Mesa Verde National Park

From Highway 89, we met up with Highway 160, heading northeast toward our destination of Mesa Verde National Park and deeper into the Navajo Reservation. My husband was feeling much better, at the lower altitude, after his bout with altitude sickness at Jacob Lake. Our next stop was the Moenave Dinosaur Tracks near Tuba City AZ.

Long ago, an inland sea stretched deep into the Four Corner area. Dinosaurs roamed the land, leaving their foot prints in the soft mud of the shallow seabed. Over time the indentations filled in with mud, became buried, and solidified. Our excellent Navajo guide led us out into the sandstone plain and pointed out the many examples. She quirted water onto the tracks to make them really stand out. She also pointed out some fossilized dinosaur bones. It was a great experience.

Sculpted formations in dinosaur country!

Beware - dinosaur tracks!

Fossilized dinosaur bones

We checked into our motel in Kayenta AZ and enjoyed dinner at Mesa Grill in the motel restaurant (I tried the fry bread taco, which was delicious). The next morning, after a good breakfast at The Blue Coffee Pot Restaurant, we headed north on Highway 163 into Monument Valley (famous for its stunning landscapes that have been used in Western movies by John Ford and many other directors). We stopped at the Navajo Welcome Center to see their exhibits and get our bearings (I especially enjoyed the Navajo weaving and dyeing exhibit).

Navajo Welcome Center near Kayenta \

One of many stunning red rock formations

Iconic Western scenery from Monument Valley

We passed so many amazing rock formations as we traveled on Highway 163. Out of mercy I'm only  including a few shots here, but have so many more! We also made a quick stop at Four Corners Monument. This is the only place in the United States where four states share a corner. It was a busy spot, and it was worth the price of admission just to watch people take every possible photo with appendages in all four states. 

Four Corners Monument

From there we headed up Highway 163/666, through the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation, to Cortez CO and checked into our motel for a four-night stay. We ate dinner in the motel restaurant and planned the next couple of days, looking forward to our visit to Mesa Verde National Park (and a break from long days of driving)!

Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center

The Ancient Ones, by Edward J. Fraughton
(2012, bronze sculpture)
Ancestorial Puebloans carried heavy loads on the cliffs

View of the native garden and beyond, from the shady pergola

We spent the first day in Mesa Verde National Park getting the lay of the land. The Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center is a good place to start. It is located out of the Park on Highway160, and is part native garden, ranger/resource center, gift store, and museum. Then we headed up the winding road to Chapin Mesa (and a higher altitude again, but with no altitude sickness relapses). We enjoyed the sweeping views and green vegetation of the juniper and pine forest.

Heading for the Mesa Verde Museum

Mesa Verde is a World Heritage Site

Sewing and weaving tools exhibit

The architecture blends in with the landscape

Pueblo Revival architecture

We spent some time in the Mesa Verde Museum, where we caught a short lecture on the cliff dwellings and their ancient inhabitants. We learned that a cliff dwelling was similar to an apartment complex, rather than a city. We also took photos of Spruce Tree House down in the canyon and the architecture of the park administration buildings (designed by Park Superintendent Jesse Nusbaum in the Pueblo Revival style). In the evening, we headed back to Cortez for a delicious dinner at Mi Mexico.

Spruce Tree House from the mesa

Across the canyon is a storage cache for supplies and food

Photo overlook of Spruce Tree House, from the Museum area

The next day, I had arranged to take a group tour of Cliff Palace in early afternoon. The tour entailed a challenging climb down into the canyon before the tour, and a harrowing climb out of the canyon after the tour, via rough-cut stairs and a series of ladders and hand holds, all wedged into a slim crevasse in the stone cliff. I was reminded of The Ancient Ones sculpture that we had seen at the Visitor Center, and how arduous their lives were (and what good shape they must have been in).

View of Cliff Palace from the mesa top

Challenging descent to the canyon floor

The mesa top where the next tour assembles

View of Cliff Palace from the canyon floor

The masonry is from the 1200s and quite extraordinary

The round kivas were probably dwellings
(with wooden roofs and ladders)

The harrowing exit via steep stone steps and ladder

 The tour was fantastic and our guide was knowledgeable and informative. We learned that the canyon would have been alive with the sound of community—people working and talking, children playing and shouting, dogs barking, turkeys gobbling, and sheep baaing. My husband stayed up on the mesa to take photos and enjoy the view. Afterward, we drove around a bit, took a few more pictures of Spruce Tree House, and then drove to Far View Lodge for dinner at Metate Room. We had a window seat with a beautiful view of the mesa (I saw a Pinyon Jay in the shrubs), and enjoyed our delicious dinner and dessert. 

Driving through the scrub brush to Far View Lodge

Great views from Metate Room - inside and out

We could have spent another day exploring the park (following the road on Wetherill Mesa), but we decided to tale a down day instead. We slept in, ate a leisurely breakfast at Beny's Diner, and then visited the Montezuma Heritage Museum and explored downtown Cortez.

Montezuma Heritage Museum

Historic stone building from 1889

Mural in downtown Cortez CO

Back at the motel, I did some laundry at its laundromat, and we read, reviewed our photos, and generally goofed off. We ended with a delicious dinner at Shiloh Steakhouse. Sometimes it is good to slow down, take a pause, and regroup. Next up – Route 66!

I wrote postcards and read a Mrs. Malory mystery, while washing clothes

Learn More

• AAA's Indian Country: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico Map (Automobile Club of Southern California, 2017). This map includes information on national parks and national monuments, recreation areas, campgrounds, tribal lands, and other points of interest, along with "Notes from the Road" by ACSC Field Cartographer, and was invaluable for planning our trip, and for navigating during our trip. We got our paper copy free from the Automobile Club, but you can purchase it online through Amazon and other vendors at an affordable price.

• Canyon Country: Prehistoric Indians, Their Cultures, Ruins, Artifacts and Rock Art, by Barnes and Pendleton (Wasatch Publishers, 1979 and 1995). An illustrated guide to understanding the prehistoric Indian cultures of the general Four Corners region, with sections listing sites where the remnants of these cultures can be viewed. 

• Canyon Country: Prehistoric Rock Art, by F.A. Barnes (Wasatch Publishing, 1982). An illustrated Guide to understanding and appreciating the rock art of the prehistoric Indian cultures of Utah, the Great Basin, and the general Four Corners region. We didn't see many petroglyphs or pictograms on this trip (compared to our trip to Dinosaur National Monument in 2023), but we saw a few in museums.

• Easy Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Southwest, by Rick Harris (American Traveler Press, 1995). This slim pamphlet was useful for interpreting some of the petroglyphs that we saw in museums. I was able to recognize a few symbols, such as village history, migration, clans, routes on a map (indicated by the direction that feet are pointed), hand prints, and corn.

• Mesa Verde National Park (near Cortez CO, elevation from ~6000 to 8000 feet). I first visited Mesa Verde in the early 1970s as a young teenager, on a road trip with my folks and siblings. I was captivated with the cliff dwellings, archeology, anthropology, and high dessert (interests that have persisted through my entire adult life). I wanted my husband to experience the same. Some of our favorite places in the park include, Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings, Mesa Verde Museum, Mesa Verde Spruce Tree House, and Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center.

• Monument Valley (near Kayenta AZ, elevation of the valley floor from ~5000 to 6000 feet). This magnificent valley is located on the Navajo reservation, and is dotted with fantastic geological formations. This is John Ford country, if you are a fan of westerns. For fun, check out the movies and media of Monument Valley. 

• Montezuma Heritage Museum (Cortez CO, elevation ~6200 feet). This museum is small but has a wonderful collection of exhibits, artifacts and history which draws from both the Native American and settlers perspectives. The building itself is in the Southwestern adobe style that I find so appealing.  

• Navajo Moenave Dinosaur Tracks (Tuba City AZ, elevation ~6,000 feet). You don't have to be a kid to like dinosaurs. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed walking among the many tracks with our Navajo guide. She squirted the tracks with water to make them easier to see, and pointed out interesting tracks and fossils.

• Navajo National Monument Welcome Center (Kayenta AZ, Highway 163). We stopped at the Welcome Center near Kayenta to see the exhibits and gather information, before driving through the breathtaking scenery of Monument Valley. You can also arrange for special tours at the Welcome Center, if you want to explore the valley with a Navajo guide.