Loved this place. Such a beautiful experience. So many cool buildings to look at and the online…read moreinfo is pretty cool. I enjoyed walking around the grounds. They also have a little area out front by the picnic tables that is pet friendly. It also has a nice trail that goes into town. It's about a mile or so, to and from. If you are in the area, make sure you save a couple of hours too visit this awesome spot.

This amazing place is tucked away behind a few trailer parks. It's way bigger than I expected and…read moresuper well preserved. It's worth a detour to visit.

When you visit Mesa Verde, one of the big highlights and an absolute must-dos are the guided tours…read moreof the cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people, built around 800 years ago and are still so wonderfully preserved. Cliff Palace is one of the four locations you can book a guided tour for, and it was such an incredible experience. Our guide, Sachil, clearly had so much passion for the culture and all the dwellings - such great knowledge. In comparison to Balcony House, this tour is physically much easier to do, and the tour group is larger in comparison. Even though you can't walk through the dwellings like you do with Balcony House, you do get to walk up close to Cliff Palace, and it's much easier to take in the craftsmanship here. While we liked Balcony House a bit more, Cliff Palace was still such a treasure that we would come back and visit again. We hiked on a June afternoon - so while it was hot outside, we were walking in shade nearly the entire time. But still make sure to bring plenty of water because it was still hot. Tours can be booked up to 14 days in advance for $8/ticket. Definitely book at 14 days out if you can to ensure you get the best tour time. I booked 13 days out and a lot of the tour times were already sold out. Would definitely recommend taking this tour on your visit. It provides so much cultural appreciation, that it really brings up the trip to Mesa Verde.

Our tour guide was very young and seemed nervous. Her knowledge about the cliff palace wasn't great…read moreand she didn't have answers to most questions. However, the tour was required to see the Pueblo up close, so it was worth it.

There are so many structures standing here! The loop hike was well marked, with the first portion…read more(going counterclockwise) taking you past the structures along the rim of the canyon, and the second portion descending and ascending the canyon back to the visitor center. I liked how you could get up close to the structures and see them in detail - no entering or touching though! Some were build right on the edge. I wonder how they manage to design them and maintain them on such a precarious position. The visitor center has helpful NPS rangers and a small gift shop. There are some displays, but the best part is to go out and explore! The bathrooms are also nice with running water.

We arrived at the end of the day on Sunday. The Ranger recommended the circle hike but directed us…read moreto go to the south first. Great hike and ruins are amazing!

Simply amazing. I would stop by the visitor center and museum first before exploring the pueblos…read moreand other locations that make up this national monument. The visitor center and museum have a lot of artifacts and information about how scientists research the artifacts and structures of the Pueblo peoples. It helps put into context the other sites that are part of this national monument. It kind of made me feel like an archaeologist when I identified some potsherds later on my hikes and could identify which Pueblo Era they came from. Definitely worth a stop!

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and Visitor Center are a worthwhile destination or a…read moreshort diversion, if you are in SW Colorado. Inside, there are educational movies about the history of the Puebloan Indians who inhabited the plains 1200 years ago, and then suddenly left about 1300. There are numerous exhibits about these people, their tools, their cooking implements, their arrow heads, basketry, housing, etc. It is well laid out and then there are descriptions of several deserted Pueblos within an hour or two of the visitor center. Your national park pass will get you entrance, or a small fee if you don't have one. With the Federal workforce cuts, staffing is minimal, so be patient and respect the work these Rangers do for us every day. Wish I had visited this site before I went to Mesa Verde National Park last year as it added an additional perspective to the way some of our SW native Indians lived.

This breathtaking geological feature is a "saddle" bewtween Telluride and Ridgway Colroado. A…read morerelatively gentle grade across the shoulder of some the mightiest mountains in the continental USA. From this vantage point, you'll see Dallas peak, Last Dollar mountain and majestic views of often snow capped briliance. Fall is the best time, with virbrant colors sweeping accross the endless vistas.

A landmark and solid stop along any journey through SoCo. Worthy of a detour if you're in the area.read more

I get so tired of reviews on our country's national treasures and history like this I have to give…read morea resounding 5 stars. NOTE drive to top is not hard. If you have ever been to mountains or skied it's easy. It's a gravel mountain road. To clarify as I was confused there is a parking lot w small visitor center aka cabin. This is where you pay your fee. They are building a new super nice visitor center to open next year. The ranger here at base was so nice. I mean amazingly and went out of her way to explain all. From the first parking area you drive to the upper parking lot which is the base from which you hike to top. I was fine at 62 and not in perfect shape to get to top. It's a gorgeous view and the ranger/helper? at top was wordy but very knowledgeable. Now that we live in Albuquerque will definitely go back as it's a short drive under 30 minutes from Pagosa springs. Final thought those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it

Our mission was to finally visit Four Corners Monument, and it did not disappoint. It was so cool…read moreto join with others who have a shared desire to visit 4 states at once: Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. It wasn't extremely busy when we visited, but it was overcast and very windy. We stood in a short line to have our photos taken at the iconic point. Everyone was super friendly and was helping families take photos. They have vendors situated around the outskirts, and they sell some pretty amazing stuff! I was super excited to buy a painting, painted on a rock, some horse hair pottery and a pretty silver ring! Admission is $10/person, no cash accepted, which honestly feels a little steep, but everything is pricey these days. Happy to be able to check this one off our bucket list!

So this is one of those places whose fame is by pure coincidence -- where four states (Utah,…read moreColorado, New Mexico, Utah) meet. Because it's on Navajo Nation land, it's a bit of a tourist trap, but is probably worth a visit once. After lots of driving through reservation land, the roadway into the monument comes off US 160 in New Mexico, just before the Arizona border. It's easy to miss if you're looking for something understated and "national monument"-like, since the big painted sign feels a bit loud and commercial. Entrance to the monument costs $10/person (plastic only). The monument itself is a large sunken concrete plaza, showing the four state borders, and with a USGS medallion in their center. Cue visitors taking lots of pictures of their group "standing in four states at once!" If it sounds a little cheesy, well, it is, but it's still fun (at least until you've been waiting several minutes while a family insists on taking every combination of every kid and parent in different poses while dozens of other folk are waiting for the chance to do the same thing). Surrounding the plaza are some markers about how the borders were surveyed and drawn (trivia item: more accurate survey techniques confirm that the existing borders are really not correct in their latitude and longitude), but have become so traditionally set that court challenges to them have been defeated. Around the edges of the plaza are a lot of permanent booths where local folk sell arts and crafts and souvenirs and other bric-a-brac. Would I go again? Probably not. Do I regret going once? Nah. It was fun.

Yucca House National Monument is a...rough diamond in the rough? It's located next to someone's…read morehouse, and you have to drive through a field of cows to get there. There's a dilapidated boardwalk that you can walk on to get to the gate of the national monument and sign in at the guestbook. The vibe the NPS was going for was to showcase how a large unexcavated pueblo looks like. At first I wasn't impressed, but thinking more about it, it makes you feel like an adventurer. Like, how did the scientists discover and excavate all of these artifacts? They looked around and saw bits of uncovered brick of pueblos and depressions in the ground for kivas. You can even find potsherds here too. Don't take anything though. I wish that they were offering ranger tours of this place - it only happens about twice a year and I wasn't lucky enough to visit when they were. I think it would help a lot about the context of this place. The government is planning on improving this monument with a real parking lot and restrooms, although it make take a while. Hopefully it includes more informational signs as the brochures present are a little sparse.

I'm a big fan of the National Park System and generally like the sites that are part of it. I have…read moreto say though, it felt like they really phoned it in with regards to Yucca House NM. To get there, you drive on dirt roads in an agricultural area. When you arrive at Yucca House NM, it looks and feels like you are pulling up to some random guy's house. In his front yard is a boardwalk leading you to a gate that goes into the NM. Once inside the fence, there are paths to explore the NM. The first structure you'll notice is the lower house. It's the most complete structure in the NM that I saw. I walked around a bit and saw the kivas, which were pits in the ground maybe 12 feet across. That's about it though. The entire site is overgrown with weeds and brush. The idea is to see what an archaeological site looks like when it is first discovered. In that, Yucca House succeeds. But it's a small site and the level of disrepair makes it only worth spending a few minutes there. There is no NPS infrastructure - no visitors center, no bathrooms, no map, not even parking. It's also smaller than any other NPS site I'm familiar with (except ones in cities). I'm glad I went, but I wouldn't go back. The lack of infrastructure and poor level of maintenance are surprising for an NPS site. For those of you who have read this far, you can get the national park passport stamp for Yucca House at the Mesa Verde visitor center by US 160.