“Mesa Verde National Park is also an International Heritage site which includes over 4,500 archeological sites; only 600 are cliff dwellings.” Only 600—only 600!
Where do you begin?
Before we left home I downloaded the park brochure and other information. We looked at it prior to our visit. Two of the largest and most famous cliff dwellings—Cliff Palace and Balcony House could only be toured with a ranger and we determined that it would be too strenuous to visit those due to the many steps and ladders.
We spoke to the ranger at the Visitor Center. The Visitor Center is the only place you can get tickets for the ranger-guided tours and they help you decide what to do. The ranger confirmed what we thought and suggested visiting Spruce Tree House and the Mesa top sites and overlooks as well as the Chapin Mesa Museum. That is what we did.
After visiting the Chapin Mesa Museum where the artifacts ranged from pottery to textiles, we took the path to Spruce Tree House that begins just outside the museum. The asphalt path zigzagged down to the level of Spruce Tree House.
Tom at Spruce Tree House
Spruce Tree House, the best preserved cliff dwelling, is a self-guided tour. Rangers are posted at the site to answer questions and to keep people from climbing on the walls. Spruce Tree House is 89 ft. deep and 216 ft. across. It contains 114 rooms and is the third largest cliff dwelling in the park. It is believed that 100 people lived in Spruce Tree House. We purchased a booklet describing the features of the structure. I was able to climb down into a kiva, a religious structure. Ceremonies to ensure successful hunts, crops and good weather took place in kivas such as this one.
We then visited several of the mesa top sites and viewed many of smaller cliff dwellings from the overlooks. A highlight was the view of Cliff Palace. This is the cliff dwelling that is most associated with Mesa Verde.
Cliff Palace
There were electronic signs on one section of US Hwy. 160 that were triggered by wildlife activity in the area of the sign. There must have been a motion sensor of some kind.
We passed several of these signs and then the last one said, “end wildlife detection area”.. About ½ mile after the final electronic sign two deer decided to cross the road. The first one crossed while we were still pretty far away but the second hesitated and finally crossed about 20 ft. in front of us. I guess those two weren’t told of the animal detection area.
http://www.dot.state.co.us/communications/insider/PDFs/160wild.pdf
I wrote about Arches’ dramatic entry road. Arches can’t hold a candle to Mesa Verde.
In 2003, we went to Mesa Verde. Well shall I say we got to the Visitor Center 15 miles into the park. I was in hysterics—shaking and sobbing. Why? They are what I call vertical miles. The ascent from the park entrance was 1040 ft. to the Visitor Center. We drove up in our old motorhome, the squirrelliest thing on 4 wheels. All I could see out my window was sheer drop-offs. Tom did an excellent job driving that was not the issue. It was the way the motorhome handled and the road.
I was determined this time to tour Mesa Verde. We took the car and I drove up, and down, as well as the tour of the mesa. I had to drive to help me overcome my fear. Again this had nothing to do with Tom’s driving, just my extreme fear that has been built up in my mind since 2003.
Tuesday morning we began the long haul home. This leg was 257 miles. That took us over two mountain passes on US Hwy 160, which for the most part is a two-lane road. They do have passing lanes when there is a grade for slower moving vehicles. Wolf Creek pass was the first and by far the worse one at 10,850 ft. The climb was very slow. First we shut the overdrive off, then down to second and finally first gear straining up at 15 mph. If that wasn’t enough there was road construction near the summit.
Of course what goes up must go down. The descent is mostly 6%, which is a relatively easy grade but there was 12 miles of it. Many of the curves were posted as 25 or 30 mph. I think to go at those speeds would have taken nerves of steel. One of the 30 mph curves was through one of the two tunnels.
The next was La Veta pass at 9413 ft. This would have not been bad either way had it not been for one section without a shoulder or guardrail and the wind. Fortunately the time the wind really caught us, there was a shoulder. The speed limit was generally set at 65 mph with some curves down to 50 mph. We went considerably slower.
