I hadn’t read too much about Mesa Verde beforehand so was kind of pleasantly surprised that it was as much a beautiful/nature-y park as it was a huge archaeological preserve. Mesa Verde is named for the canyons that make up the park that look like big green tabletops, but is perhaps more notable for the remnants of the amazing cliff dwellings built by the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here as far back as 600 CE.
Most of the park involves driving out to various viewpoints and looking at the cliff dwellings. Here are some of the amazing ones we got to see:
Square Tower House 
Spruce Tree House 
Cliff Palace
Because of Covid, we weren’t able to take the ranger-led tours and actually climb into the dwellings which was sad, but we were able to see them from afar from various viewpoints and hikes.
Mesa Top Loop Drive
Because the official ranger tours we closed, we instead followed this self-guided audio tour as we drove along the Mesa Top Loop which gave us some great background info and also explained all the sites we stopped at along the drive. The park ranger who narrates the tour is a descendent of the Ancestral Pueblos so she sprinkles in lots of fun personal tidbits.
Note: there’s no cell service in the park, so make sure to download it before you go!
Soda Canyon & Balcony House
We mostly drove around the park to see the various viewpoints so didn’t really do much hiking, but we did do the very short Soda Canyon Trail to get out and stretch our legs and see Balcony House from afar.
Park Point Overlook/Fire Lookout
On our way out of the park, we made a stop and walked out to Fire Lookout for a last view of the park from above as the sun was starting to set.
Durango
We stayed in nearby Durango for our two nights before and after going to Mesa Verde. Of all the towns in the Four Corners region we stayed in, Durango was definitely our favorite. It had the feel of a mountain/ski town (kind of reminded me of Bozeman or some of the Colorado ski towns like Breckenridge) and there were tons of fun breweries, cafes, and restaurants, and just a very cute Main Street/Downtown area.
I think if we had more time, we would’ve loved to have spent more time in Durango and done some hiking and other activities around here.
