Has anyone taken the Aramark tour at Mesa Verde? We will have a full day and maybe a couple more hours and would like to see as much as possible. Would you recommend doing it ourselves plus ranger tours or going with Aramark for half day?
Thanks.

Unless you have some reason for choosing a paid tour, all the ranger lead tours are great and others can easily be done on your own. I suggest trying to get a room at Far View Lodge or if it is full, book a roon in Cortez.

I have several threads here with suggestions on MV as well as places to eat in Cortez.

I totally agree with DebitNM, do it yourself and tale the ranger led tour and try to stay at Far View Lodge. If they say they are full, call and keep calling as they get cancellations all the time. You will be able to explore parts of the park, like Spruce Tree House on your own , at your own pace.

You can easily do Mesa Verde on your own. Check DebitNM's threads for information and tips.

Lee Ann

Thanks to all for fast and useful responses. We've had res at the Lodge for almost a year and are now doing end-game planning. You've convinced us - forget Aramark.

Great! If I can answer any questions, I am more than happy to do so.

I was just there last summer and wrote a trip report describing the tours we went on (ranger led) (and Far View Lodge). http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...parks-trip.cfm

The mesa verde part is closer to the end so just scroll down half way.

Debit, thanks for your advice on Mesa Verde. My wife and I have booked 6 nights in Far View Lodge this coming July. It will be our second trip there. Do you have any comments / experience on the "special" backcountry hikes the Park Service offers for $25?

http://www.nps.gov/meve/planyourvisi...ntry_hikes.htm

It looks like the only one scheduled when we'll be there is Mug House. I'll try to book it soon, but if you have any info that would be appreciated.

Nice trip report and pbase photos, isabel. Thanks for sharing.

I don't have first hand experience at Mug House, that is a new tour. It is a very arduous hike. Unless you are in very good shape, used to hiking in that type of environment, I would not recommend it. Read that description very carefully. July will be very hot and that won't help on that hard of a hike.

If you want a hike into the ruins, the Petroglyph Trail is nice and is easier than the Mug House.

https://picasaweb.google.com/DebitNM/MesaVerdeMay2009

Thanks for the concerns. I do a lot of hiking and deal well with heat so am a good candidate for that outing. My wife will possibly chose to sit that one out though. She is smarter than me!

The Petroglyph Trail looks great, will definitely do that. I liked your descriptions of the glyphs. Thanks.

We liked the Petroglyph Trail.
I like the looks of all 3 of those hikes listed on the NPS link above. Sounds GREAT to me!!!

I booked the Mug House Tour for when we are there in mid-July. There were only 3 tickets left for that date. My wife decided that she would go along, so now there is only one remaining. The other two tours are not available then.

Looking forward to our visit!

Please let me know how it is and please take pictures and post them!

If you're interested in some other hikes nearby, with more Pueblo ruins and petroglyphs, check out Sand Canyon

http://www.dminn.com/Pages/Sandcanyon.html

Good idea, we really like Sand Canyon!

Thanks for the Sand Canyon recommendation. Will look into it, it's new to me, much appreciated.

Debit, I will post some photos when I get back.

BTW, do you guys have any recommendations for good popular history books on the Anasazi that we should read before our trip? I see "In Search of the Old Ones" by David Roberts. I've read several of his books and generally enjoy them. Also, "House of Rain" by Craig Childs gets good reviews on amazon. Suggestions welcome.

DH highly recommends "House of Rain," he thought it was an excellent book, well written and very informative.

Thanks. I just checked and our library has a few copies of that on the shelf so I'll check one out this week.