One of the highlights of our Labor Day motorcycle trip was spending a day in Mesa Verde National Park. Brian booked us a room at the Far View Lodge, which is about half-way into the park, so we technically had a late afternoon/evening as well as most of the following day for our visit.

That was definitely the minimum amount of time we needed – our first evening we were able to squeeze in a quick stop at the visitor center near the park entrance, a ride to the Park Point Overlook (which is the highest point in the park), and an aperitif and dinner at the lodge restaurant before hitting the hay at a decent hour.

The following day we enjoyed two different tours at Cliff Palace and Balcony House, rode the Mesa Top Loop and Cliff Top Loop to check out their respective overlooks, and briefly toured one of the pit houses.

There was a whole additional drive we didn’t get to visit with lots of stops and tours, and there were several hikes we would have loved to tackle. I think if we’d had two full days we would have gotten closer to completing everything we would have enjoyed doing. As things stood, we accomplished quite a bit and certainly enough to get the feel for this national park.

Since our tours weren’t until the following morning, we didn’t need to rush our ride into the Far View section of the park. The wind had picked up, and I was not loving all of the tight, uphill curves winding into the park. I also freaked out when we entered a decent length tunnel where I couldn’t see anything! I was weaving all over and Brian was trying to direct me to stay straight until we got closer to the exit. I know he thought I was losing my mind, but as it turned out my motorcycle headlight had burnt out – I was in the lead with absolutely no light. (Happily he was able to fix it at the lodge later that night so I didn’t have to deal with that again!)

Suffice it to say I was very happy when we saw the pull off for Park Point Overlook – I needed a quick breather before finishing our ride to the lodge. There weren’t too many people there – we parked, walked the short trail to the overlooks at 8,572 feet, enjoyed the views, and found a tiny lizard-type creature along the path. He did a nice job modeling for Brian!

The sun was sinking as we got to the lodge so we checked in, got cleaned up, and walked back to the main area for some drinks and dinner. The servers were a little overwhelmed – there weren’t that many of them and certainly not enough for a reasonable ratio to the number of customers – but our guy was very nice and our meal was delicious.

The next morning we really got to experience the highlights of the park and learn about the people who created and lived in the cliff dwellings during the two guided tours Brian had booked us in the morning.

For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Today, the park protects the rich cultural heritage of 26 Pueblos and Tribes and offers visitors a spectacular window into the past. This World Heritage Site and International Dark Sky Park is home to over a thousand species, including several that live nowhere else on earth.

https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm

A quick note about the cliff tours: they require a timed reservation in advance, and you need to arrive early for a briefing. The tickets clearly state that your briefing and arrival are at the tour sites – NOT at the visitor center. Alas, we saw several people show up at the visitor center asking where to begin their tour, only to be told there was no way for them to make it in time for their reservation. The cliff sites are well inside the park and about a 45-minute drive from the visitor center. If you add in time to hit the restroom and refill your water bottles, I’d say you should be entering the park no later than an hour prior to your tour. Plan accordingly!

Cliff Palace Tour

Our first guided tour was of Cliff Palace, which was built between 1190 and 1280 and served as a home to more than 100 Ancestral Pueblo people. Cliff Palace was visible from across the canyon via the loop drive, and from the landing above it where we gathered to meet the ranger who served as our guide.

I wish I could remember her name – she was wonderful and commanded the attention of our large group throughout our hour-long tour.

We had to climb down several sets of stairs and then navigate a sandy trail toward the Cliff Palace. Our guide had us stop in a few places so we could talk about the Ancestral Pueblo people, why they moved from the top of the mesas down into the cliffs, and the types of trade activities they believe occurred at this location.

Having visited Montezuma Castle National Monument a couple years ago and looking up into those cliff dwelling communities, I had an idea of what this experience might entail. However, the actual experience exceeded my expectations. We were able to actually walk along the dwellings and really understand how different rooms were structured, what materials were used, and why they believe the people living here eventually moved to other areas.

After the Cliff Palace tour, we had some water and a snack, hit the nearby restrooms and then set off to drive the nearby loop in the brief time we had before our next tour.

If I were to do it again, I would do the drive first – it was interesting seeing some of the other cliff swellings from across the viewpoints, but it simply couldn’t compare to the up-close experience we’d just had.

The upside to our order of events was our stop at the pit house – there were some plaques around the room explaining how the Ancestral Pueblo people originally created these houses on the mesa prior to moving down into the cliffs, but I understood what we were seeing a bit better for having our guide explain all of that history as part of the tour.

Balcony House Tour

As much as I enjoyed the Cliff Palace tour, I think the Balcony House tour was my favorite. We were much more intimately connected to the dwellings – entering and moving around the rooms – as well as the Ancestral Pueblo people – climbing up the ladders and through the tunnels to enter the dwellings.

This tour was definitely more adventurous that the Cliff Palace. Cliff Palace did have one small ladder and some stepper rocks to climb back up from the dwellings, but the Balcony House had several ladders, one rope stanchioned part of the trail to navigate, and an actual tunnel we had to crawl through!

Our guide for this tour made a big deal about people bringing water along given it was mid-day and quite warm. We grabbed a water bag at the last minute but I wished we had our backpack to make carrying it up the ladders easier. Happily, Brian engineered a solution using his camera strap so we could both keep all our hands and feet focused on the various tour elements we had to navigate!

Whereas we walked along the dwellings at Cliff Palance, we actually walked into the dwellings at Balcony House. Our guide talked a great deal about the people who lived here, and while some of the major elements we similar to what we heard on the first tour, he covered other information that our prior guide did not.

If you have time to do both (or one of the other sites currently closed for study and reinforcement but likely re-opened to the public soon), I would recommend it. Each one is different and each ranger is different so you’re likely to learn something new each time.

I do recommend reviewing the activity level information to make sure you’re comfortable making your way down to and then back up from each tour. I appreciated our first guide pointing out that she is able to do it multiple times a day with a heavy pack, demonstrating that age has nothing to do with ability!

I saw all sorts of people in all sorts of different footwear make their way through successfully at their own pace – so if you think you can do it, you probably can. And if you really aren’t sure, stop at the visitor center – they have a sample ladder as well as a sized tunnel you can practice on first!

Mesa Verde National Park was equal parts history and culture as well as iconic geography and gorgeous scenery. I wasn’t familiar with this park before we moved to Wyoming, and I’m so glad we were able to prioritize visiting during our recent motorcycle trip.

There was lots more to do and I look forward to heading back some day to tour some of the dwellings that were closed during our visit and hiking on one of the many trails throughout the park.