Mesa Verde National Park is about 45 minutes from Durango. When we got to our first visitors center we were so disappointed that the tour tickets were sold to a school group that day. We also didn't realize how far the museum and cliff dwellings were from the initial entrance (about 1 hour).
You can take an easy hike around the Far View Sites which were inhabited from 900 to 1300 A.D. The Ancestral Pueblo people were here about 200 years before building the cliff dwellings.
They were once home to hundreds of people that lived in many villages.
This was a mesa top farming community. They grew crops such as corn, squash and beans and hunted here.
Jamie discovered some pinyon nuts (pine nuts) on our hike. These are an important source of food not only for the people but animals as well. They also used the trees for building materials and firewood.
Cliff Palace...requires a tour ticket but was closed undergoing renovation. In AD 1200 the Ancestral Pueblo people began to build their villages here under the cliffs. They shaped the sandstone into rectangular blocks. The used dirt and water as mortar. The round chambers are called Kiva. You would enter via a ladder and were thought to be a multi-use site for religious, social and utilitarian purpose.
The Spruce Tree House was also closed because of a rock slide. It is an absolutely fascinating place even though we weren't able to walk through the dwellings. The visitors center was so interesting as well.
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