The park was created in 1906 and is one of the first National Parks ever established and next year is the 120th year anniversary for the park. Not sure what they are planning but I am sure it will be fun. The early days of the park people would take items out of the park for their homes/museums etc. Now there is a law preventing this from happening. One of the largest collections of artifacts from the Mesa Verde area is in Finland! There was an archeologist from Sweden who after his dig took his finds back to Europe but the artifacts went to Finland and not his native Sweden. There is even a replica of cliff dwellings in the Colorado Springs area but the Indians did not go to Colorado Springs just someone dismantled some cave dwellings in the early 1900’s and moved them to Colorado Springs and then reassembled them. Today you can still go see this if you are in the area, but I did not. Cliff dwellings were also a big part of the old World’s Fair that was in Chicago as a replica was made for the fair but they used wood, steel and other items to make it look like stones. San Diego even went as far to have a two year exhibit of the cliff dwellings to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal. San Diego had a few Indians come out and live for the two years to make the exhibit more real.
The Indians who lived here and build the homes were mostly farmers. They did eat rabbit and squirrels but the main portion of their diet was corn, squash and beans. Due to the dry area which the Indians lived they created dams to catch water when it did rain but also allowed the rain to go deep into the soil allowing the plants to survive. The farming method is called dry farming where only Mother Nature did the watering of the plants so no irrigation. The dams allowed Mother Nature to put the water deep in the soil. Farmers would plant their crops 12-14 inches into the soil allowing the seeds to get some water to germinate and grow. The size of the corn cobs was fairly small about the size of a roll of quarters. At the high Mesa Verde had about 20,000 Indians living within the park boundaries. These Indians lived here for about 200 years and then the area was depopulated.
Homes were build with similar style being brick and adobe but in some cases the walls were wood with adobe. There is even a wall that had pumpkin seeds placed into the adobe as art. It is believed that the Indians migrated here from the south (Mexico). The area of the park at one time had bison, elk, and sheep but these animals were hunted out of the area or moved on due to the hunting so none exist here any longer.
The park has a US Post Office located near the Spruce Tree House. The building was the first comfort station for women in the park. There is 1 person, a guy, who runs the post office year round. He said the job is easy but very boring, there is a drop box outside the post office so most people put the mail in the drop box. The Post Office is open year round and I was told in the summer about 160 people have boxes/get mail in the park. The winter is only about 8 people who have boxes/get mail. Guess you can see why the job would be boring in the summer but definitely in the winter months for sure.
Morefield Campground – The campground has lots of sites in the six loops. It also has two dump stations and access to three hiking trails. Within the six loops there are plenty of bathrooms. I chose a “dry” RV spot and it was nice and flat. A down side of the campground is that not all of the spots have been mowed so the grass is fairly high in the parking areas of the sites. One thing that I love about this campground is that there are twenty twenty-four hour showers which are hot and free. I did take a few showers when I was at the park. The showers are near the general store so they are a drive. Also at the general store is the campground registration and the registration goes quickly as I never had to wait for more than 1 person to finish anytime I went into the store. There is also twenty-four hour coin operated laundry on site if you have to get some clothes cleaned, I was out for only 5 days when I was here so no laundry for me. Lastly, if you need fuel, there is a fuel station at the campground checking point but I have to say that fuel is expensive. Diesel was $5.81 when in Gunnison it was $3.30 so a large uncharge. Note that if you are headed into the park it is about twenty miles to the cliff dwellings or forty round trip so be sure to have fuel. Lastly, the restrooms at the campground have wi-fi if you need to access the internet. Just know that it is not your home internet so don’t think you are going to have all the streaming you want. If you need wi-fi that badly go ahead and get Starlink. When checking out a woman complained she was not getting enough signal to stream her videos and wanted her money back for the campsite. I have to say that you are in the middle of nowhere and it is peaceful so please enjoy Mother Nature and you can hold off on your Netflix for a few days, it will be there when you get home.
Knife Edge Trail – the trail head is just to the west of the campground. There is a large parking area at the trail head along with a bathroom. The trail is only two miles long roundtrip and has an elevation gain of less than 90 feet. The path is dirt and is well worn so no issues with getting lost on the trail. You will see that there are numbered markers along the way but I idd not see anything at the trailhead or in any literature saying what there were to indicate. My time on the trail was shortened but what appeared to be a rock slide that went over the trail. There was a big sign saying the trail was closed, about 3/4 of the way to the end. I turned around and went back. I have to say that the trail had nobody on it besides me and was super quiet. It was like I was the only person in the world as no sounds were about except for a single plane that went overhead when I was hiking. The views to the West were nice and I am sure it would be a good spot to see the sun set.
Point Lookout Trail – The trailhead is in the same parking area as the amphitheater so plenty of parking. It is on the opposite side of parking area as the amphitheater however. A 2.2 mile round trip loop trail that will take you to a wonderful viewing area. The trail is 400 feet of elevation gain and that is in the first half of a mile of your journey. Once the 400 feet has been obtained you will have a nice walk at the top of the hill. The path is dirt with many switchbacks during the elevation gain but after that is is flat. At the top, plenty of places to view the distance mountains. A very peaceful time can be had at the top of hike. I saw ten people total on the hiked seven of those people were heading back to the trailhead at the top of the hike.sitting and enjoying the fruit of your labor is well worth the hike to the top.
Square house – short hike on pavement maybe .25 miles on pavement. You view the complex from across the mountain and down onto it.
Pithouses and Pueblos – there are two paved pathways into viewing these and it is a loop. There are 3 homes to see that are covered from the elements.
Mesa Top Sites – a paved path way to the site, two under cover from the elements. One home looked to be multi family and the other one appears to be a single family. There are areas on top of the soil hence the names.
Sun Point Pueblo – a paved path to site and it is just off the parking area. The site has two pits and one is lower than the other.
One stop had the following:
Fire Temple, New Fire House, Oak Tree House, Sun Temple, Mummy House, Cliff Palace, Twenty-room cliff dwelling, Fifteen-room cliff dwelling and Sunset House. These all are viewed from the same stop and the viewing is across the canyon. The Oak Tree House is hard to see but the rest are viewable with the naked eye. There are some binoculars to get a better view but that is not necessary.
Sun Temple – nice walk path but can’t really see into the temple as it has high walls and no way to enter
Cliff Palace View – you can look across the hills and see Cliff Palace. You can also drive to where the Cliff Palace tours begin and see a better view of the Palace. If so inclined you can even take a tour of the Palace. Get your reservation in at reservation.gov
House of Many Windows – across the gully near the top you can see the square windows of a home built into the side of the mountain. The name will give you an idea of what to look for when you to the viewing area as there are many open blocks or windows.
Henenway house – across the canyon and tucked under the top of the cliff. Not easy to see.
Spruce Tree House – one of the largest cave dwellings in Mesa Verde. It can be seen by the Post Office and Park Museum. There is a Ranger talk on the Spruce Tree house 10am, 2pm and 3pm when I went to the park. The house goes 90 feet under the cliff and has as many as three stories high. There are two types of doors in the house one is rectangular and the other is “T” shaped. There are many theories about why the “T” shape but some say it was to signify a public place and the rectangular ones were private spaces.
