Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park (mā'sə vûrd`, vûr`dē), 52,122 acres (21,109 hectares), SW Colorado; est. 1906. It includes the most notable and best-preserved cliff dwellings (see cliff dwellers) and relics in the United States, covering four archaeological periods. There are museums and a library. Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is to the west. See National Parks and Monuments (table).

Bibliography

See D. A. Smith, Mesa Verde National Park (1988).

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Mesa Verde National Park

National park, southwestern Colorado, U.S. It was established in 1906 to preserve prehistoric Indian cliff dwellings. Occupying a high tableland area of 52,085 acres (21,078 hectares), it contains hundreds of pueblo ruins up to 13 centuries old. The most striking are multistoried apartments built under overhanging cliffs. Cliff Palace, the largest, was excavated in 1909 and contains hundreds of rooms, including kivas, the circular ceremonial chambers of the Pueblo Indians.

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Mesa Verde National Park

Parks Directory of the United States / US National Parks / National Parks

Address: PO Box 8
Mesa Verde, CO 81330
Phone: 970-529-4465;
Fax: 970-529-4637;
Web: www.nps.gov/meve/
Size: 52,122 acres.
Established: Established on June 29, 1906 as the first national park set aside to "preserve the works of man". Wilderness designated on October 20, 1976. Designated a World Heritage Site on September 6, 1978.
Location: In southwestern Colorado, midway between Cortez and Mancos, off US 160. It is a 21-mile drive from the entrance to the park headquarters and the Chapin Mesa archeological sites.
Facilities: Campground (é), picnic area, rest rooms (é), lodging, groceries, restaurants, snack bar, visitor center (é), museum, 5 hiking trails. Entrance fee required.
Activities: Camping, hiking, guided and self-guided walks to ruins, stargazing, cross-country skiing and snoeshoeing.
Special Features: Mesa Verde, Spanish for "green table," offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Puebloan People who made it their home for over 700 years, from AD 600 to 1300. The park's world-famous cliff dwellings and other works among the most notable and best preserved in the United States. Most of the park's 600 cliff dwellings were built from the late 1190s to the late 1270s. They range in size from one-room houses to villages of more than 200 rooms (the Cliff Palace).

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See other parks in Colorado.