Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado 2025
This UNESCO World Heritage site is the largest archaeological preserve in the U.S.
Best time: May–September
Mesa Verde ("green table" in Spanish) is famous for its unique Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in the US. It also contains some of the best preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites. Located in Montezuma County, Colorado, the park was created by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 near the Four Corners region of the American Southwest.
Take the Mesa Top Loop Road which winds past archaeological sites and stop by the Sun Point Overlook to admire panoramic canyon views. With more than 600 cliff dwellings, it is one of the most significant archaeological sites in the world. The Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum has displays on Native American culture especially Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here from AD 600 to 1300. Altogether about 5,000 archaeological sites are available in the park.
The best time to visit the park is roughly from May through September since some sites are closed during the colder months, in particular, the Cliff Palace is closed from late October to April.
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