Mesa Verde is one of the most unique national parks in the United States and a great place for families to visit. It offers short hikes, scenic overlooks, over 4,700 archaeological sites, and cultural experiences you won’t find anywhere else.
Figuring out what to do in Mesa Verde National Park is only difficult because there are so many cool things to see and do!
Its name translates to “green table” in Spanish because of the majestic, flattop ridges that form this landscape. The Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here moved their homes from the mesa tops in the 12th and 13th centuries and built cliff dwellings. Over 600 still exist and they put Mesa Verde country on the map.
President Theodore Roosevelt turned this small patch of southwestern Colorado into a national park in 1906 to, “preserve the works of man.” This was a first! It also became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the first in the U.S. to make the list.
Mesa Verde National Park is open year-round so you can enjoy the ancient and natural beauty here any time. It’s a good idea to split the park into three areas when planning activities: Wetherill Mesa, Mesa Top, and Morefield to Far View.
This guide covers all the best things to do in Mesa Verde National Park in all three areas that you can’t miss so you can plan the best family vacation!
Table of Contents
What To Do in Mesa Verde National Park: Family Activities
1. Cliff Palace Ranger-Led Tour
The Ancestral Puebloan sites are the main attractions for families, or anyone, wondering what to do in Mesa Verde National Park. Cliff Palace is the best place to start! It’s the largest cliff dwelling in North America and was once home to over 100 people.
The only way to explore these cliff dwellings is by booking one of the 45-minute long, ranger-led tours. They operate from May to October and tour tickets are open for booking 14 days in advance at 8:00AM MDT.
As you can imagine, ranger tours fill up fast (limited to 50 people) and are the best way to learn about these national treasures and see them close up!
Our family was in Mesa Verde NP in 2020, so there were no ranger tours at that time due to the pandemic, so I can’t give you a first-hand account of what this tour is like, but I want to share two videos which will give you a great overview of this tour. The first is this one from the NPS.
Cliff Palace is aptly named. Like many of the ancestral dwellings you can see at Mesa Verde, this one is built into the side of a cliff. You can see in the video below what it’s like to get to Cliff Palace from a tourist’s point of view so you can decide if your crew feels like you’ll be comfortable or not taking part in this experience. I’ll say after watching these two videos I will be trying to get my family tickets for this tour next time we are headed to this park!
2. Long House Ranger-Led Tour
If you want to visit more than one ancient site of the Ancestral Puebloans, the Long House is the second-largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park and is in the Wetherill Mesa area.
The video below will give you a great overlook of the tour. Long House was not open during our trip, so I don’t have first-hand experience with this one. The hike to Long House is 2.25 miles round-trip, and is all ascending on the way back. There are some steep drop-offs that would give me pause as a mom. And I’ve read some hiking reviews noting that the path is slippery, and there’s little shade.
That said, the family in this video seems to negotiate the trail without any issue or concern. Ask a ranger for details if you are interested in this tour for your crew.
Normally, you can book a ranger-guided tour to see Long House during the May-October season, like Cliff Palace. Unfortunately, Long House is closed for infrastructure updates and currently not open for tour reservations as of the date this article was published.
3. Step House Self-Guided Tour
There is one cliff dwelling you can visit without park rangers if you prefer self-guided tours. Step House is opposite the Wetherill Mesa Information and it’s the only place you can explore as a family without a big group.
Luckily, the trail to the dwelling is short (.8 mile round-trip) and relatively flat (100′ total elevation change). It’s ideal for what to do in Mesa Verde National Park for kids of all ages!
5. Spruce Tree House Overlook
You might not be able to visit Spruce Tree House up close, but the overlook is the second-best way to view it. Head to Chapin Mesa Museum and the viewpoint is just behind the building.
6. Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center
You can’t plan what to do in Mesa Verde National Park without including a trip to the Visitor Center! Like all national park visitor centers, it’s the best place to chat with park rangers and to spend too much money on national park-related gifts and gear.
There are also exhibits on the Ancestral Puebloan people, their culture, and daily life. Operating hours for the visitor center are 8:30AM – 4:00PM year-round except closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
7. Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum
Stay out of the hot afternoon sun and head to the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum. Its Puebloan exhibits are similar to those at the Visitor Center, but there are many more!
See models of the cliff dwellings and how the people lived and farmed there. There are displays of beautiful ceramics, textiles, tools, and clothes. Plus, you can learn about the local plants and animals.
Entrance is included in the park pass, so it’s a no-brainer.
8. Mesa Top Loop Road Scenic Drive (& Audio Tour)
The Mesa Top Loop Road is a six-mile/10 km road with some of the best views in the park. If you don’t have much time or are traveling with super young kids, it’s a great way to see over 700 years of history in a couple of hours.
You’ll pass the Pithouse, Navajo Canyon View, Square Tower House, Sun Point View, Oak Tree House, Fire Temple, and Sun Temple. Stop and get out of the car at as many of these as you possibly can. Each stop has very interesting archeological and historical information to see and explore.
Listen to the audio tour of the route on the National Park Service Website or National Park App as you drive. There are lots of audio tours now available for US parks.
9. Cliff Palace/Mesa Top Ruins Road Scenic Drive
The Mesa Top Ruins Road – or the Cliff Palace Loop Road – is an alternative scenic drive. It’s also a six-mile/10 km loop that passes Cliff Palace, House of Many Windows, Hemenway House Overlook, Balcony House, and Soda Canyon Overlook.
They’re both beautiful drives if you have the time. These overlooks are perfect for what to do in Mesa Verde National Park for families with young kids with little legs that can’t manage long hikes.
10. Become a Junior Ranger
Most national parks have a Junior Ranger program. Mesa Verde is one of them!
Stop by the Visitor Center to pick up activity books that your kids can complete during your visit. Once they’ve finished the activities, hand it to a park ranger on your way out for a Junior Ranger badge. It’s a fun way to engage kids aged four and above.
11. Stargaze at Mesa Verde
Are you wondering what to do in Mesa Verde National Park at night? Go stargazing! It’s an official Dark Sky Park and you’ll have a great chance of seeing stars and the Milky Way without light pollution from towns and cities.
Stay at the Morefield Campground or the Far View Lodge inside the park to get the best chance of seeing a clear night sky. The Geologic Overlook, Mancos Overlook, and the Montezuma Valley Overlook are also great places to stargaze.
Stop by the Visitor Center to see if a park ranger is running a twilight tour or night program that night. Mesa Verde only runs ad hoc stargazing tours (on new or full moon nights, for example) so check in to see if you can sign up for one.
12. Cultural Dances and Demonstrations
Mesa Verde National Park sometimes hosts cultural dances, demonstrations, and performances by people with local Puebloan and tribal connections to the land.
Luckily, the National Park Service posts the days you can expect these shows in advance on their website.
13. Morefield Amphitheater Evening Presentations
Don’t sweat it if you’re not visiting during a cultural event. Another great family activity for what to do in Mesa Verde National Park is to watch a “campfire talk” by a park ranger.
These are 45 – 60 minute presentations at the Morefield Amphitheater about the Mesa Verde landscape and its history.
14. Snowshoe in the Winter Months
You can’t join cliff-dwelling tours in winter, but many of the trails in Mesa Verde stay open during the winter months. You must bring or rent your own winter gear for cross-country skiing from outside the park, but you can hire snowshoes from the Chapin Mesa Museum.
Take extra care to check the weather conditions before driving further into the park or snowshoeing along a trail.
Truthfully, getting into this park in snow or bad weather would be pretty harrowing…the road to the park is steep and gets your heart pumping even in good weather, so I can’t imagine how it would be in ice/snow!
In general, I’d say Mesa Verde is best experienced during “peak” summer months of mid-May through August because that’s when the cliff dwellings are open, and the ranger programs are in full swing.
15. 700 Years Tour of Mesa Verde
You can book many different guided tours if you’re wondering what to do in Mesa Verde National Park for older kids. One is the 700 Years Tour, an in-depth four-hour tour about the region’s history over the last 700 years.
This is a part-bus, part-walking tour of several parts of the park including the Far View Sites and Cliff Palace.
What To Do in Mesa Verde National Park: Family-Friendly Hikes
16. Park Point Trail
- Easy
- 0.25-mile (0.4 km) out-and-back
You’ll find many family-friendly hiking trails when considering what to do in Mesa Verde National Park. One of the easiest walks has the biggest payoffs!
Park Point is the highest point in Mesa Verde, reaching 8,572 ft (2,612 m) above sea level. The path is smooth and flat to the Park Point Overlook in the south and north.
17. Far View Sites Trail
- Easy
- 0.8-mile (1.3 km) loop
Far View Sites Trail is another short walk that offers a lot of bang for your buck. The ruins dotted along this trail are dwellings lived in by the Puebloan people around 200 years before they started living on the cliffs.
You’ll pass interesting sites like Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir, Megalithic House, and Far View Tower. The walk takes around 20 minutes without stopping but you should slow down, read the informational signs and explore the ruins.
18. Knife Edge Trail
- Easy
- 2.0-mile (3.2 km) out-and-back
Staying at the Morefield Campground? The Knife Edge Trailhead is at the campground so it’s a must-do. Although the terrain is uneven, the route has almost no elevation. It should only take your family around 45 minutes to hike and the views are beautiful.
19. Soda Canyon Overlook Trail
- Easy
- 1.1-mile (1.9 km) lollipop
Take a break on the Mesa Top Ruins Road and hike to the Soda Canyon Overlook. It’s a good option for strollers and family members with limited mobility. You’ll get a view of Balcony House from this trail.
What To Do In Mesa Verde National Park: Options Families May Want to Skip
20. Balcony House Ranger-Led Tour
The other cliff dwelling open for tours (with a reservation late May through mid-October) is Balcony House. People lived in this small village with 38 rooms around 800 years ago. It’s the same process for booking this one-hour tour.
**I want to stress that you should only book a Balcony House tour with very surefooted older kids! Reaching this cliff dwelling requires climbing a 32-foot ladder and crawling through a narrow tunnel (18″ wide) and 12′ long on your hands and knees.
It’s adventurous and (maybe?) fun, but should only be attempted if you feel confident your whole family can manage the climb.
Again, my family wasn’t given the opportunity to do this as we went in 2020, but truthfully, I don’t think I’d book this one with my kids even if I could! The combo of the tall ladder and tight crawl sounds a little too much for this mama. Personally, I’d opt for the Cliff Palace tour, or just enjoying the views from afar rather than try this tour.
21. Petroglyph Point Trail
- Very Challenging/Strenuous
- 2.4-mile (3.9 km) loop
This trail is popular, and it was recommended to us by a park ranger. But when our family got part way through this hike, we turned back.
To me, this trail should not be on a list of Mesa Verde family-friendly hikes. There isn’t much elevation change but there are some steep drop-offs, a 100′ climb up a cliff, shimmying through boulders and scrambling up rocks (Yikes!).
But you get to see some ancient petroglyphs (ancient rock carvings) along the way so…that’s something! With all the other amazing options for your family in this park, I feel confident saying there’s no need to stress about marking this one off your to do list!
22. Square Tower House
This cliff dwelling is in the back country of the park. And while it does boast the tallest structure in Mesa Verde (the “square tower”), that wouldn’t be reason enough for me to recommend that your family endures the trail to get there which is unpaved, potentially slippery in spots and has huge drop-offs along the edge.
This tour is ranger-led, which is great. But it also involves walking across 30′ of cliff ledge…yes, that’s the stuff of nightmares for me as a mom! #hardpass #thanksbutnothanks.
Here’s a fantastic video which can help you decide whether or not this tour is for you (and side note: you will see that kids are on the tour with this couple!) And wait til you see the amazing park ranger who leads this tour!
What To Do Near Mesa Verde National Park: Other Hot Spots
23. Monument Valley
Straddling the Utah-Arizona border, Monument Valley is only a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Mesa Verde National Park. This Navajo land is famous for its red sandstone buttes and its appearance in countless Western movies.
Ride horses with your kids and you can pretend to be cowboys or outlaws too!
24. Four Corners Monument
Stand in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado at the Four Corners Monument. Even better, the Four Corners area is less than a one-hour drive from Mesa Verde.
25. Grand Canyon
Turn your family vacation to Colorado into a road trip around the American West. If you’ve never visited the Grand Canyon, it’s only a four-hour drive from Mesa Verde. Only a Wonder of the Natural World can beat a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
26. Anasazi Heritage Center
Are your kids fascinated by the lives of the Puebloans? Learn more about the people who lived in the Four Corners region 800+ years ago at the Anasazi Heritage Center (also known as the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center & Museum). It’s a 20-minute drive north of the national park.
27. Hovenweep National Monument
Just a one-hour drive west over the Utah border from Mesa Verde, Hovenweep National Monument is another great place to see ancient Puebloan archaeological sites. Find the ruins of six villages dating to the 13th and 14th centuries along the canyon ridges.
Helpful Tips for Families Planning a Trip to Mesa Verde National Park
- Buy Your Entrance Pass – The Mesa Verde entrance fee is currently $15 – $30 for a standard pass or $55 for an annual pass. It’s not one of the most popular national parks so you don’t have to worry about timeslots or availability.
- Prepare for High Elevation – Dehydration and altitude sickness are two of the most common causes of illness in Mesa Verde. The climate in this part of CO is very dry and the elevation is 7,000 – 8,400 ft (2134 m – 2560 m). Bring lots of water and move to lower ground if your kids complain of headaches or lightheadedness.
- Plan Snacks and Meals – There isn’t a grocery store inside the national park, so pack lots of snacks to last the full day or the duration of your time at Mesa Verde. Your dining options inside the park are limited to Spruce Tree Terrace Café, Far View Lounge, Far View Terrace Café, Knife Edge Café, and the Metate Room at Far View Lodge.
- Stop by the Visitor Center – It’s good practice to stop by the Visitor Center when visiting a national park. It’s the only way to learn about the day’s weather conditions and safety precautions that you should take from expert park rangers! Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center is next to the park entrance. The Durango Welcome Center also offers useful information about Mesa Verde.
More US National Park Ideas for Your Family
Looking for things to do with your family in more amazing US national parks? Be sure to check out these articles, too:
- 15 Best Canyonlands National Park Hikes for Families (2 hours from Mesa Verde NP)
- 14 Best Arches National Park Hiking Trails for Families (2 hrs 15 min from Mesa Verde NP)
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