A Full Day In Mesa Verde National Park

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Mesa Verde was one of our last stops on our Honeymoon trip and it was a park we were so thoroughly happy and dissatisfied with all at the same time - read on to find out why.

I know, I know - how were we dissatisfied with a National Park? Well, we ABSOLUTELY understand that parks have closures and have always rolled with them. What made us pretty upset with this park is the closures have been closed for MONTHS and they were not online, told to us at the gate OR before we made a 22-mile drive (2 hours) within the park and followed signs that said: “open today”. If it was a spur of the moment closure - sure we would have understood, but this just put a rotten taste in our mouth how when we asked at the entrance if we had to take guided tours anywhere or we could roam alone or if anything was closed and the ranger said “no guides needed anywhere and nothing is closed” when indeed five of the house paths are by guides only and seven locations in the whole park were closed - leaving two open. (These were long term damage closures and understaffing - not covid related closures)

So we decided to give it our all and read EVERY pamphlet about the history of the park on that 22 mile drive that we literally had to turn around after doing and drive it back and learn all we could on the park - and that honestly was INCREDIBLY interesting. We then decided to go on the two paths that were open that led you through the history of the houses throughout the centuries, which again was very cool. Even more so because we read the history and really immersed ourselves in it.

However what made this one of our FAVORITE stops thos whole trip was the fact that we stayed IN the park overnight at the Mesa Verde Overlook Lodge. It’s ran by Lake Powell and they do not half-ass anything I swear. The rooms literally overlook the whole green of the park and the Colorado Mountains nearby. Seriously these photos are our room and me holding the rose - thats on our personal balcony. You can buy drinks on property (where the rose is from) but you can also dine on property. HOWEVER you MUST reserve a time in advance or MAYBE squeeze in a time once you check in, but that’s most likely not going to happen. We did dine on property, had an amazing time, ate the best food of the whole trip and had some celebrity dine next to us, but we never found out who it was.

I had never stayed in a NP property hotel before but I would so reccomend it - we also sat on our porch that evening and just watched the park and the stars. We had gone the first week they opened after COVID closures and got a discounted rate ONLY for that. This is not an affiliate post. I would’ve paid full price for this room as well - it was that good.