Day 49 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

Today we are going to visit Four Corners Monument.

This is the spot where the States of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado meet. It is the only spot in the USA where the boundaries of 4 States intersect. Once again our National Park Pass was not accepted at this Monument run by the Navajo Native Americans.

We stood in all 4 states at one time.

We left the Four Corners Monument and headed North on the Trail of the Ancients on our way to Mesa Verde National Park.

Arrived at the entrance and showed our National Park Pass.

Our first stop is the Montezuma Overlook.

The road is newly paved and scenery is beautiful as we head to the Visitor Center.

Here is the Visitor Center.

We left the Visitor Center with our Passport Book stamped, some postcards and a hat pin. We will drive the Top Loop Road which is very scenic and will take us to various pulloffs where we can explore Native Puebloan villages and dwellings.

The first stop is Pit House, dated back to AD 600. You will notice that these archaeological finds are sheltered from the elements and further destruction.

The next stop is Square Tower House. 1200 – 1300 AD. A cliff dwelling.

Looks like some eagles have built a next just above the ruins.

Next stop is Pit Houses and Pueblos 700 – 950 AD.

Then we stopped at Mesa Top Sites 900 – 1100 AD

And Sun Point View 1200 – 1300 AD. There are several cliff dwellings visible from this overlook.

Oak Tree House.

Sun Temple.

Cliff Palace.

Here is a better view of Oak Tree House from the next viewpoint.

Fire Temple

This is Sun Temple, 1250 AD. It is not tucked in underneath a rock overhang, it is out in the open.

The main attraction at Mesa Verde National Park is Cliff Palace. Here you can take a Ranger guided tour. However this is quite a steep climb to get down, and then there are ladders to negotiate, plus the heat of the day and the steep climb back up… so Karen and I opted for the “photo op” this time, and we will come back to Mesa Verde at a future date, when it is cooler and take the Ranger guided tour.

Here is another view of Cliff Palace from a different overlook.

That concluded our visit to Mesa Verde National Park. This is a park that we will definitely return to and explore some more. You could spend several days here and not see everything.

We headed for our hotel in Cortez Colorado. To see all of our photos from today you can click on this link to my FLICKR site.