Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Jacque Miller, Shane Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller
Expedition Date: July 14, 2005
Located in the southwest corner of Colorado, our kids listed this as one of their favorite National Parks. Established in 1906, it preserves and interprets the archeological heritage of the ancient Pueblo people who made their home here in the cliff dwellings from 600 to 1,300AD. The cliff dwellings and the Cliff Palace are well preserved. There are over 600 cliff dwellings and 5,000 archeologic sites at Mesa Versa.
We steered our van and pop-up camper up the winding Mesa Top Loop Road past archeological sites, overlooks and panoramic canyon views. We hiked the short Petroglyph Point Trail to see the rock carvings then hiked another trail to the amazing cliff dwellings. The kids enjoyed climbing up several steep ladders and squeezing through many rock openings to visit Balcony House, a single dwelling. Matt and Jacque then led us up a trail to the incredible Cliff Palace, remains of dozens of rooms and structures. The Pueblo people once lived on top of the mesa but eventually but these pueblos or cliff dwellings under overhangs on the cliff.
