Mesa Verde National Park Museum

Awesome park to visit. Large enough to easily spend the entire day here. Over 40 miles of roads to travel, with hiking trails to see the cliff dwellings. Even if you don't have time to hike, a beautiful view of one of the cliff dwellings can be had from the Visitor center pathways. Plan on spending the day. Nice bathrooms, and water fountains at this location. BRING WATER if you plan on hiking the 2.4 mile loop to see the writings on the wall.

This is a beautiful visitors center! Our family of 8 enjoyed the displays in the museum, grabbed some souvenirs from the gift shop, and stamped our national park passport. The ranger we spoke to was very knowledgeable and was quick to help us get oriented with the park, the bikes available, and where our time would be best spent. There was some construction going on the roads and a little bit through the park as they are making some much needed upgrades. Very family friendly and a must see stop for anyone traveling through southwest Colorado.

Very cool research center. Lots of very informative information. You can tell they put a lot of time into this facility. It's just absolutely beautiful. Their gift shop is small but not a big deal to me as long as the research they are doing is being done.Visited onWeekdayWait timeNo wait

Take the time to visit this Center and the park! AMAZING drive to the top at 8500 ft. Today, 4/10/23, the winds did not blow and it was still 70°, with snow all over!! Take your time to drive the many switchbacks and look at all the views plus the cliff dwellings! Great information all along the way.

The museum bit here is fairly minimal; there's a lot more to see about the history of the area down at the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum. But still useful for getting some ideas about the area. And you could also see some of the "research center" portion behind glass, including pottery that's been painstakingly reassembled.

Beautiful center. Nice gift shop. Wonderful books and literature on the local people and the park. Definitely take the 6 mile loop. Believe me, it's worth the 20 mile drive to the beginning.Visited onWeekdayWait timeNo waitReservation recommendedYesPrice for adult entryFree

March '23, still tons of snow and most services still closed for the season. The main visitor center is open and staffed. It's a really nice one with plenty of exhibits and some cool sculptures. The park is well worth a visit even with the snow. There are spectacular views and most of the sites are protected by covered structures so you can see all the archeological exhibits. Saw coyote, lots of hawks, and dramatic skies.

The kids had fun stopping in here before we went to hike. We got a map and read the signs about the people here long ago who lived in the dwellings. There are even examples in here to check out tunnels and ladders if you are planning to go on one of the tours. For accessibility, it is dark in here for someone blind. I had to hold on to a family member in order to move around. It is wide enough for a cane or wheelchair. If you are military, make sure to get your annual pass for free! Hope this review helps you and give us thumbs up! #crazykleinadventure

Cant say enough about how moving ot was to visit Mesa Verde!Established by Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, the park occupies 52,485 acres 21,240 ha near the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. With more than 5,000 sites, including 600 cliff dwellings,[2] it is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States.[3] Mesa Verde Spanish for "green table", or more specifically "green table mountain" is best known for structures such as Cliff Palace, thought to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America. Starting c. 7500 BC Mesa Verde was seasonally inhabited by a group of nomadic Paleo-Indians known as the Foothills Mountain Complex. The variety of projectile points found in the region indicates they were influenced by surrounding areas, including the Great Basin, the San Juan Basin, and the Rio Grande Valley. Later, Archaic people established semi-permanent rock shelters in and around the mesa. By 1000 BC, the Basketmaker culture emerged from the local Archaic population, and by 750 AD the Ancestral Puebloans had developed from the Basketmaker culture. The Pueblonians survived using a combination of hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming of crops such as corn, beans, and squash the "Three Sisters". They built the mesa's first pueblos sometime after 650, and by the end of the 12th century, they began to construct the massive cliff dwellings for which the park is best known. By 1285, following a period of social and environmental instability driven by a series of severe and prolonged droughts, they abandoned the area and moved south to locations in Arizona and New Mexico, including the Rio Chama, the Albuquerque Basin, the Pajarito Plateau, and the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Can't wait to visot again....**plan your tours at least two weeks in advance.

This is a great Park, with the great view. Native Americans live here around 800 years ago. And we are enjoy the same sky and the same land. Visited onWeekdayWait timeUp to 10 minReservation recommendedNoFree entryYes