I have wanted to take my kids to Mesa Verde for several years. Unfortunately, their Fall Break is later in October—after many of the ranger led hikes are available. So over the July 4 week, I bit the bullet and we road tripped down south. My kids are 13 and 15 and I am an Ancestral Puebloan obsessed mom!!

First, a general comment. I have never traveled to Southern Utah between June-mid September. The drive from Salt Lake to Cortez was interesting—different crops growing, no wildflowers by the side of the road, calves were much bigger, no snow on the LaSals, and Moab was a zoo—and it was 103 degrees. Ugh.

Fortunately, Mesa Verde is at higher altitude and we weren’t hiking as much as walking to habitation sites. It was still 90 degrees and HOT. There were fires to the northeast which made the far views hazy but it wasn’t smoky. And it was crowded on Chapin Mesa. Now—on to the details..

We stayed at the Hampton Inn. The room and the hotel are fine—very clean, nice staff, etc. I tried to find 2 queen beds with a sofa bed but no luck. The room had a small fridge and a microwave. The hotel has free breakfast and an indoor pool.

Food: The first night we ate at the Destination Grill which is right next door. That place was fantastic. Food for every taste and good beers on tap. Another night we ate at the Main Street Brewery. The beer was really good. My kids each got chicken wings and looooved them. My meal was ok. Another day, we ended up eating “lunch” at 5pm and then one night we just got fast food. There are 3 grocery stores in town. I really liked the City Market—really nice store for a small town. We got snacks and some dinner there. Breakfast was our favorite meal. We went to the Spruce Tree Coffee House every morning…ahhhhh. It was great. Very nice staff, great music, a cool photography exhibit. Superb coffee, really good bagels and yummy smoothies. That was a great place.

Logistics: Get your tickets for the ranger-guided tours EARLY. My plan was to get to the visitors center by 6pm to get tour tix for Tues and Thursday. Of course, we got started later and then there was road construction in several places so we didn’t get to Cortez till 7 or 7:30 and the visitors center was closed. We got there the next morning by 9am and the soonest I could get a reservation was a 3:00 tour to Cliff Palace. Long House was sold out. Wetherhill Mesa has a snack bar but it has no hot food. The café near the Chapin Mesa museum was a zoo at lunch time and had just passable food. So bring lunch in a cooler—and certainly carry drinks in a cooler!! It takes a good hour to drive from Cortez to Chapin Mesa and about 1.5 hours to drive to Wetherhill Mesa.

Sights:
Day One: Because we had tix at 3pm, we had time to kill. First we did the Far View Sites, then the Museum, and then the Mesa Top Loop Road. We ended with the tour at Cliff Palace. This is a good introduction but it is short and we had a maximum group of people, so don’t’ expect too much. The Far View Sites were very interesting and the Loop Road had some amazing sites. The Sun Temple is very interesting.

Day Two: This was July 4 and I wanted to stay out of the park. So we went to see Canyon of the Ancients. First stop is the Museum in Delores. I have been to this museum and I remember the special exhibit at the time. What I didn’t remember is how fantastic the “basic” museum is. This place is soooo much better than the Chapin Mesa Museum at Mesa Verde. They have superb pots and other artifacts. They have a fully reconstructed pit house. They had all sorts of information on the work they did to inventory, collect data, and collect artifacts prior to damming the Delores River. We were very lucky. There was a retired archeologist there who is originally from Ireland. His interest is in solar archeology—not sure that is what it is called, but the study of how ancient people studied the solstice and equinoxes. He worked at New Grange during the original work in the 60s. We were there last year and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing about his work there and what he is studying in the 4 Corners Regions. I come across some “solar” sites in the backcountry during my backpacking trips—I learned a great deal from this gentleman. Then we went to see Lowry Pueblo which is in the monument. It is easy to get to and you actually get to go into it to see a kiva!! The Great Kiva had amazing stone figures in it—something I have never seen in any kiva. While we were walking to the Great Kiva, we saw lots of small pot and chert shards. And there was NOBODY there! We did stop in at the Cortez Cultural Center. You can skip that. The Native American dances in the evening are probably very good but the “museum” and gift shop—you can skip.

Day Three: Wetherhill Mesa here we come! We had 10 am tix to Long House. That is a great tour. You get more time there and you really learn a great deal. We saw a herd of feral horses and a foal which the kids liked. On the way back to the parking lot, we walked through the Badger House sites. These were really interesting—they had a Great Kiva, a tower, and various construction methods. It was similar to the Far View Sites but different enough to warrant a trip. We stopped for cold drinks at the kiosk and then went to Step House. Wow. I have never seen actual steps to one of these sites! And we got lucky—there was a ground squirrel burrow under a big rock. The squirrel had been bringing up small pot shards, corn bits, and even ancient turkey poop that was in its burrow. The ranger at the site had been working there for 7-8 years and the squirrel had been there for 2-3 years so he told us about the range of things the squirrel brings up. He pointed out various shards—one with fingerprints in the clay!! It actually was really interesting.

At the end of the day, we went to the Notah-Dine trading post. That place was amazing. Everything from inexpensive kid souvenirs to nice stuff!!! I got a decent pair of earrings and a really nice Acoma seed pot. The kids got wooden road runner sculptures—road runners in tennis shoes! Downstairs is the museum which is a must see. The 2 Gray Hills Rug will knock your socks off. There were many Native Americans there selling items, buying tobacco, buying ceremonial herbs (corn pollen to go!). Lots of pawn items. I really enjoyed it.

All in all a good trip. Hot and crowded compared to our usual winter and spring trips down south, but it was really good that the kids got to see this amazing place. The next trip I want to do with my husband would be to spend a day with a Ute Mountain Guide, then another day to visit the Aztec and Salmon sites, plus go to see Painted Hand Pueblo site and add in a visit to Chimney Rock. That will be a week long visit. Sigh, cross off one item on the bucket list, add more

Wonderful report and good info to use for others going. I have always considered MV a wonder of the World.
You say one thing that is the reason MANY of us recommend staying at Far View Lodge within the Park
" It takes a good hour to drive from Cortez to Chapin Mesa and about 1.5 hours to drive to Wetherhill Mesa. "

I recommend visiting Lowry and Painted Hand in the same day. (Makes sense logistically.) Love that area, especially in the fall.

Thank you so much for the report; going in late September to MV.

I am not in favor of staying in the park for 4 nights. You have only one restaurant for dinner, no pool for kids, no free breakfast for families. If only 1-2 nights, it’s good. I have camped in the campground for 2 nights in early June-it was nice. And the restaurant at the Lodge had excellent food.

I also wouldn't stay in the Park for 4 nights.

Thanks so much for your trip report. I appreciate the details and will be saving your report as we'd like to go one of these days.

A good reminder that sometimes you just can't travel at the ideal time when you have kids. You have to just go when you can.

Thanks for the TR. We love MV, and finally got to Wetherill Mesa two years ago. It was a time in October when they had the mesa open but no tours. We still found it worth the visit and had a wild horse encounter. In the past it was never opened when we went.

If you aren't planning on camping when you go to Aztec and Salmon Ruins, the Best Western in Bloomfield is nearby, fine and has an OK Breakfast. It is also the closest lodging we've found to Chaco Canyon, which you really need to visit if you haven't. It is about a half hour to Nageezi where you pick up the road into Chaco, which is unpaved for the middle 12 or so miles. It is fine for a regular car as long as there has not been recent rain.

There was no one at Lowrey when we were there. Did you visit Hovenweep? Chimney Rock has always been closed when we've been in the area, so you need to visit it and let me know if I need to make a special trip.

Thanks

emalloy--we have been to Chaco and Hovenweep. The kids haven't been to Chaco, but I want to get them to the Grand Canyon before we go there. Chimney Rock sounds like it is a little tricky to visit. Will definitely take some planning. The other places I really still need to see are Betatatkin (sp?) and Keet Seel. I am not worried about the hiking--the heat will not be fun. I really melt in temps over 80. (Needless to say I love the desert in the winter and spring ) Too many parks/sites, not enough time......