Day 5: Thurs, 6/16: Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Day 5:  Thursday, 6/16:  Dolores, Mesa Verde National Park

Cliff Palace Overlook

After saying good-bye to the Besoli’s in the campground around 830 am this morning, we drove to Mesa Verde National Park.  Wow, the Ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings are spectacular.  We first drove to the museum and watched the 20 minute video about Mesa Verde.  Then we did the ranger-led tour of the Cliff Palace ruins at 11 am.  The over 3 story towers, kivas, masonry, granaries tucked into cracks above the ruins, etc. are incredible.  This complex has many impressive structures under a massive stone overhang.  It’s great that you get to explore the actual ruins and climb ladders to get there.   After that tour, we drove 10 minutes to Balcony House where we took the ranger led tour of that cliff dwelling at 1 pm.  Those 2 ruins, toured in that order with the 2 hour gap is highly recommended, as there’s time to eat a pre-packed lunch in between. 

Balcony House is more adventurous to explore, requiring a climb up a steep 32 foot ladder to get up to the defensive structure.  You also must crawl through a narrow 18 inch wide passageway to exit and then climb more steep ladders.  The ranger was great explaining how the kivas had L-shaped ventilation shafts and a small wall inside to block the wind from blowing out their fire in the winter.  His explanations of the ancient peoples and lifestyles were great.  These 2 structures were spectacular and exceeded our expectations.   The kids enjoyed finished their Junior Ranger badges and we then got back to our camp at 5 pm. 

I (Sam) have an embarrassing confession.  As a young kid, I loved the dog-napper Scooby Doo episode where the bad guys and the Scooby Doo gang are at cliff dwellings.  I always imagined it was Mesa Verde.  So ever since I was in elementary school, I’ve wanted to come to see these ruins—inspired by Scooby Doo!  For years, when Sarah and Ryan would watch that episode of Scooby Doo, I’d always jokingly tell them “they filmed that Scooby Doo episode at Mesa Verde.  We have to go there one day!”  So today after we explored the ruins and ate dinner, we all watched that Scooby Doo episode and compared the T-shaped doors both at Mesa Verde and on Scooby Doo.  We all had a fun time.  We then took it easy for the rest of the night, doing Mad Libs and hanging out as a family.  Mesa Verde is incredible—you must visit!

32 foot ladder to climb to get to Balcony House Ruins