Next leg of the trip. We're considering heading from Mexican Hat, Utah, to Durango, Colorado, tomorrow. We have a couple of options -- Cortez, Mesa Verde. I know that Cortez has cultural centers/sites. Are any of those worth investigating? And is Mesa Verde worth visiting if one can't take the tours (guided or otherwise) for physical reasons? Is there anything/enough to see otherwise? It's not clear from the park's website.
You folks have been so helpful; I hope someone can give me some ideas here. Thanks!
Cortez, Mesa Verde
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There are 2 nice cultural stops - one in Cortez and one in Dolores [north on SR 145 to 184 west]. The one in Cortez will take under an hour and the one in Dolores could take 2 hours if you read everything and watch any of the films.
You can drive around a loop road in Mesa Verde and see quite a few sites with a simple walk out of your car. You can also do Sprue Tree House, and not descend into the canyon, and still see the ruins.
These are pictures taken in winter from stops along the way of the loop road: https://picasaweb.google.com/DebitNM/MesaVerdeInWinter
I would not pass Mesa Verde up because of physical reasons. The drive will yield some great views and sites.
There is one very short walk you can see a house/ruin up close and peronsal. I think it is Spruce Tree House, but I am a bit unsure of how much of a walk or hor much effort was invloved. I think very little. Mesa Verde is SPECTACULAR.
Spruce Tree House, may even be wheel chair accesible for the most part. It seemed pretty much paved and easy short walk from the parking lot, the best I remember anyway. Have a meal at Far View Lodge if you go to Mesa Verde.
LOL, Spruce Tree House, not Sprue!!
And the overlook there is handicap accessible.
The trip down to Spruce Tree House is steep in parts but gradual in others and doesn't involve a tour. I saw several people make the trip that I'm pretty sure couldn't have kept up with a tour but seemed to be managing fine taking their time; I'm not up for super strenuous things anymore and I had no trouble at all. And you can see plenty of Spruce Tree House just from the top. You can also see a lot of the iconic Cliff Palace from a viewpoint across the canyon, as well as numerous smaller houses and communities from other lookouts just off the road. Also there are plenty of surface dwellings you can see with very little walking on level ground. We were there in early Sept. when Wetherill Mesa was closed but I think I remember that there is one somewhat more accessible site there. I imagine there are plenty of others on Wetherill you can see from lookouts.
We have been to Canyon de Chelly, Wupatki, Walnut Canyon, Tuzigoot, Montezuma Castle and Well, the Square Tower Group at Hovenweep, and several smaller buildings visible in places like Natural Bridges NM. DH and I think there is as much (or more) visible at Mesa Verde as all the others put together. Go, go, GO!
I second spirobulldog, have dinner at Far View Lodge. (Try to avoid eating at the cafeteria nearby or the one at Chapin Mesa. Take peanut butter and jelly.)
Look on your map for Hovenweep National Monument in Utah. Fascinating Indian dwellings. It is very level and not particularly developed. Check it out on Wikipedia. The road from there to Cortez is all paved but definitely Old West. Make sure you have plenty of gas, snacks, and water.
Personally, I think it is a long ride to Hovenweep for not a lot to see, especially if you have limited physical abilities.
I like it because if you don't live in the empty parts of the West, you can't believe how big it is until you go somewhere off the beaten path. I remember it being a lot easier to get around than Mesa Verde, but my memory could be faulty.
We went to Hovenweep (the more accessible Square Tower group) directly from Mesa Verde. If you want to walk around the entire complex you either have to descent into the canyon, which is steep but has some steps cut into the rock part of the way, and back up the other side. Or you have to walk all the way around the top on relatively level ground and then go back the same way. I suspect doing that would be about two miles. You can take the path from behind the visitor's center - wheelchair accessible, I believe - and as I recall, go at least part of the way around on a paved trail. All of the Hovenweep Tower Group is surface dwellings, there are no cliff dwellings. We spent about an hour and a half (did the loop including the part through the canyon).
Mesa Verde has a lot more ruins, both surface and cliff dwellings. Obviously cliff dwellings are on cliffs and not so easy to get to. But as the canyon is fairly narrow in places and the NPS has strategically located pullouts, many of the cliff dwellings are relatively easy to see from near the road. (Binoculars are handy if you want a really close look.) Some of the viewpoints require a few stairs to get to the viewing platforms there but not many steps at any of them, as I recall. Since you can drive from one to the next, there isn't too much effort involved. Far View Ruins and some of the smaller surface dwellings are on flat ground and most require minimal walking. We spent two days here (and did not take any of the ranger tours though we did walk down to Spruce Tree House) but could have seen most of what we saw in a day if we had pushed it. If you add Wetherill Mesa, which wasn't open when we were there, you'd probably have to skip some ruins or really move fast. Considerably more to see at Mesa Verde and a greater variety of dwellings.