Experiencing the ancient world of Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park is one of the most unique parks we have ever visited. What makes it so spectacular? Well for starters it was established in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt to “preserve the works of man”. Most National Parks are established to preserve the natural habitat, but this park was primarily established to protect the Culture of the Ancestral Puebloan people. For over 700 years the Puebloan people lived in the area now known as Mesa Verde. In order to protect their dwellings and artifacts the National Park was established making it illegal for anyone to remove any of the items.

At its peak around 1200 A.D, there was an estimated 30,000 people that created communities within the mountain. Making the area one of the richest locations for archeologist in North America. Mesa Verde National Park is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States protecting over 4,000 sites. 600 of those sites are cliff dwellings including the largest Cliff Dwelling in North America called the Cliff Palace. Cliff Palace has over 150 rooms and over 20 Kivas tucked away within the mountain.  

Walking the trails of Mesa Verde, you can feel the presence of the Ancestral Puebloan people. Imagining what life was like and how the scenery must have been so different back then. This National Park is different. It feels different, it smells different, it is sacred and special and needs to be respected. There is something here for you to see, I suggest starting with the 700 years tour.

700 Years Tour and Cliff Palace

If you are looking for the perfect way to get the most out of Mesa Verde National Park look no further than the 700 years tour. This tour last about 4 hours and will take you through the earliest archaeological sites dating to the year 500. These pit houses are the first dwellings for the Native people. They seem simple in design and did not house more than a family.

As time and population grew, people started to build more complex structures and communities. That brings us to the Mesa Top Dwellings aging in a range of 900-1100. These are a lot more complex with multiple rooms. These sites include underground areas, multi-story above ground areas and even signal towers.

Finally leading us to the most famous era, the cliff dwelling era. Ranging from 1150-1300. It is important to note that not all Ancestral Puebloans decided to make the move to cliff dwellings. It was a combination of Cliff Dwellings and above ground structures. With a population of 30,000 the Native peoples had to find more space, more food, more resources, and with that comes the advancement of engineering and architecture that this tour will take you on.

Finally, the tour will end at Cliff Palace and you will be given the opportunity to go down into the dwellings. This will get you a up close and personal experience with them. That alone is worth the price of the admission as you get to actually walk where the Ancestral Puebloans walked and lived. You can see the amazing architectural advancements that they put into building the structures. The Ranger led tour will answer all your questions and gives you plenty of time to explore Cliff palace.

If you are not able bodied you can sit this one out on the bus if needed. There are some steep stairs and narrow passages. In order to exit Cliff Palace, it requires steep steps coming up the cliff with multiple ladders to climb. Don’t let this daunt you!

I am not the pinnacle of fitness and did not have a problem with it. Also, our children age 5 and 7 did not have any issue at all. If you are on the fence about this tour, just make the jump and buy the tickets. It is an experience that you will never forget and an amazing learning experience for children and adults alike.  My favorite part was you really got to experience the entire park minus just a few hikes with this tour. Its much more interactive than taking a self-guided tour and you can get all your questions answered as well.

Coyote Village

Coyote Village is located just up the road from Far View within the Park and is a must stop for all. This is a above ground dwelling that you can walk through and explore at your own pace. You cannot go in the underground sections nor can you climb on the walls but it is still a really unique experience to be able to walk through the dwelling looking at the craftsmanship that was put into the structure.

On the backside of one of the structures you will find a stone that had a spiral carved into it from the Ancestral Puebloan people. This is an easy walk, all flat and well-maintained gravel walkways. You do not have to go through the dwelling if you do not want to. Make sure while walking along the path you take a look at the plants of the area. You will see juniper, yucca, prickly pear, and pine nuts all over. All used as a food source for the Natives so many years ago.

Soda Canyon Overlook and Balcony House

Soda Canyon overlook is another hike I am going to recommend while visiting Mesa Verde National Park. It is a 1.2 mile out and back trail that is generally an easy walk. I would recommend doing this early morning as there is not much shade on the trail. I also do want to mention that this trail is not handicap friendly as there is steps and rocks that will need to be maneuvered in order to complete the trail.

The Soda Canyon overlook does give you a nice view of the canyon but why I wanted to mention this hike specifically is it gives you the perfect view of Balcony House. When the trail comes to a “Y” take the path to the right and you can look directly across the canyon and see Balcony House cliff dwelling.

If you are feeling super adventurous you can take the Balcony House tour and go into the dwelling. Keep in mind this is not an easy task as you will experience steep inclines, ladders, narrow passage, and crawling on hands and knees through a 20 ft tunnel. We did not do this tour as we thought it would be a little much to keep up with the kids on that tour.

Native Fry Bread

Once you complete Soda Canyon hike continue up the road and keep a lookout to the right for a sign labeled “Fresh Fry Bread”. This is a gravel pull off that you can go into and speak with some of the Ute people of this area. During the creation of this National Park the Ute people and America government had to negotiate land boundaries. When you pull off the road onto the gravel drive you are pulling onto the Ute land. Be respectful of the land and area they are allowing you to visit. While you are there make sure to take a look at the handmade jewelry that is for sale.

You absolutely have to try the fry bread! This is made by a Ute woman that has been making this bread her entire life. I have never had bread that matched this. It is light and crispy with two different flavors you can choose. They have a sweet and a savory.

The sweet is made with honey and powdered sugar on top and taste more like a funnel cake then anything else. It was good but I really enjoyed the savory option. This is the traditional way the bread was served and it is fried with a little salt and garlic on top. The only way to describe the taste was a lighter, crispier pizza dough. You must stop and try these! We were lucky enough to have a Ute gentleman tell us about some of the stories of his people and some of the prophecies that are coming true today while we enjoyed the fry bread.

Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Park

Just take a look at the photo, that really is all you need to know about Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Park. Ok, I guess that is not entirely fair. The spots at this park are extremely close, like I had to duck under my slide to get around the table so I could enter and exit the camper. The fire pit, if we would have had fire most defiantly would have melted the side of our neighbor’s camper. Do you enjoy eating dinner at your outdoor table while your neighbor empties their tanks literally directly next to your table? Then you will most likely enjoy Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Park.

OK, I had to get that out. Now for the good. Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Park is located directly outside the entrance to the National Park. That makes up for a whole lot of downsizes when you can be in the park in 3 minutes from your site. Also, there is a playground for the kids, a nice pool and even a hot tub. While we were visiting the hot tub was basically unusable since it was full of a dozen 14-year-old unsupervised kids during our stay.  With that being said it was not a huge deal to us as we only had very little time to swim.

The Park does have full hookup sites including 50 amp, water and sewer. If you have a RV larger than 45 ft with a toad I suggest looking elsewhere. We have a 40ft diesel pusher pulling a 2 door Jeep Wrangler and had to park the Jeep sideways to stay out of the road.

Also, one last note is there is not much for cell service in or around the park. Wi-Fi is available at Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Park but it is super spotty. It was slow and kept dropping. There is a service station up the road but when we tried to fill the camper with fuel the diesel pumps were shut off, service station was closed and gas pumps were out of order. Your better off to drive up the road to Cortez and use the Maverick station as soon as you get into town.

Mancos Brewing

If you’re looking for some unique dinning experiences while visiting Mesa Verde National Park there were not a lot that really interested me. With that being said we was able to find a couple Brewery’s and they did not disappoint. We will start with Mancos Brewery located right on the frontage road in Mancos, CO.

They offer wood fired Pizza, salads, sandwiches, homemade desserts, and a kid’s menu. We got the Quarantine Florentine which was a pizza made with white sauce, chicken, spinach, mushrooms, mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan. It was delicious and had a perfectly cooked flaky crust. We also got their spinach and artichoke dip which was so good and creamy even our kids ate it.

Beer wise they offer a crap load of darker beer options. Which is what attracted me to this brewery to begin with. Some options include a brown ale, red lager, Chocolate Rye Stout, Rye Ale, Black Rye Lager, and my personal favorite the porter. With Chocolate hints and a super clean, light finish. If you’re not interested in the dark beers, they also offer plenty of IPA and pale ale to fill your needs.

Main Street Brewing and Restaurant

Main Street Brewing and Restaurant is located on Main Street in Cortez, Colorado is a good option for a sit-down restaurant to get out of the heat. They offer salads, kids’ meal, burgers, and appetizers as well as daily specials and desserts. I ordered an open face burger with a green chili soup layered on top of a bed of cheese. It was ok, not great but not horrible neither. Kaitlin ordered a Native Fry Bread that had the same soup on top but also sour cream. I highly suggest the Native Fry Bread if your going to enjoy some food while visiting.

They have a good beer selection including a mild stout, porter, doppelbock, black and tan, and a brown ale. All the beers are just ok. Nothing great. Nothing bad. Not really anything that would make me want to come back and order more, that is until I tried the Honey Raspberry Wheat.

It was crazy hot on July 7^th when we came to eat here and that damn wheat beer was calling my name. It is not a beer I normally would try but reading that it was made with local honey and had real raspberry introduced during the brew process I had to try it. Holy crap what a boost of flavor of honey with a sweet finish of raspberry. Not overly sweet like I thought it was going to be. Just a perfect blend of sweet and tangy.

 I tried to buy this beer by the case I liked it so much but unfortunately was informed by our server that it is only available on tap and they do not have it in cans. As much as that saddens me it now gives me a reason to come back to to this brewery.