A first-time guide to Mesa Verde National Park

12.07.2024 - 15:49 / lonelyplanet.com / Theodore Roosevelt

Jul 5, 2024 • 9 min read

Around the year 550 CE, the Ancestral Pueblo people began settling in what is today southwest Colorado. Here, on a slightly sloping section of the Colorado Plateau, they farmed, made pottery, wove baskets, and built sprawling villages within the canyon walls.

Then, around 1300 CE, they moved away and never returned. It’s not clear why the Ancestral Pueblo deserted the place that had been their home for roughly 700 years. But they left behind many clues about their rich cultural heritage, which today’s archaeologists are still eagerly studying.

Recognizing the value of the Ancestral Puebloan’s artifacts and cliff dwellings, President Theodore Roosevelt created Mesa Verde National Park in 1906. It was the first national park to “preserve the works of man,” as Roosevelt said, in addition to natural resources. The park protects nearly 5000 archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings.

Mesa Verde is one of four national parks in Colorado. Though it’s the farthest from Denver, this archaeological marvel is well worth the extra drive time. Here’s what to know as you start planning your first visit. 

Mesa Verde is open all year round, though the weather, crowds and conditions vary from season to season. 

Summer is the busiest season at Mesa Verde, when temperatures climb into the 70ºFs and 80ºFs. But even during peak season, Mesa Verde doesn’t get crowded: in all of 2023, it saw a little more than 500,000 visitors (compared to several million at other, more popular parks). During the busiest weeks, around 3000 people enter the park each day.

Pleasant weather aside, one of the main reasons for visiting in the summer is the availability of ranger-led tours of the cliff dwellings. The only way to enter the cliff dwellings is on a guided tour, and tours are only offered between May and October.

If you visit during the winter, you’ll feel like you have the whole place to yourself— some days, just 50 people enter the park. You won’t be able to enter the cliff dwellings, since there are no tours in the winter, but you will still be able to see them from various overlooks and viewpoints. Since the park is located between 7000 and 8500ft above sea level, it can get pretty chilly and snow is always a possibility. But, with the right gear and mindset, you can still have a good experience — and the landscape looks stunning when covered with a dusting of fresh powder. Another perk: during the winter, rangers groom some of the park’s trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, and snowshoes are free to borrow.

The park is relatively small, at just over 52,000 acres, but there’s a lot to see. Ideally, you’d spend at least two full days here.

Rangers offer three unique guided tours of the cliff