Yucca House National Monument is a...rough diamond in the rough? It's located next to someone's house, 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. read more

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I'm a big fan of the National Park System and generally like the sites that are part of it. I have to 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. read more

Yucca House National Monument - Yucca House lower house - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - CO, Colorado