October 1     67 miles     MESA VERDE, A&A RV Park, COLORODA     ($27.00)

The Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park: Ancestral Puebloan Sites

From the KOA campground 3 miles east of Cortez on US.160, we drove 8 miles further east to the Mesa Verde National Park entrance, at 6,273 ft. Our 12-month National Parks Pass ($50) saved the $10 per vehicle entrance fee. Mesa Verde (= Green Table) is the USA's premier archaeological site and its first World Heritage Site. The National Park celebrates its centenary next year. See www.nps.gov/meve.  

The road began to climb immediately, reaching 7,760 ft after 4 miles, by the turn for the Morefield Village and Campground (no trailers beyond this point). The 15 RV places with hookups were already taken, though there were plenty of unpowered sites.

Another 6 miles of climbing (including a short tunnel), with snow at the roadsides above 8,000 ft, culminated at Park Point. There is a car park at 8,535 ft and a 5-minute walk up to a Firewatch Tower leads to the highest accessible point at 8,570 ft, with views across 4 States. We saw 3 mule deer in the woods, which were very sparse after 2 serious forest fires in 1996 and 2000. Caused by lightning strikes in drought conditions, they destroyed thousands of acres of pines. Other wildlife included grey squirrels and a turkey vulture which landed noisily in a tree.

5 miles further to the Far View Visitor Centre (with seasonal accommodation) at 8,069 ft, where we parked for lunch in the sunshine. Then a 6 mile descent to the Chapin Mesa Museum at 7,000 ft. The excellent free museum detailed the history of the Ancestral Puebloans (also known as Anasazi), a stone age culture with baskets, weaving and pottery but no metals.  Their many villages dating from 600 AD to 1300 AD developed from primitive pit houses to stone-built cliff dwellings. They lived on the mesa-top where they farmed and hunted, then in the last 100 years of their history they built the famous multi-storied cliff houses, preserved and protected by overhanging ledges on the canyon walls.

Below the museum, the Spruce Tree House is the third largest cliff dwelling among  several hundred in the park: an astonishing sight, like a clay model village of square stone towers blending into the cliff face. From the terrace opposite, an artist sat at her easel mixing oil colours – we took the easier way, digital cameras clicking, then walked down for a closer look. It was too hot for the 3-mile walk to see petroglyphs and we continued driving, first round the Cliff Palace Loop, then the Mesa Top Loop. Each loop is about 6 miles, round two mesas divided by Cliff Canyon.

On the Cliff Palace Loop, both Cliff Palace and Balcony House (cliff dwellings) can be toured with a guide for $2.75 per person per tour (tickets from Far View Visitor Centre), but we got excellent views of both from above. Balcony House viewpoint did require a 1.5 miles return walk through woodland above Soda Canyon, where we startled a snake on the path – though not as much as it startled us!

The Mesa Top Loop, on the west side of the canyon, has many more sites to view, ranging from the earliest pithouse (about 575 AD) to the splendid Square Tower House (AD 12-1300), the tallest of the cliff dwellings.

Visitors have to return by the same route to the National Park exit. A road by the Far View Visitor Centre turns west to Wetherill Mesa and its sites (including Step House cliff dwellings), but this route is only open in summer.

The whole experience was fascinating, yet very puzzling. Where and why did these people go, so suddenly, after living in their many stone-built homes for less than a hundred years? And still Stone Age in the 13th century AD? So skilled, yet so primitive compared with European culture.

Back down on highway 160, there are 2 RV/campgrounds near the National Park entrance at 7,000 ft. We went for the first one, pleasantly wooded with a log cabin recreation room (and got a discount for being over 55).

For more on Mesa Verde, see www.mesaverdecountry.com, www.visitmesaverde.com or www.mesaverde.org.

Warning: Cyclists should ignore the description given in the leaflet 'Mountain and Road Bike Routes – Cortez, Dolores and Mancos'. There is no way that we would describe the 48-mile roundtrip from Cortez to the Chapin Mesa and beyond as '4-6 hours, intermediate'! The National Park road is narrow and busy, with no shoulder, and the climb to 8,572 ft has to be done twice! Not recommended – if you want to see the ruins, take a drive.