Although we had visited Mesa Verde before, we were  back in the area and wanted to see it again.  From Cortez, CO it’s just a few minutes to the entrance of the National Park, although once past the entrance it’s about a half hour to get to any of the sites.

Unfortunately, the loop road that includes the Cliff Palace and the Balcony House was closed for road work while we were there.  And, other ruins that are accessible through a guided tour had limited people per tour and we were unable to get tickets to any of them.  Jeff visited both during our previous visit but I did not, partly because of the hike up and back and also the Balcony House access is through a 12-foot long small tunnel that you have to crawl on your hands and knees to get through.  With my claustrophobia I didn’t even want to attempt!

But, there is one set of ruins, the Step House, that can be viewed on a self-guided tour.  We hiked almost a mile to get to the ruins. It was downhill the whole way, which means it was uphill the whole way back!  As it is at about 8,000ft I had trouble going uphill and we stopped several times to catch our breath.

But, it was really nice to be able to see some ruins up close!

We also drove on a loop road that provides the best vantage point to see the Cliff Palace.  Near that viewpoint there is a small structure called the Sun Temple that we were able to walk around and see as well.

Here is the blog entry from our last visit, and here are pictures of this visit: