Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde is billed as the only National Park dedicated to preserving the works of man. It was also named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978, underscoring its importance to the global community. So while it has the stunning vistas and jaw-dropping beauty we’ve come to expect from parks in this region of the country, much of what the park has to offer revolves around the ruins of the Ancestral Pueblo sites. (The term Anasazi has been used for many years to refer to this group but it has fallen out of favor as there are living descendents of the Pueblos still practicing many of their traditions today.)

We took tours of Cliff Palace (missing our 10 AM time due to the mishap previously outlined) and Balcony House. We also went on a self-guided walk to Spruce Tree House and drove the Mesa Top Loop Road. We feel that gave us a pretty good overview of what the Park had to offer.

In a nutshell, the Park traces the evolution of a people living in the region over the course of approximately 1200 years. They began as semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, settled in the Mesa Verde area around 750 A.D. and starting digging shallow pit houses. Gradually these pit houses became deeper, and a new type of above ground construction developed, and over time these were grouped into gradually expanding villages. Around 1100 some of the people living in the area began constructing their homes and villages under alcoves in the area, resulting in the cliff dwellings. Between 1200 and 1300 A.D., they left for reasons which are not entirely known but likely involve a drought accompanied by a shortage of wood and other important resources.