How to Spend One Day in Mesa Verde National Park with Kids
About the Park
This Colorado park is one of the only National Parks dedicated to the work of humans. It’s home to the famous cliff dwellings of ancestral Puebloans. We visited in June as part of our Fourth Grade Pass tour.
Mesa Verde was an early National Park, established in 1906. It was also one of the first UNESCO world heritage sites established. Part of the land was on the Ute Reservation, some of which has been restored to the tribe now.
Tours for cliff dwellings go on sale two weeks before the date. I set an alarm and managed to reserve both tours. Some say this is the best $8 you will ever spend in the NPS!
History
The ancestral Pueblo people inhabited Mesa Verde for hundreds of years. They started with “pit houses” built into the earth on top of Chapin Mesa where they grew and gathered crops. Pueblo dwellings came next. Finally, they built magnificent dwellings into the cliffs, using alcoves already in the mountain.
The museum has a new film produced with insight from several tribes that shows the importance and sacredness of the land. They also reinterpret the narrative that Pueblo people “disappeared” and left their dwellings by explaining that these tribes were migratory people and they simply moved on when the land told them it was time.
My fourth-grader in Mesa Verde National Park
Balcony House
If you are game for a 30-foot wooden ladder, a tunnel that requires crawling on hands and knees, and scaling the cliff on original hand and toe holds, then definitely do this! The description is scarier than it actually was. It was thrilling, but not terrifying. My 9yo managed it (with only a bit of fright on the ladder).
The Balcony House was used for ceremonial purposes and consists of kivas, a terrace, remains of balconies, and storage rooms. The ranger told us about the caretakers who would likely have lived there, alleged uses of the space, and archaeological finds. It was really special.
A kiva in Balcony House
Cliff Palace
The largest cliff dwelling in America also requires some climbing on quite steep steps (and a few ladders). Estimates of 120 people lived in this settlement under the mesa where they farmed. They were matrilineal and lived multiple generations to a dwelling. On the other side of the canyon, there is a good overlook where you can see the dwelling from afar (and see the steps you climbed!).
Cliff Palace
Mesa Loop, Chapin Museum, Spruce Tree, and Farview
The mesa loop is about a 6 mile drive with multiple stops to view pit and pueblo houses as well as a few temples.
Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum is actually quite sparse at the moment - for a good reason. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 2008 entitled Native Americans to recover tribal objects and remains in the U.S. In Mesa Verde, Hope, Ute, and other tribes recovered many objects from the museum. This included funerary objects which were buried ceremoniously. It’s still worth a visit, particularly to see the film and to keep abreast of their progress to change it.
While at the museum, go next door to the Spruce Tree House terrace. The dwelling is closed to hikers due to damage, but you’ll see a good view from here.
Farview is a little cafe and gift shop where we stopped for coffee on the way out of the park.
