Mesa Verde National Park

Chapin Mesa

This is the park's most popular area. The Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum has exhibits on Ancestral Puebloan culture, with artifacts and dioramas of life centuries ago. Nearby, the Historic District holds many park service buildings dating to the 1920s, including the park headquarters. Petroglyph Point Trail is a very challenging 2.4-mile loop that passes a large petroglyph panel, the only trail in the park where petroglyphs can be seen. The Spruce Canyon Trail is a strenuous 2.4-mile round trip down into the canyon. The Chapin Mesa Rim Trail follows the canyon edge past a historic amphitheater and is open to hikers and snowshoers. Spruce Tree House, a cliff dwelling, is reached from the museum area, and both Petroglyph Point and Spruce Canyon trails begin at the Spruce Tree House Overlook.

Wetherill Mesa

A long, narrow ridge on the park's west side, walled in by deep canyons, this mesa holds Ancestral Pueblo sites spanning nearly 700 years. Everything here is reached on foot or by bike, and driving will not bring you near the mesa-top ruins or cliff alcoves. Step House lies about 100 feet below the kiosk, and the round trip is roughly three-quarters of a mile. Long House is open only through a guided tour. The Badger House Community holds early pithouses on the mesa top, and the Kodak House Overlook frames structures tucked into gaps in a horseshoe-curved cliff. Dogs on leash may join most trails, but not the routes into Step House and Long House. Plan on a full day and bring water, since the 2000 Pony Fire burned trails that now have no shade.

Far View Area

Atop the mesa, Ancestral Pueblo families farmed between clusters of homes for centuries, and the Far View Sites Complex shows how the villages and fields once fit together. Five villages and the Far View Reservoir line a three-quarter-mile trail through piñon-juniper woodland, and trailside signs explain daily life on the mesa. The Far View Sites Trail is level but unpaved, and it can turn rutted and muddy, so a guide near the trailhead helps. Woodland birds are common here, and the trail's few steps make it easy to combine a walk with birdwatching. Far View Lodge, at the center of the park, offers panoramic views south into Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Morefield

Tucked into a high-elevation grassy canyon, Morefield Campground shares its setting with deer, wild turkeys, Gambel oak and wildflowers. Camping here suits tents, trailers and RVs across 267 sites, and every one comes with a fire pit and grill, a table and a gravel pad for pitching a tent. The campground store handles registration and supplies, and nearby Morefield Village adds a grocery, gas station, gift shop, coin-operated laundry and showers. Hikers can begin on the Knife Edge Trail, a level two-mile round trip that follows an old park road along the northern rim. The Point Lookout Trail starts here too, zigzagging 400 feet up to a landmark formation above the entrance, with views of the San Juan and La Plata ranges. Groomed routes near the store suit winter cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, though hikers without snowshoes must keep off them.