Its name Spanish for “green table”, Mesa Verde National Park is an anomaly among America’s national parks. It’s one of very few parks that don’t attract people because of their spectacular landscapes, wildlife or adventurous activities.
Instead, it draws in visitors who want to learn about and explore Native American history and culture. Basically all attractions at Mesa Verde are man-made and cultural.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mesa Verde National Park contains almost 5,000 Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings.
With all that overwhelming natural splendor, it’s easy to forget that the National Park System also preserves a wealth of other things and places. In fact, there are literally thousands of Native American heritage and cultural sites in America’s national parks, preserving archaeological sites, battlefields and cultural landmarks.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park are among the most numerous and best-preserved of their kind in North America. They are one of …
Nearly all U.S. national parks encompass the ancestral homelands of Native American Tribes. Having lived in, or at least traveled through, these areas, they left behind plenty of archaeological artifacts …
Besides wildlife and outdoor adventures, many people visit America’s national parks to see some of the country’s greatest landscapes. While some views require several miles of hiking, there are also many spectacular, easily accessible overlooks and viewpoints in the national parks.
Butternut squash soup with popcorn recipe inspired by: Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado (alternatively: Petrified Forest National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park or Capitol Reef National Park) …
When the United States government created Yellowstone National Park in 1872, it kickstarted a global movement to protect and preserve natural places as national treasures. Exactly a century later, during …
Preserving some of America’s last remaining pristine night skies, many national parks offer amazing stargazing and Milky Way viewing opportunities. From Mesa Verde and Death Valley to Glacier and Voyageurs, these national parks have the most spectacular star-peppered night skies. “Half the park is after dark!”
The National Park Service (NPS) and the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) announced the designation of Mesa Verde National Park as the world’s 100th International Dark Sky Park. This important certification is the result of the park’s efforts to implement responsible lighting policies, which enhance the already-exceptional quality of its night sky.
A major city in southern Arizona, Phoenix is a gateway to the national parks of the Southwest. On a road trip from the Arizona capital, you can visit several of America’s most famous parks, including Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and Saguaro.
See the Rocky Mountains, towering sand dunes, deep canyons and countless Native American archaeological sites in these amazing national parks Near Denver, Colorado: Rocky Mountain, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde and Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
A UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park protects a huge collection of Ancestral Puebloan sites, including dozens of cliff houses and a few really impressive cliff-side ruins. Here’s how you can spend an active and educative day at Mesa Verde.
With their mesmerizing natural beauty and abundant wildlife, America’s national parks aren’t exactly the dream destinations of architecture lovers. At least, that’s what they think. The truth is that you can find gorgeous and photogenic buildings in national parks all over the U.S.
Nowhere else in the world will you find landscapes quite like those that characterize southern Utah, northern Arizona and southwestern Colorado. Here, in the middle of the Colorado Plateau—and incidentally also at the top of the plateau—scattered woods alternate with high desert scenery.