March 30, 2019

Roadschooling Mesa Verde National Park

Roadschooling through Mesa Verde National Park was an amazing experience. In fact, our family agreed that this was – hands down – our favorite roadschool adventure at a national park.

Not only did we learn about the unique natural landscape a (ummm, homes in cliffs?!) and animals of the park, but also about the people who inhabited the area about 2,000 years ago – the Ancestral Puebloans.

The park rangers here were ah-mazing; they were so knowledgeable and passionate, and had a knack for truly drawing you in with their wisdom, stories, and jokes. I know each park has its beauty, but Mesa Verde especially captured our hearts.

Read on for how you can do Mesa Verde National Park with kids, too!

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW

Mesa Verde National Park is very spread out, involves quite a bit of driving, and requires some planning … if you desire to have a stress-free family experience (or as close as you can get to one, anway)!

When you first enter the park, you will see the Mesa Verde National Park Visitor and Research Center. This is where you can secure tickets to guided tours of some of the cliff dwellings. The recommendation is to get there early to ensure you snag a spot.

Our family paid a little bit more, ahead of time, online, for the special tours just so we didn’t have to worry about any of that once we got there. We booked both the Balcony House Early Bird and Cliff Palace Twilight tours about three months before our visit (each $20 per person).

THE DIFFERENT CLIFF DWELLINGS

Speaking of cliff dwellings … they are located in 2 separate areas (mesas) of the park, which are both serviced by their own roads. Studying the map before arriving at Mesa Verde National Park with kids was the best thing we did (less time trying to figure things out on the spot, and more time being present having fun!).

After referring to the map and doing research about what our family wanted to see and do, we decided on a 2-day itinerary, with one day dedicated to each separate area.

Planning is a must for visiting Mesa Verde National Park with kids!

Wetherill Mesa Road takes you to both Longhouse (the most in-depth; requires a tour ticket) and Stephouse (self-guided) cliff dwellings. This road is only open from May through September. Plan on a 1.5 hour drive time from the park entrance to this area.

Chapin Mesa Road takes you to the area with a larger concentration of cliff dwellings, including Balcony House (the most adventurous; requires a tour ticket), Cliff Palace (the largest; requires a tour ticket), and Spruce Tree House (self-guided).

And frankly, plan on a little longer if you are wanting to stop at view points along the way. You’ll also want to arrive about 15 minutes before your tour begins.

HOW MUCH TIME TO SPEND AT MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK WITH KIDS

Oh gosh, you could probably spend more time than our family did, depending how much you love social studies! We spent two full days, which included three guided tours (Longhouse, Balcony House, and Cliff Palace), and felt it was just the right amount for our crew (which included 6.5-, 9.5-, and 11.5-year olds)! Any less would have felt rushed, or we would have had to give up one or two tours.

Besides the tours, there are all kinds of trails that kids can burn energy on!

WHERE WE STAYED: MESA VERDE CAMPING

We actually camped in a couple places while visiting Mesa Verde National Park with kids.

Night 1: The first place we stayed was on BLM land, located right near the entrance to the park. This was the night before we did any adventuring in the park.

We had arrived late in the afternoon, after covering almost 300 miles from the Desert View area of the Grand Canyon, and welcomed the idea of just setting up camp and relaxing for the rest of the evening … especially since the next day would be an early and full one!

Night 2: On the second night of our roadschooling adventure to Mesa Verde (which was following our first full day of exploring), we stayed at Morefield Campground, which is located within the park’s boundaries.

Since there is quite bit of driving within the park, we figured it was worth the campsite fee to be within a closer proximity to the cliff dwellings, especially since we had another early wake up call the following day.

Morefield Campground within the park’s boundaries.

Night 3: After all our adventuring on the second day, we made our way back out of the park’s boundaries and set up camp again on the same BLM land from the first night!

(From here, we would wake early the next morning to head to our roadschooling adventure … at Arches National Park!)

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK ROADSCHOOL ITINERARY

DAY 1:

After a good night’s rest boondocking on BLM land, we got up bright and early and headed straight to the Mesa Verde National Park Visitor and Research Center.

We actually got there before they opened, but this is where we unhitched our tow rig from our RV, leaving the RV in the parking lot for the day. Then we made our way towards our first cliff dwelling tour: Longhouse at Wetherill Mesa!

The drive from the park entrance down to where the fun is located takes about 1-1.25 hours. The windy road does not allow for vehicles longer than 25 feet (which is why we left our RV at the visitor center near the park entrance).

You have to climb this ladder to see more.

Plan on about 1.5-2 hours to do this tour. You meet at the the Wetherill Mesa Kiosk (located in the parking lot), wait for the guide, and then the entire group will walk .75 miles to the Longhouse trailhead.

Afterwards, we walked along the Badger House Community Trail before loading back up into the car. We had to drive back out to the park entrance to hitch up to our motorhome so we could then check into Morefield Campground, where we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out.

Sometimes it is a good idea not to pack too much un when traveling with kids! Also, we knew we had a very big next day so wanted to give our whole family some downtime.

DAY 2:

Another early morning for our crew! This time we headed to Chapin Mesa for a full day of fun. We drove our Class C motorhome and towed the Jeep so that we could have our own facilities during the day.

First up: The Balcony House Early Bird Tour (early bird, meaning 8:00 am).

This window looks into the second chamber.

Video of the second chamber.

Our next cliff dwelling tour wasn’t until evening so we spent time driving along Mesa Top Loop Road to check out other sites on this side of the park, like: