We've been talking about visiting Mesa Verde National Park FOREVER. Tucked away in the very southwest corner of Colorado, it isn't the easiest place to get to. We planned our home base to be Durango, a cool little town in close proximity to many great things to see.
It was just a short 30 minute ride from Durango to the entrance of Mesa Verde National Park however, from the park entrance up to the top of Mesa Verde, where the Pueblo cliff dwellings reside, is a 21 mile drive. The canyon views from the overlooks along the way to the top of Mesa Verde were absolutely beautiful! But...there were some areas not so beautiful, where all the vegetation was dead, starting to regrow. These were fire areas started by lightning, with signs identifying the name of the fire and year it burned.
First stop - Spruce Tree House. This cliff dwelling was closed due to recent rock falls so we had to look at it from viewpoints across the canyon. Hard to believe there are about 130 rooms in the dwelling and 60 - 80 people lived there.
Cliff Palace, the largest of the cliff dwellings, was the highlight of our visit. One of the things we planned to do was to take a ranger led tour down into Cliff Palace however, when we arrived at the Visitor's Center, we missed being able to purchase tickets by 5 minutes. Total bummer. Tickets are very hard to come by, limited quantity, and only available same day.
Wish we had more time here, there was so much more to see, but all the cliff dwellings are so spaced out. Very, very, cool place!
