There are plenty of places to see and things to do at Mesa Verde National Park, so we recommend spending a full day there when you visit. The park’s main attractions are the amazing and well-preserved archaeological sites left behind by the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived there between the 7th and late 13th centuries.
There are over 5,000 sites in the park, including about 600 cliff dwellings built in natural alcoves in the limestone cliffs, and you’ll want to see all the prominent ones on your trip. It’ll take several hours just to drive between all the best historical sites, so unless you want to rush from place to place, you should just relax and leave a whole day to explore. The park rangers offer inexpensive guided tours of the most impressive sites, including the largest cliff dwelling in North America, and we recommend taking at least a few of those. There’s also a museum in the park that houses a collection of artifacts that we recommend seeing.
If you’re not interested in the historic ruins or you want to spend more time at the park, there are also a ton of hiking trails in the desert backcountry. Keep in mind, however, that most of the wilderness in Mesa Verde is off-limits to the public, so make sure you stick to the trails designated by park signs.
We especially recommend checking out the Petroglyph Point Trail, a 2.4-mile loop that offers spectacular views of Spruce and Navajo Canyons and leads to a 35-foot wide panel of petroglyphs left behind by the Ancestral Puebloans. The trail itself actually follows a centuries-old footpath that once connected the Spruce House community to the rest of the Ancestral Pueblo civilization.
To make the most of your trip, check out our Mesa Verde National Park Self-Guided Driving Tour, or you can sign up for Action+ and gain access to over 100 tours for a single yearly price.
