Springs, we had made the decision to drive directly to Mesa Verde in the morning (after breakfast) and do our visit as early as possible, then come back to Durango to spend the night. This logic makes sense when you look at where Mesa Verde is in relation to services, the closest large town is Durango….with Mesa Verde sitting in the extreme southwestern corner of the state of Colorado.

So after breakfast we took off for Mesa Verde, stopping in Durango to get a full charge for the Rivian. There’s not much around Mesa Verde…and there’s a lot of climbing to get up the mesa where the bulk of the park is located.

Taking a break from the climbing, trying to get cell service to try to find a tour reservation for Cliff Palace while looking out over Point Lookout. We were not successful….a bummer and my oversight as the trip planner.

Once up on the Mesa, we decided to take our time and explore the Mesa Verde Museum and Spruce Tree House Trail first while it was still cooler, a wise decision.

**The impressive Spruce Tree House, right below the Visitor Center.**

**Heading back uo the trail to the Visitor Center.**

**I loved the beam ceiling and the architecture inside the Visitor Center. Plus it was nice and cool.**

After checking out the Visitor Center, we headed down the mesa on the loop to stop and check out Cliff Palace. This set of dwellings is the largest of its kind in North America. To get close to the area and tour the Cliff Palace, you must have made online reservations weeks or months ahead of time…..there is NO more just showing up at a certain time for a ranger led tour..reservations are a must.

**If we had taken a tour with reservations, it starts down this set of steep stairs.**

As we continued our drive around the loop at the top of the mesa, we stopped for a quick look at Balcony house and then started the drive out of the park and down to the Visitors Center.

**Cool picture window and statue at the Visitors Center**

**Map of Mesa Verde National Park, specifically the top of the mesa showing the major sites.**

**On the way out, I snapped this picture of the impressive Point Lookout, from the Visitors Center.**

After exploring the visitors center, we headed back to Durango, where our hotel was right on the river and we went into the historic part of town for excellent pizza.

Travel With Kids Suggestions:

-We found Durango to be the nearest town with good services to Mesa Verde National Park. It has EV charging, good hotels and good restaurants. It served as a good base for us to use to check out Mesa Verde and then take off for Monument Valley.

-Mesa Verde- Wanna tour while you are there- MAKE RESERVATIONS ONLINE AHEAD OF TIME. We screwed this up…no tour.

-Mesa Verde- Once you are up on top of the Mesa, the visitors center is there but has limited services. It’s hot with little shade….consider the timing of your visit, the altitude and the time it takes to do the drive up the Mesa. There are steep climbs by car and steep trails….choose wisely.

Loved our Mesa Verde visit and will probably go back. It’s not that hard with kids but getting there is a commitment. We did this trip in our EV with kids in summer. It’s doable and I highly recommend the trip. Have Fun!!