One Day in Mesa Verde National Park | Colorado USA

Is one day in Mesa Verde National Park worth the visit? You bet! #10 in our Blogmas travel adventures series is a quick visit to this storied park. Museums to cliff houses, towers to pit homes, short hike to scenic drives – you can see and do it all in an adventure-packed day!

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What to do with one day in Mesa Verde National Park?

You’ve only got one day in Mesa Verde National Park – is it worth visiting? What can you see you see and do in a day? Really, how much time do you need in Mesa Verde to get a feel for the place? Can you see the major attractions and still find time for a short hike in the park?

Don’t worry, this one-day Mesa Verde National Park itinerary has all the answers!

What and where is Mesa Verde?

Mesa Verde – the green plateau – became a national park in 1906 to “preserve the works of man.” In particular, this refers to the Ancestral Puebloan people – previously known as the Anasazi – who lived on Mesa Verde from about 550 to 1300 CE. Beyond the stunning cliffside dwellings, there are close to 5,000 known archaeological sites including pithouses, pueblos, masonry towers, and farming structures.

When you first arrive in southwestern Colorado near Cortez, pay your fee or use your Parks pass to enter the park. Pull into the Visitor Center and take time to get an overview of this unique place. Get your bearings by looking at the maps, reading the displays, and learning a little about the Ancestral Puebloan people.

Note that this is itinerary is from late April. Guided tours of the cliff dwellings do not start until mid-May. Even then, if you are planning a one-day trip, you will need to book a tour up to 2 weeks in advance of your arrival. Tour reservations are made only at Recreation.gov or by calling the toll-free number 1-877-444-6777.

If someone cancels their reservation, these tickets are made available. They can be purchased online up to two hours before a tour. Check at the Visitor Centre before you lose WIFI and cell coverage if you hope to get on a tour.

Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum

Getting back into your vehicle, drive the 21 miles (34 km) up to the Mesa top near Spruce House. It’s a long and winding road – plan on at least 45 minutes. Take your time and imagine accessing this remote locale over a thousand years ago on foot as the Ancestral Puebloan people did.

At the four-way stop at Chapin Mesa, turn right and drive 0.7 miles (1.1 km) to get to the museum. We parked across from the museum, but there is a larger parking lot beyond it.

The museum was built in the early 1920s. It is one of the oldest museums in the National Park Service. While it is currently undergoing changes to update exhibits and improve accessibility, the Mesa Verde Museum remains open to the public.

As you enter, take a moment to appreciate Modified Pueblo Revival architecture of the building. Note the stone – it’s called Cliff House Sandstone and it’s the same stone used by the Ancestral Pueblo people to build their cliff dwellings.

Inside, check out the artifacts on display. The displays themselves may be a dated, but the items themselves are timeless treasures. Be sure to take in park orientation film, Footprints of Our Ancestors. It runs on the hour and half-hour.

Hike on!

If you’re anything like us, you’re ready to get outside for a walk. Even if you only have one day in Mesa Verde National Park, touching feet to ground and slowing the pace as you feel the rhythm of the earth is the best way to get to know the land the Ancestral Puebloans called home. Head downhill from the museum to the overlook for your first glimpse Spruce Tree House.

Unfortunately, at time of writing Spruce Tree House is closed to tours due to safety concerns of rock fall from the alcove above. The cliff dwelling will remain closed to the public until deemed safe.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate it from the trail. Pack a pair of binoculars. They’ll come in handy for all of the cliff dwellings you’ll see throughout the day.

Petroglyph Point Trail

There are several hiking trails in the area, but we chose the 2.4-mile (3.9 km) loop of Petroglyph Point Trail from a map sign.

Luckily, we headed out in the recommended direction – counter-clockwise – on the loop. It was definitely more rugged than your average parks trail, but a fun loop searching for rock art.

We spent some time scoping out distant ledges with binos for signs of prehistoric dwellings. The trail climbs a little up off a rocky ledge – elevation changes only 227 feet (69 m) in total – and comes back through the PJ (pinyon-juniper) forest along the mesa.

Driving tour of Mesa Top Loop

After a quick bite of a pre-packed picnic lunch at the truck, we headed out to drive 6-mile (10 km) Mesa Top Loop on a self-guided tour. There is an audio tour available to download before you go, but unfortunately we didn’t find out about it until it was too late. Using the pamphlet we’d picked up at the Visitor Center, we stopped to explore and learn about pithouses and early pueblos.

We spent time soaking up the views – again binos came in handy! Oh, for wings, to soar over the canyon and have a closer peek inside!

Sitting at Sun Point View and Fire Temple & New Fire House we surveyed the cliff dwellings on the opposite side of the rugged canyon. We walked the short distance to explore Sun Temple and Cliff Palace View.

With 150 rooms and 21 kivas – subterranean rooms used for religious purposes, celebrations, and ceremony – Cliff Palace reigns over the Mesa complex. We could sit and stare at it all day, but we’ve but still got more to do in this one-day tour of Mesa Verde National Park.

Final stop: Far View

The sun is getting lower on the horizon, but the Far View sites are begging to be investigated. An unpaved, 3/4-mile (1.2 km) trail winds past Far View House near the parking area, as well as four other villages as well as a dry reservoir.

We started by diligently reading all of the interpretive signs along the way as we continued past to Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, and past the reservoir – hard to imagine there was ever enough water to fill it – to Megalithic House. As light faded and time ran short, we settled for experiencing the sites without the reading.

So much to learn, so little time!

Mesa Verde one day itinerary timeline

• Check out Visitor Centre displays at park entrance and buy trail guides (30 min – 1 hr)
• Drive 21 miles (34 km) up to Spruce House – note: narrow, winding road (45 min – 1 hr)
• Check out museum displays and introductory film (30 min – 1 hr)
• Walk Petroglyph Point trail (2 hr or longer, depending on how many stops you make)
• Picnic lunch (15-30 min for a quick bite)
• Drive New Mesa loop (1-2 hrs, depending on how long you spend at each site)
• Walk and explore Far View Sites (1 hr, or longer if the sun isn’t setting!)
• Total time: 7+ hrs from Visitor Centre and back again.

When best to visit Mesa Verde National Park?

We visited late April. While the tours weren’t running, there is plenty to see and do. For more information on planning your trip to Mesa Verde, figuring out the best month to visit, where to go, all of the driving times, how and when to book a cliff dwelling tour, and more options on where to hike, visit Mesa Verde National Park online.

Like Peru’s Machu Picchu, Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park – and so many other places in the American Southwest – is full of stories written in stone.

Camping near Mesa Verde National Park

There are campgrounds in Mesa Verde, but as we were on our through to a canoe trip on the Green River in Utah, we opted to stay in an Sundance RV Park in Cortez. This is the second time we’ve stayed there; it’s centrally-located, clean, great showers and laundry facilities, and has friendly, helpful staff.