About Mesa Verde National Park
For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Today, the park protects the rich cultural heritage of 27 Pueblos and Tribes and offers visitors a spectacular window into the past. This World Heritage Site and International Dark Sky Park is home to over a thousand species, including several that live nowhere else on earth.
Quick Facts
Entrance Fees
Valid for 7 days.
Valid for 7 days. Admits up to 2 private, non-commercial motorcycles with up to 4 total passengers.
Valid for 7 days.
Purchase digital park entrance passes on recreation.gov at no additional cost. Once purchased, passes for Mesa Verde National Park must be printed or saved on your mobile device prior to use. Connectivity is limited in the park, therefore printing the permit or saving it on your phone is highly recommended. Passes, including the America the Beautiful, National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Passes, such as the Annual, Access, or Senior pass may be purchased at the entrance station upon arrival.
Purchase digital park entrance passes on recreation.gov at no additional cost. Once purchased, passes for Mesa Verde National Park must be printed or saved on your mobile device prior to use. Connectivity is limited in the park, therefore printing the permit or saving it on your phone is highly recommended. Passes, including the America the Beautiful, National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Passes, such as the Annual, Access, or Senior pass may be purchased at the entrance station upon arrival.
Valid for 7 days. Admits up to 2 private, non-commercial motorcycles with up to 4 total passengers.
Operating Hours
The park is open daily except for emergency conditions. The Visitor & Research Center and Mesa Verde Museum are open all year but closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. Ancestral sites, picnic areas, and trails are open 8 am to sunset. Some park areas including Wetherill Mesa, campground, and other visitor services are closed during winter. Cliff dwelling tours are mid-May through late October. Reservations are required and available 14 days in advance of tour date online at www.recreation.gov.
Activities
Getting There
Mesa Verde National Park is in Southwest Colorado. The park entrance and the Visitor and Research Center are located ten miles east of Cortez, nine miles west of Mancos, and about 35 miles west of Durango, Colorado along Hwy 160. Mesa top ancestral sites, Cliff dwellings, tours, and the Mesa Verde Museum are 20 to 21 miles (approximately 45 minutes) south along the park road which which is steep, narrow, and winding.
View Official DirectionsContact & Address
Entrance Passes
Details: Fee good for a year, beginning from the date of sale.
Topics & Themes
Things To Do
Visit Mesa Verde's Historic Administrative District
Take a walk amid the early park structures that comprise the Historic Administrative District of Mesa Verde National Park. Established…
If you would like information about some of the buildings within the historic district, ask for the historic district handout…
Explore the Mesa Top Loop Road
The 6-mile (10 km) Mesa Top Loop takes you through 700 years of Ancestral Pueblo history. From remains of early…
Visitor Centers
Mesa Verde Museum
Located at milepost 20, the Mesa Verde Mesa Museum offers exhibits and cultural objects that provide insight into the Ancestral Pueblo lifeways. An orientation film…
Hours: The Mesa Verde Museum is one of the oldest in the National Park Service. Constructed between 1922-25, it replaced a log cabin that had exhibited cultural objects since 1917. The Museum is built of Cliff House Sandstone, the same stone used by the Ancestral Pueblo people to construct nearby Spruce Tree House and other cliff dwellings, in an architectural style known as Modified Pueblo Revival, which was inspired by the architecture of Mesa Verde's descendant communities.
Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center
Located at the park entrance, off Highway 160, this is the park’s primary facility for orienting visitors to opportunities within the park and surrounding area.…
Hours: Open daily 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, year-round except closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.
Campgrounds
Morefield Campground
Morefield Campground is four miles from the park entrance. The 267 campsites are situated within a high-elevation, grassy canyon filled with Gambel oak, native flowers,…
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