Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum

One of the few historical museums in the area and its a must to stop by to learn so much about this beautiful area! Make sure to check out the Spruce Tree House as you can hike down to it or you can get a good picture after a very short hike down!Visited onWeekdayWait timeNo waitReservation recommendedNoPrice for adult entryFree

New intro interpretative video as of June 2023 makes this a must. Provides great context for the Mesa Verde site to make your visit so much more enjoyable. Always enhances your experience to know the significance of what you're seeing.

Great museum and some nice exhibits - very informative! There were some good short videos running on a loop every 30 minutes, too.

Museum has lots of great information and nice way to escape from the heat. Many rooms with information about the area along with items found within the region. Gives plenty of information on the people who once lived in the area as well. The bathrooms near the museum also are real bathrooms so if you can wait until you get the the museum area I would 100% recommend it as most of the park are the outhouses that smell while these have running water, clean, and stink-free.

Fantastic place to visit. Sadly the path to the Spruce Tree House was closed, but lots to see there.

Museum is closed now. Too early in the season to visit. However the spectacular views of the ancient cliff dwellings made the trip worthwhile. We plan to come back in a few years and do all the hikes too. The signage by the native plants explaining their medicinal, culinary and artistic use was interesting too.Visited onWeekdayWait timeNo wait

Small ruins but the restoration of the kiva makes the visit worth your while.Visited onWeekdayWait timeNo waitReservation recommendedNoPrice for adult entryFree

It takes about 40 minutes from the entrance of National Park to this museum. Gift shop inside has more variety of products comparing to the gift shop at visitor center. Also there is a post office nearby. You can send postcard there. There is a viewpoint nearby 1mins walk for historical building.

I have visited Machu Picchu in Peru and that is amazing... Visiting Mesa Verde is just as impressive... The abundance of artifacts and research of the area is well displayed.. I really enjoyed the diversity of subjects presented in various settings. The movie of the history help get a feel of times back when the Mesa was inhabited... Thanks for preserving the area so we can hike and explore..

Mesa Verde in general is a great place to visit if you've got a full morning, or even a full day. Our stop at the Museum was probably about an hour long, they've got a pretty educational exhibit inside with artifacts and paintings, including a 20ish minute long video explaining how humans survived here 1,000 years ago. The pictures I've posted are from the actual archaeological site, from which many of the artifacts were collected. I definitely recommend stopping by the museum to watch the instructional video before visiting any archaeological sites, since the video explains a lot of what you'll find there. In addition, my group paid for tickets to do the bus tour with Grady, and that was similarly helpful and educational. It costs a little more, but you definitely get your money's worth out of the visit. Mesa Verde is very well preserved and you can tell that everyone working at the site cares very much about preserving its history and culture. We definitely enjoyed our visit!