The Spanish term Mesa Verde translates into English as “green table”.  On the second day of our Labor Day holiday trip to Southwestern Colorado, I went with Amy, Hugh and Donna to Mesa Verde National Park.  You may not recognize the park’s name, but you’ll definitely recognize the image of the Anzsazi cliff dwellings.  Mesa Verde National Park features numerous ruins of homes and villages built by the ancient Pueblo people, erroneously referred to as the “Anasazi” until recently. 

Spanish explorers seeking a route from Santa Fe to California in the 1760s and 1770s were the first Europeans to reach the Mesa Verde region, which they named after its high, tree-covered plateaus. However, they never got close enough to see the ancient stone villages, which would remain a secret for another century. Occasional trappers and prospectors visited, with one prospector, John Moss, making his observations known in 1873. The following year he led eminent photographer William Henry Jackson through Mancos Canyon, at the base of Mesa Verde. There Jackson both photographed and publicized a typical stone cliff dwelling. In 1875 geologist William H. Holmes retraced Jackson’s route. Reports by both Jackson and Holmes were included in the 1876 report of the Hayden Survey, one of the four federally financed efforts to explore the American West. These and other publications led to proposals to systematically study Southwestern archaeological sites. They did not lead to action for some years.

As concern grew over the archaeological well being of Mesa Verde’s ruins, and those in other nearby sites, the area was established as a national park on June 29, 1906. As with all historical area run by the National Park Service, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. It was designated a World Heritage Site on September 6, 1978. The park was named with the Spanish for green table because of its forests of juniper and piñon trees.

The park is huge, covering 81.4 square miles over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings that date from 510 AD to 1350 AD.  The weather was cool with dark clouds hanging over us but we decided to just do the famous Cliff Palace tour which is believed to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America.  Though the steep steps and vertical ladder climbs were tough on Donna’s knees, it was an extremely enjoyable trip and I highly recommend it if you’re in the Durango, CO area. 

On the way down from the mesa, we hit an epic rainstorm and it made the drive a little tricky with visibility about 20 feet.  The GPS came in pretty handy as it helped us know when the turns were coming.  You can see more pictures in my Flickr photoset.