Things to do & places to visit in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, United States

An archaeological preserve offering self-guided walking tours, museum exhibits and videos.

Mesa Verde National Park national park in Colorado, United States. Timezone: America/Denver, current date and time: Monday, May 06, 2024, 7:04.

Top things to do (14)

Top places to visit (22 attractions)

5.0 Cliff Palace (1.475 reviews)
- 30 Min Tour to History
Historic Sites • Ancient Ruins

An ancient cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. See more..
5.0 Balcony House (867 reviews)
- Rigorous but very doable if you are over 65.
Historic Sites • Ancient Ruins

There is some uneven terrain, ladders and a short crawl but not overly difficult. The crawl area is short but narrow so someone extremely wide in the hips would not make it thru. Both my knees are replaced and I had no difficulty walking or crawling. If you plan to do this tour get onto the reservation site at 8am MT 14 days before you planned date. Our ranger guide Rachel was fantastic. We had her the day before as well for the long house tour. See more..
5.0 Long House (292 reviews)
- Make Sure you Book a Tour
Ancient Ruins

For $8 per person, you can book a tour to view Long House. To do so, you have to go to the recreation.gov website 14 days prior and tickets go on sale at 8 am. Long House Tour tickets are relatively easy to get as opposed to other tours which allows less people. Still, I would get tickets as early as possible because it does sell out. We also booked Square Tower House which only allows 10 people a day. For Long House, there were probably around 20 - 25 people in our group. Also, tours are not year round. Mesa Verde closes in winter months. For Long House, tickets are sold according to time slot. There are morning slots and afternoon slots. We had 1:30 pm reservations. They let you in exactly at 1:30 pm. There were 3 rangers there stationed at spots giving explanations. You do have to hike approximately 1 mile to get to the entry point. The hike can be hot and there is no shade. Once you are at the entry point, there is another .5 mi one way to get to Long House. You climb up a total of 2 ladders. You should allow 60 minutes for the Long House visit and 2 hours for the entire experience because there is the 2 mile (roundtrip) to the starting point. Earlier in the day, we did Square Tower House and it was more intimate so we thought Long House was just OK. If you manage to get tickets for Square Tower, I would skip Long House. Also, Step House is completely free and you can visit without reservations and there are rangers stationed there as well. We did Step House and it was enjoyable and easier to get to without all the walking. See more..
5.0 Park Point (135 reviews)
- Eagles...
Points of Interest & Landmarks

This is the tallest view point in Mesa Verde. It is easy to find while driving from the park entrance. Parking is easy. Views are stunning including snowy mountains, green forest, and the Mesa Verde eagles. Great pictures! during the month of October, the park point site is cool and windy. It is relaxing, the place is magnificent. See more..
5.0 Mesa Top Loop Road (22 reviews)
- Take Your Time Here
Self-Guided Tours & Rentals

This loop has a number of stops. Each one is unique and is worthy of taking the time to stop. Donate a dollar and get the brochure offered at the first stop to gain more information. Be sure to read the signs at each stop. If you take the time to do all of these things you will emerge with a greater appreciation for the lives the people here lived and the hardships they faced. See more..
5.0 Knife Edge Trail (21 reviews)
- Great views of the Montezuma Valley below
Hiking Trails

A 1.5-mile hiking trail located in Mesa Verde National Park. See more..
4.5 Spruce Tree House (600 reviews)
- View from the Overlook
Ancient Ruins

This site has been closed for many years now for safety reasons, but can easily be viewed from the overlook behind the museum building. The site is said to be the best preserved cliff dwelling in the park and the third largest. It’s worth the time to go view it, especially if your on the Cliff Palace loop already. See more..
4.5 Mesa Verde Tour Experience (372 reviews)
- Fabulous tour of Monument Valley
Sightseeing Tours • Bus Tours • Archaeology Tours

Our 3.5 hour tour of Monument Valley with Dineh Bekeyah Tours was amazing. Yvonne was informative, professional, and gave us cultural insights we could not have gotten without a personal tour. Thanks to the Navajo tribe for its precautions in this era of COVID. Although I understand there are complaints about its mask requirements, anyone wary of traveling these days will find the safety measures logical and reassuring. See more..
4.5 Mesa Verde National Park (342 reviews)
- The culture of early Indian Population.
Spent More than 3 hours National Parks

A natural wonder you need to experience. Seeing these cliff dwellings make you wonder how and why these people built these structures were they did. You cannot enter the majority of them but from a distance you can still see all the details that were included in the designs. You must stay within the national park as it it at least a 35 minute plus drive to get to the locations See more..
4.5 Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center (303 reviews)
- Amazing history, beautiful park and a wonderful staff!
Spent More than 3 hours Visitor Centers

It goes without saying that the history here is incredible and seeing it did not disappoint but what I really want to highlight is the Mesa Verde staff, they were awesome! Most National Park staff love what they do and are friendly but this staff went above and beyond. They were incredibly knowledgeable and sincerely interested in making my visit as impactful as possible (I had limited time). I'll be back! See more..
4.5 Petroglyph Point Hike (275 reviews)
- Three Mile Loop Hike with Petroglyphs and more
Historic Sites • Hiking Trails

A flat 3-mile hiking trail in Mesa Verde National Park. See more..
4.5 Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum (217 reviews)
- dig still active
Speciality Museums

This is a building built over a Kiva site that is still being excavated by archeologists. It dates back possibly to 1300. 1,000's of people lived in these type dwelling all over the adjacent area. Quite interesting! See more..
4.5 Step House (131 reviews)
- Take your time and enjoy the Step house
Points of Interest & Landmarks

All paved walking down to the step house rock dwelling and only one that you can go to on your own without a tour group so very highly visited. The walk up for many was a bit of a struggle so keep in mind on warm days of for some this might be a bit strenuous depending. However, just take your time no rush and bring water. It's very cool to see maybe not the biggest of the cliff houses but pretty cool to do. For us without a tour and some locations closed like Cliff Castle right now this was a very cool experience. See more..
4.5 Ruins Road (127 reviews)
- Two loops, one road
Scenic Drives

Scenic drives that offer visitors dramatic views of Anasazi cliff dwellings. See more..
4.5 Square Tower House (69 reviews)
- Lovely from above!
Spent 1-2 hours Geologic Formations

This dwelling is small and it is not considered one of the five main dwellings that you can visit in Mesa Verde; however, it has the tallest structure of any dwelling in Mesa Verde and that is why the dwelling is called the Tower House. To visit the Tower House, you need to purchase an expensive ticket online; the ticket is quite difficult to get and is only for one person. Nevertheless, if you don't get the ticket, you can see the Tower House from above, from one of the view points located in the Mesa Top road. The view is actually impressive and unique. See more..
4.5 Far View Sites (53 reviews)
- Include this self guided stop
Spent 1-2 hours Ancient Ruins • Points of Interest & Landmarks • Historic Walking Areas

My husband and I are so glad we stopped here and took the time to walk the entire site. It let us see both ruins on the Mesa and ruins in the cliffs. Walking close to the walls and peering into the rooms allowed our imaginations to open up and guess what they would be used for. See more..
4.5 Soda Canyon Overlook Trail (48 reviews)
- Best Views of Balcony House
Hiking Trails

It can be incredible hard to get one of the 75 daily tour slots for Balcony House. If you don't get one don't despair, this short (1.2 miles round trip), relatively flat (59 vertical feet) hike offers great views of Balcony House especially on a sunny morning. In addition there are other overlooks with beautiful views of the canyon and the San Juan Mountains. For me this is the 3rd best hike in Mesa Verde and easy one you should make the time to do. See more..
4.5 Point Lookout Trail (30 reviews)
- Put this HIKE on Your List for Mesa Verde Visit!!
Hiking Trails

A scenic 2.3-mile hiking trail in Mesa Verde National Park. See more..
4.5 Spruce Canyon Trail (28 reviews)
- Natural Canyon and Trickling Water
Hiking Trails

A flat three-mile hiking trail in Mesa Verde National Park. See more..
4.5 Prater Ridge Trail (6 reviews)
- Excellent views, easy up top
Hiking Trails

A 7.8-mile hiking trail located in Mesa Verde National Park. See more..
4.0 Farming Terraces (16 reviews)
- Much greener and taller plants at check dams
Hiking Trails

A fairly challenging hiking trail that winds a half-mile through Mesa Verde National Park. See more..
4.0 Nordenskiold #16 Trail (13 reviews)
- Dwelling blends-in with surrounding landscape
Spent < 1 hour Hiking Trails

You can walk or bike this short trail to a lookout point of the Nordenskiöld Cliff Dwellings across a small canyon. Flat, short, and easy path. Only 0.9 miles round trip (not 2 as listed below) with an elevation gain of 53 feet (per my Garmin). Gustaf Nordenskiöld, a Swedish nobleman and geologist, visited this area in 1891. Working with a 25-men crew, Nordenskiöld photographed and documented this cliff dwelling and many other archeological sites. The cliff dwelling named after him contained 39 rooms, seven kivas, one tower and ten communal work areas. Not much to see compared to the Long House, the Cliff Palace, the Spruce Tree House but it’s still interesting to see where these dwellings were built and how well they blend with the landscape, making them very difficult to find. See more..