Mesa Verde

Why Mesa Verde is special
Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado has fascinating cliff houses. It also gives visitors a unique glimpse of the 700-year civilization of the Native Americans named the Ancestral Pueblo People who built the structures. They thrived and disappeared before Columbus set sail.

Mesa Verde tips and insights
Most famous attractions
Over 600 cliff house sites have been found along the overhanging canyon walls. Below are the best known ones (the first three are at the mesa named Chapin, the most popular destination in Mesa Verde).

• Cliff Palace (see photo)
  This well-preserved multi-storied building complex has over 200 rooms plus some towers. It is nearly everyone's favorite.
• Balcony House
  The 45-room multiplex nests high up a steep canyon wall.
• Square Tower House
  This 60-room development has the highest tower in Mesa Verde.

Other must-see cliff houses include Spruce Tree House and Long House.

When to photograph
Cliff Palace and Square Tower House (west and southwest facing) are best photographed in the late afternoon. Balcony House (east facing ) is best shot in the morning light.

Mesa Verde history in brief
Origin
All cliff houses were built during the last two centuries of the Ancestral Pueblo People's 700-year primacy. See the "history in brief" section below for more details.

Ancestral Pueblo People
Very little is known about the Ancestral Pueblo People lifestyles and history because they left no written record. However, archaeologists are able to create a timeline of their ancient development by analyzing evidence such as pottery fragments, tree lines, and construction design.

Architecture
The Mesa Verde dwelling styles date back to different times. Up until around 750 AD, pithouses (partially recessed into the ground) on the mesa tops prevailed. Two reconstructed ones are open to the public. From 750 to 1100 AD, above-the-ground stone structures on the mesa tops were prevalent. From 1100 to 1300 AD (the Classical Pueblo Period), the inhabitants preferred living in cliff houses instead of mesa-top homes.

Abandonment and discovery
The Ancient Puebloans mysteriously abandoned Mesa Verde some 700 years ago. Their forsaken buildings were not discovered until 1888 when two cowboys searching for stray cattle happened upon them.

Why did the inhabitants leave? Where did they go? No one knows for sure, but expert consensus believes the answers are "extended devastating drought", "ideological strife", and "merged into the nearby Hopi and Pueblo tribes".

More Mesa Verde tips and insights
Tours
You may enter a cliff house only on a ranger-led tour. They are available during warm weather months for the Cliff Palace and Balcony House. Square Tower House is off limits.

Note that these tours can be strenuous because of the high altitude (2400 meters or 8,000 feet). Moreover, they are not for the acrophobic, claustrophobic, or unsure-footed. You climb tall ladders and sharply inclined steps - and walk by deep drop offs - and sometimes crawl through snug tunnels.

Tickets
Tickets are sold at the Visitor Center on the day of the tour. In summer, line waits can be long and tickets go fast - get there early. Remember, Mesa Verde attracts 600,000 visitors per year.

Name
The Spanish explorers named this region Mesa Verde ("green mesa") because unlike most mesas, its flat-topped elevated terrain is well forested.

Tribe name
Archaeologists originally called the inhabitants the "Anasazi". Today, the preferred name is "Ancestral Pueblo People" or, more simply, "Ancient Puebloans".

Location in America