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Mesa Verde National Park

Jen Toews
Mar 28, 2018
2 min read

Mesa Verde National Park features some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in all of North America. These cliff dwellings were once occupied by the Ancestral Pueblo people, who had been living a nomadic hunter-gatherer existence before settling in the area around 550 AD. At first these peoples primarily lived in pithouses on the mesa tops; however, around 1190 AD, they relocated to dwellings constructed in alcoves under overhanging cliffs. For the next 100 years, the Ancestral Puebloans continued to farm crops such as corn, beans, and squash on the mesa tops, while building and maintaining their dwellings below. By 1300 AD all of the Ancestral Puebloans had left their homes at Mesa Verde and had relocated to present-day New Mexico and Arizona (www.nps.gov).

Over 500 years later, local cowboys reported seeing cliff dwellings in the area and several unsuccessful attempts were made to federally protect the archaeological sites. Finally, in 2006, Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park to "preserve the works of man." Since then, over 4,700 archaeological sites have been discovered in the Park and many more are yet to be discovered. According to our tour guide, there are also many more cliff dwellings on the private land surrounding the Park.

Here are a few photos of Cliff Palace, which is the largest dwelling in the Park. Joining a guided tour is the only way to see this site, so be sure to book ahead! We went the week after school was back in session and there was lots of availability, thankfully. Notice the corn cobs in the last photo -- they are over 700 years old!

Spruce Palace is one of the largest cliff dwellings in the Park and includes 129 rooms and 8 kivas (ceremonial chambers). Archaeologists speculate that 60-90 people lived here at one time.

Another palace

After palace-hopping all day, we set up camp at the large Morefield Campground. After a dinner of canned corn and beans, we went for an evening stroll along the Knife's Edge Trail, which follows part of the old Knife Edge Road. Built in 1914, this road was the main access into the Park. I shuddered when I imagined early automobiles winding up the narrow road and I was grateful to be hiking. Today, this double-track trail offers vast views of the Montezuma Valley.

Rabbitbrush in the foreground illuminated by the golden hour.

Sunset over the Montezuma Valley.

Rabbitbrush and paintbrush

Eery shot of the moon behind a snag. I started to think about mountains around this time.

Fires are not uncommon in Mesa Verde N.P. In fact, since the Park opened in 1906, 70% of the land has burned (95% of the fires were caused by lightning strikes and the other 5% were human-caused) (NPS). In the especially hot and dry year of 2000, several fires raged, burning 21,061 acres in the Park and another 7,786 acres nearby (Cyberwest). Below is one of the fire-scapes: skeletons of Utah juniper and pinyon pine rise above grasses, rabbitbrush, and Yucca.