Badger House Community Trail Guide

Price: $0.50
Publisher: MVMA ()

This group of ruins covers nearly seven acres. Your walk through this area is a journey through 600 years of prehistory. Archaeologists learn about past human behavior mostly through studying technology. As archaeologists uncover settlements of different ages, as here on Wetherill Mesa, they can compare patterns in architecture, tools, and village layout and note how these changed through time. From these things, archaeologists can infer how societies organized to carry out the tasks of life and how they reorganized when necessary to meet life’s challenges. In their interpretations of the past, archaeologists do not always agree with one another. There is no reason why they should. The evidence is always incomplete and often difficult to understand.

Balcony House Trail Guide

Price: $1.00
Publisher: MVMA ()

Balcony House is often the highlight of a person’s visit to Mesa Verde National Park. There is no other site open to the public where people have so much fun climbing ladders, crawling through a tunnel, and generally explore an entire cliff dwelling. Tucked under a sandstone overhang 600 feet above the floor of Soda Canyon, Balcony House faces east. A medium sized cliff dwelling contains approximately 35-40 rooms, it housed about 40-50 people. It was built by the Anasazi (a Navajo Indian word meaning “ancient ones” or “ancient enemies”) starting in early AD 1200’s. Like other cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde, it was occupied about 75 to 100 years. Visitors marvel at its fine stone work, original plaster, balcony and wooden timbers, and its defensive location.

Checklist of the Birds

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Publisher: MVMA ()
MVMA Item Number: tg-birds

Out of stock! This checklist contains 186 bird species known for Mesa Verde National Park, arranged by family. Seventy-eights of these species are known to breed while in the park, while 27 are postulated to breed here. The House Sparrow, Common Starling, Chukar, and Pheasant are species non-native to the New World which have been recorded. Elevations range from 6200 feet (1890 meters) in the deep canyons to more than 8500 feet (2590 meters) at Park Point, creating a diversity of habitats. Seeps and springs provide special niches where a variety of species congregate. Classification follow that was used in the Field Guide to the Birds of North America published by the National Geographic Society. Mesa Verde field records dating back to the 1930s have provided statistical information for compiling this list.

Cliff Palace Trail Guide

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Publisher: MVMA ()

Today only swifts and swallows chitter and swoop in and out of the airy alcove that protects Cliff Palace. But eight hundred years ago the dwelling was bustling with human activity. This stunning structure, deep in the heart of Mesa Verde, was the place where people carried on the routine of their daily lives, but it was much more too. Archaeological research in the late 1990’s reveals that Cliff Palace stands apart from other alcove cliff dwellings, not only in its size but also in how it was built used. Cliff Palace is the crown jewel of Mesa Verde National Park, an architectural masterpiece by any standard, is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. From the rimtop overlooks, the collection of rooms, plazas, and towers fits perfectly into the sweeping sandstone overhang that has largely protected it, unpeopled and silent, since the thirteenth century.

Far View Trail Guide

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Publisher: MVMA ()

Far View is a popular place in the early days at Mesa Verde. From AD 900 to about 1300, it was one of the most densely populated parts of the mesa. Nearly 50 villages have been identified within a half square mile area, home to hundreds of people. The attraction may have been the greater moisture received at this higher elevation of about 7,700 feet. The growing season was probably slightly shorter here than at lower places, but the additional water supply may have supported crop yields to feed the burgeoning population. The resourceful residents of this farming community also applied their know-how to enhance available water and soil. Corn, or maize, was the staple crop, complimented by squash and beans. Within a short walking distance, you can see several major excavated sites, including Far View House and Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Mummy Lake, Megalithic House, and Far View Tower. Please do not walk or climb on the fragile walls or enter the circular rooms called kivas.

Knife Edge Trail Guide

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Publisher: MVMA ()

Historically, part of the Knife Edge Trial fallows a section of the Knife Edge Road built in 1914 as the main access into the park. Along the trail you may see patches of asphalt that remain from this road. Old-timers still proudly talk about what a feat it was to build, or “hang,” a road on this steep bluff. Users recall it with a bit of dread because of its narrowness, the unexpected rockslides and its slippery ruts. Park administrators remember travelers having to call the Mesa Verde headquarters to get clearance before proceeding up the one-way road into the park. In 1957 the National Park Service built a tunnel between Prater and Morefield canyons eliminating the need for this precarious road. The Knife Edge Trail is a 2 mile round trip walk along the north rim of Mesa Verde National Park. It takes about ½ to 2 hours to walk the trail using this booklet. Please do not pick flowers, deface rock, litter, or in any other way damage the beauty of this trail.

Mesa Top Trail Guide

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Publisher: MVMA ()

Stops along the six-mile Mesa Top Loop Drive reveal the full range of architecture at Mesa Verde, from the earliest pithouse to the latest cliff dwelling. Here you can see a progression of the homes and religious structures of the Ancestral Puebloans, who lived here for more than six centuries, from around AD 600 until about 1300. Ten excavated sites and a number of cliff dwellings are visible. Parking areas exists on both sides of this mostly one-way route, with sites beside the road or within a short walk.

Park Point Trail Guide

Price: $0.25
Publisher: MVMA ()

Park Point has the highest elevation on the Mesa, it also offers an unobstructed 360 degree panoramic view of the area. Depending on the atmospheric conditions, which vary with the amount of man made contamination, natural haze and time of year, the view in any direction is truly breathtaking. The Park Point area is a particularly favorite spot for park visitors who enjoy drawing, sketching, painting, and photography. Park Point is surrounded on the north by Mount Wilson and Lone Cone, on the east by the La Plata Range, on the south by the Hogback, Shiprock and Lakachukai Mountains, and on the west Montezuma Valley and Sleeping Ute Mountain. In the distance to the Northwest one can view the Abajo and Manti-LaSal Mountains in Utah. The San Juan Mountains and the rugged and mesa country form and outstanding backdrop for the large concentration of prehistoric Pueblo ruins located within the park. These scenic views contribute to the total experience of Mesa Verde and the remnants of the culture that lived here. Please do not pick the flowers, deface rock, litter or an any other way mar the beauty of this trail.

Petroglyph Trail Guide

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Publisher: MVMA ()

Mesa Verde National Park has a wealth of natural history in the great variety of its plant and animal life and its interesting geology. All of these elements are interwoven with the prehistoric Indian civilization which centered on the mesa from around AD 600 to AD 1300. The Indian people had a tremendous understanding of their natural environment and the use of the environment to fulfill needs of food, shelter, and water. In the centuries that elapsed from the abandonment of Mesa Verde to the entrance of white men into the Southwest, there was little change in the material culture of the Pueblo Indians. These people, who live in northern Arizona and New Mexico, are probably the descendents of the Anasazi who lived here in Mesa Verde. It is from records of the early explorers and missionaries and later from reports of early ethnologists who studied the Pueblos that we derive the reconstruction of Mesa Verde life. On this trail you will be introduced to the natural environment of the Mesa Verde and the ways it was used by the Indians. This loop trail is about three miles (4.8 kilometers) in length and returns you to the headquarters area. Please do not pick the flowers, deface rock, litter or an any other way mar the beauty of this trail.

Spruce Tree House Trail Guide

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Publisher: MVMA ()

You are now entering an area that has change very little in 700-800 years. To the prehistoric inhabitants, a people we call the Anasazi, the canyons provide food, shelter and other materials for daily survival. Some of the most important plants to the people of Spruce Tree House are located just down the trail. Please walk the 50 feet (16 meters) to the bench and boulders, and STOP and LOOK at the plants near the bend in the trail.

Wetherill and Step House Trail Guides

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Publisher: MVMA ()

Wetherill Mesa, forming part of the western boundary of Mesa Verde National Park, contains the second largest concentration of ruins in the area. The 1958 archaeological survey of the Mesa documented close to 900 sites ranging in age from Modified Basketmaker pithouses (AD 450-750) to the Classic Pueblo cliff dwellings (AD 1200-1300). During its occupation this excellent location could have accommodated approximately 1000 to 2000 Anasazi (a Navajo word meaning “ancient ones”) people. Flourishing settlements must have dotted Wetherill Mesa, for thousands of acres of flat top mesa land were available for the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash, the staple crops throughout Mesa Verde. Here a yearly average of 18 inches of moisture enhanced the deep, rich soil and nourished the crops. However, annual rainfall varied, and during drought years the Anasazi developed a system of water storage reservoirs and check dams which ensured at least a minimal harvest. Close to 1000 of these check dams were constructed. In fact, near Step House a series of over 100 terraces within only one-quarter mile have been found.