Recently Reviewed Hotels around Mesa Verde National Park

• Balcony House
  "Not for the faint of heart"
  "for $3 per person the very knowledgeable park ranger will take you in a group of 20 plus on a guided 1 hour tour. Purchase tickets at the park entrance, the ranger station located in the campground, or the museum, PRIOR to showing up for the tour. Definitely worth it. Schedule about 2 hours between ..."tours. If you like to climb don't miss this one! About 1/4 mile. Hard surface trail down and into the house, crawl trough a 12 foot tunnel then ascend a wooden 32 foot ladder and up stone steps to the top of the mesa. Very fun Balcony House was my favorite. " More >
• Long House
  "Once in a lifetime"
  "The long house tour is simply amazing. A few disclaimers first. The Mesa Verde visitor center is just off the highway. No entry fee. You must stop here if you want a ranger guided tour of the three largest cliff dwellings: Cliff Palace, Long House, and Balcony House. You cannot access these site..."s without a ranger-guided tour. COST: $3.00 per person. The drive from the visitor center to the cliff dwellings is more than an hour. 25+ miles at 25 MPH. Then you park and wait for your tram. There are restrooms with running water at this point. There is also shade. We packed a lunch. there is a snack bar here also. Don't expect much though. The tram ride is short. Then you hike down to the cliff dwelling. Short hike down. Strenuous hike back up. The site is incredible. It is a little worrisome that they (NPS) still allow visitors into the site. You actually climb ladders up into the dwelling and walk across the Kivas. You are standing in a 1000+ year old archeological site. I predic... " More >
• Spruce Tree House
  "No ticket needed"
  "This is the one ruin you can explore on your own. You can even climb into a kiva. just a short 1/2 mile round trip take a bottle of water, no food or colored drink allowed inside the ruins,"