Search hotels in Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Tours of Balcony House and Long House were really interesting and fun. Being able to get "into" the sites and hear about the history and culture of those who lived there was fascinating. The condition of these places is really amazing given their age (800 - 900 years old).

The ranger tour of Cliff Palace was excellent. Our ranger Adam was very passionate and knowledgable about the park and really helped us to understand what life was like for the people who had occupied these dwellings. Overall these cliff dwellings are fascinating and it was very exciting to be able to see some of them up close and personal. Driving around the park was very easy and well signposted.

The park was great a lot of trails to see the history but, if you want to a do a cliff palace or balcony tour the tickets are sold out within 1 minute of them going on sale and when we got to the park we realized why they went so fast is because they have several bus tours all day long.

Staying inside the park was one of the best decisions that we made for our visit to Mesa Verde. It allowed us to have easy access to all of the park touring without a long drive from The Visitor Center every day. The roads were very well maintained and the crowds were limited during the time we were there. We had decided on a private tour for just the two of us and that worked out very well instead of the larger bus tours. That also included a group tour at Cliff Palace which was the highlight of the trip. I think it's important to know that you do have to be able to manage some stairs and climbing ladders to get into and out of some of these viewing areas. There were plenty of places to get water food and a restroom.

Mesa Verde is a magical place, to get onto the tours for the cliff dwellings you must make reservations in advance at recreation.gov - the rangers are so knowledgeable. There is reserved camping in the park and a few places to eat, a museum, you need a lot of water on your hikes - please be prepared. Kid friendly. View point areas seem to be wheelchair accessible- but please check on that info. This is a sacred place and former home of Indigenous peoples - please be respectful

I came to be able to climb into and walk through the cliff dwellings. I was initially told I could only sign up for the ranger led tour on site. About 10 days before my visit I discovered reservations for the ranger led tour (the only way to get in to the cliff dwellings) had to be made in advance. Reservations are available 14 days in advance and are immediately taken. Not being able to climb into and walk through the cliff dwellings was a major disapointment.