The Knife Edge

Mesa Verde is accessed through a single entrance and our first stop was a vista and short hike called the Knife Edge.  The thin, tall rock formation was quite dramatic and it was an easy ~mile hike along the trail just below the Knife Edge formation and above the adjacent valley.  Just after starting the walk, I heard a noise in the bushes and passed by without stopping.  On the way back, some other hikers advised us to “look out for the rattlesnake just off the trail.”  I guess we walked right by it on the first time.  We live in San Diego, so rattlesnake awareness is engrained in our minds.  But, a month in the alpine forests and mountains of Colorado had pushed it to the back.  Not very bright.  Anyway, we learned that the Knife Edge trail was part of a stretch of Old Knife Edge Road and was the original entrance road to the park.  Imagining driving on that road was way scarier than rattlesnakes.  After that, we made our way to the excellent Visitor Center where we planned out our day.  Unfortunately because of the pandemic, the Wetherill Mesa Road was closed and there were no tours from the overlooks down into the cliff dwellings.  But, we did download a great audio tour onto our phones for the other parts of the park and went on our way.

Cliff Dwellings

and Mesa Top

In the spirit of saving the best for last, we drove the Mesa Top Loop Road before going to the more iconic cliff dwellings.  Along this loop (narrated excellently on the audio tour), you can visit 10 different stops with exhibits showing how the Pueblo people lived here for about 700 years, from around 600 AD until the late AD 1200’s.  You get to see their early pithouses which over time evolved to complex communities with central kivas for ceremonies.  You’ll learn about their time in the region until they left.  It seemed sudden as there were so many every day relics left behind.  There’s mystery and debate about why they left, but the most likely reason is environmental.  Climate and decreasing rains just weren’t suitable to ensure annual crops of corn.  There’s lots more to learn if you wish, but the exhibits are remarkable for how these people survived and prospered so many hundreds of years ago.  The stars of the show at Mesa Verde are the large and generally well preserved cliff dwellings.  Most of these were built toward the latter end of their time at Mesa Verde and the construction, for the time, was masterful.  Not quite up to Machi Picchu levels, but their ability to manage temperature, ventilation, and protection was remarkable.  The Cliff Palace, Spruce Tree House and Oak Tree House are a few of the larger and most popular sites, each sustaining larger communities of Puebloans.  When you see these with respect to the surrounding environs, you’ll agree on their genius and perseverance. 

Mesa Verde is a unique and worthy National Park.  You can do this in a long day or maybe spread across two days.  We hope to go back again someday to see the areas of the park we missed and to take a tour or two to get some up close photos of the cliff dwellings.  The story and mystery of the Ancestral Pueblo people is fascinating and we recommend including Mesa Verde in your adventure plans.