The Park is located on the Mesa Verde plateau at elevations from 7,000 feet to 8,500 feet. Nine miles by road from Cortez , we enter the Park. As we ascend to the plateau there are views to the North of the verdant Mancos Valley and snow-capped San Juan Mountains in the distance.In the late 1800’s, “pot collectors” from all over America and Europe learned of the rich archeological sites to be found in this area and began coming in increasing numbers to pillage the sites. Mesa Verde National Park was established in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt to protect some 5,000 archeological sites, which include 600 cliff dwellings.
The earliest known permanent inhabitants of Mesa Verde were the Modified Basket Makers, descendants of a people who lived in the Four Corners region. They built subterranean “pit houses” from 500–750 CE, evolving from a simple circle to deep, roof covered, complex dwellings. During the next 350 years, the Anasazi perfected their living quarters, began building “kivas” (community ceremonial rooms), and learned the art of masonry and plastering to build houses with many rooms (pueblos). From 1100 to 1300, arts and crafts reached their peak; pottery and cloth were ornately decorated [See Jean’s blog on the Anasazi Heritage Museum].
Around 1200 CE, the people for some unknown reason moved into alcoves in the cliff faces, and over the next hundred years built more and more elaborate cliff dwellings. About 1276 a drought struck which lasted 24 years resulting in crop failures and depletion of resources. Whatever the ultimate causes were, in the 1300’s the Anasazi people disappeared, probably absorbed into tribes such as the ancestors of the Hopi.
The Visitors Center is located about 12 miles from the campground at 8,000 feet. The Park Headquarters and Chapin Mesa Museum are 20 miles from our camp site. There at the end of the main road, from the Chief Ranger’s terrace, we got our first look at a cliff dwelling: the Spruce House. It is Mesa Verde’s best preserved cliff dwelling and has 114 rooms and 8 kivas. There is an easy quarter mile walk down to the ruins on a paved path.
There are two rim drives open, Mesa Top Loop Drive and Cliff Palace Loop Drive. We spent our time on the Mesa Top Loop, since we didn’t plan on descending 100 feet on uneven stone steps and 50 feet of iron ladders to the Cliff Palace ruins from the Cliff Palace Loop. The other major cliff house on the Palace Loop, Balcony House, requires climbing a 32 ft. ladder, crawling through a 12 ft. tunnel (on hands and knees), and ascending a 60 ft. open rock face.
Cliff and Fewkes Canyons
The next two pictures show pictures from the Cliff and Fewkes Canyons area where there are literally dozens of cliff dwellings along the rock faces. At Sunset Point View from where the canyon shot was taken, you are supposed to be able to see 12 major sites. This cliff dwelling is named Sunset House (Do you find it in the canyon photo?).
The intriguing Fire Temple and New Fire House which were being built in 1250 are not dwellings at all. Rather, they are hugh and elaborate ceremonial buildings, with a carefully planned layout and attention paid to the details. The stones in the finely masoned four foot thick walls were carefully pecked and decorated on their surfaces. A broad band of white plaster across the back wall was ceremoniously painted with figures, animals, plants, etc. A water supply was arranged from a nearby spring. The “Temple” was probably a “stage area” and gathering place for people from all over the mesa; surely its construction involved the whole community’s effort.
Neither household goods nor roof beams were found, indicating the structure of some 30 rooms was probably never finished!
There are two rim drives open, Mesa Top Loop Drive and Cliff Palace Loop Drive. We spent our time on the Mesa Top Loop, since we didn’t plan on descending 100 feet on uneven stone steps and 50 feet of iron ladders to the Cliff Palace ruins from the Cliff Palace Loop. The other major cliff house on the Palace Loop, Balcony House, requires climbing a 32 ft. ladder, crawling through a 12 ft. tunnel (on hands and knees), and ascending a 60 ft. open rock face.
Cliff and Fewkes Canyons
The next two pictures show pictures from the Cliff and Fewkes Canyons area where there are literally dozens of cliff dwellings along the rock faces. At Sunset Point View from where the canyon shot was taken, you are supposed to be able to see 12 major sites. This cliff dwelling is named Sunset House (Do you find it in the canyon photo?).The intriguing Fire Temple and New Fire House which were being built in 1250 are not dwellings at all. Rather, they are hugh and elaborate ceremonial buildings, with a carefully planned layout and attention paid to the details. The stones in the finely masoned four foot thick walls were carefully pecked and decorated on their surfaces. A broad band of white plaster across the back wall was ceremoniously painted with figures, animals, plants, etc. A water supply was arranged from a nearby spring. The “Temple” was probably a “stage area” and gathering place for people from all over the mesa; surely its construction involved the whole community’s effort.
Neither household goods nor roof beams were found, indicating the structure of some 30 rooms was probably never finished!
The next three pictures, taken from farther along Mesa Top Drive, show the most famous cliff dwelling, the Cliff Palace, named by the Weatherill brothers who discovered it in 1888 while tracking livestock. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in the park with 217 rooms and 23 kivas. The little white circle in the upper left of the second picture shows where you meet the ranger to descend by ladders and stone steps to the ruins. 
Thinking about the tour involving the arduous descent (and of course ascent on returning,) described above, we better appreciate the tasks women had carrying water and food from the mesa top down to their living quarters.
Men had to establish a supply line for firewood, timber (often from far), and rock for construction. The cliff dwellings that were reached from below had the increased difficulty of carrying loads up rickety ladders or on narrow ledges.
We made four attempts over two days to capture the best image of the beautiful Square Tower House with its 80 rooms.
The Summer Solstice is so near that the overhang of the alcove shades the tower even toward sunset time. With the help of a setting sun, slightly hazy sky, and Photoshop’s Shadow and Highlight filter, I was able to produces the pictures you see.
Mesa Verde N.P. is not without its flowers as you will see in Jean’s next blog.
