Mesa Verde National Park can be divided into three main sections.  The first section has the entrance, campground and lodge.  Another section is Wetherill Mesa and a third section is Chapin Mesa.  

The laundry has coin operated machines as well as a few that take credit cards and there is a change machine on site.  Most people will likely fill up on gas before entering the park, but if you’re staying more than one night and driving back and forth from the campground area, those steep switchbacks can eat up your fuel and you may need to refill.  The gas station has two self-serve, old style pumps.  The kind where in addition to squeezing the nozzle you must first flip the holder, the nozzle rests in, upward.  Also of note, the gas station only had two fuel options, diesel and unleaded 85 octane.  I don’t know much about octane levels, I do know the park is at 7,000 to 8,000 feet in elevation which is probably why the park sells 85 octane, but I also know any modern engine can adjust for elevation on its own and there are some people that might not want 85 octane fuel in their vehicle regardless of elevation.  The gas station is also where the dog kennel is located, although you sign your dog in and register across the parking lot in the gift shop.  If planning to use the kennel, call ahead to make a reservation. There is a registration form to fill out and you’ll need to provide proof of vaccinations.

Another 20 to 30 minutes past the campground is the Far View Lodge, the Metate Restaurant, and the Terrace Cafe.  If planning to eat at the Metate restaurant you will need reservations. We ate there every night and for the most part the food was quite good although it was very busy.  The restaurant was also taking to-go orders while we were there, if you’re unable to get a reservation. 

Just beyond the lodge the road forks with one road heading to Wetherill Mesa and the other taking you to Chapin Mesa.  For the rest of this post we’ll be exploring Chapin Mesa.

Chapin Mesa

Far View Sites:

The first stop on Chapin Mesa is called, Far View Sites.  At the Far View sites you can view excavations of Mesa top communities.  From the parking lot there is a short trail that loops around, taking you to “Coyote House”, then a reservoir and “Megalithic House”, then onto an excavated tower and back to the parking area and two large Pueblo dwelling sites called “Far View” and “Pipe Shrine”.  The trail is unpaved, level, and an easy .75 miles.  

Cedar Tree Tower:

After leaving Far View Sites you’ll pass through an area burned by a fire in 2005 that has yet to recover and is a great example of how slow growing the native pinyon-juniper forest can be.

Just before the end of this fire recovery area is Cedar Tree Tower.  Cedar Tree Tower is a nice example of a kiva tower complex (when a kiva is connected to a tower through an underground tunnel.) The view standing next to this tower with the mountains in the distance is also lovely.

Once past Cedar Tree, Chapin Mesa Drive branches into three separate loops, Cliff Palace Loop, Mesa Top Loop and the Museum Loop.  These loops are all single lane one-way roads.

Museum Loop:

The museum loop (not its official name, this loop doesn’t have one) is where you’ll find, surprise 🙂  the park’s small museum. The Museum houses a modest collection of artifacts uncovered during excavations at Mesa Verde, mostly pottery.  In addition to artifacts there are also small models showing the progressional development of the Pueblo dwellings and a movie room which shows a film about the park.  Perhaps the most interesting part of the museum, for me personally, was a display on how the fibrous yucca plant was used to make rugs, ropes, even paintbrushes.  

Across from the museum is the Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe.  Next to the museum is the trailhead for both petroglyph canyon trail and spruce canyon trail.  Also next to the museum is the viewpoint and trail head for Spruce Tree House.  It should be noted that Spruce Tree House is currently closed to tourists due to stability issues and can only be seen from a distance.

On the museum loop drive there is also a very pretty picnic area in what used to be the park’s old campground.  This picnic area has several picturesque spots with picnic tables and shade trees.  If you didn’t bring a picnic you can get food to go at the Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe.

Cliff Palace Loop:

This loop takes you past both Cliff Palace and Balcony House, both of which can only be seen from a distance without tickets for one of the ranger led tours.  The tickets must be purchased in advance and can be bought online at recreation.gov the National Parks official reservation website.  These tickets sell out fast, especially for Balcony House as it has fewer overall time slots offered and the group size for each tour is smaller than for Cliff Palace.  Just to give you an idea, when I booked my ticket to Balcony House all the time slots sold out within one minute of becoming available.  Getting tickets to Cliff Palace is easier, with more overall tours available.  When I got my tickets there were still one or two time slots open a week after becoming available.  Tickets for these Ranger led tours become available 14 days in advance at 8:00 am MDT.  The tours for both are about an hour long.

Balcony House Tour:

Generally considered to be a more adventurous tour than Cliff Palace, a tour of Balcony House will include climbing a large 32 ft ladder and crawling through a narrow passageway or two.  Aside from its allure for the daring, Balcony House is also a lot smaller than Cliff Palace and because of this you get to be closer to everything and really see it and feel more connected to it.

Cliff Palace Tour:

Every bit as fun as Balcony House, a tour of Cliff Palace will (still) have you climbing ladders but there is no crawling through tight spaces. 

Keep in mind while you do get to go down inside of Cliff Palace on the tour you’re not allowed to explore on your own.  Unfortunately there isn’t really much exploring on the tour either, the way the tours are arranged you walk as a group to a midway point and gather around one of the Kivas to listen to the ranger talk and then it’s time to leave, although I did get to look inside this building (in the picture below) which was super cool.  

Mesa Top Loop:

The third loop on Chapin Mesa is Mesa Top Loop.  As with the other two loops it is a single lane one-way drive with pullout parking for the stops along the way.  Some of the stops will be at excavated Pueblo sites, other stops are viewpoints for cliff dwellings.  This is where binoculars come in handy, only a few of the viewpoints had permanent telescopes installed and the quality of these was mediocre.  

~ Sites Along the Mesa Top Loop ~

Pithouse ~

Square Tower House ~

Mesa Top Sites ~

Sun Point Pueblo ~

Sun Point View ~

Fire Temple & New Fire House ~

Sun Temple ~

Cliff Palace View ~