Our 3.5 hour tour of Monument Valley with Dineh Bekeyah Tours was amazing. Yvonne was informative, professional, and gave us cultural insights we could not have gotten without a personal tour. Thanks to the Navajo tribe for its precautions in this era of COVID. Although I understand there are complaints about its mask requirements, anyone wary of traveling these days will find the safety measures logical and reassuring.

We took the Long House tour which was ranger assisted and not guided. The structure was neat BUT it was 1.5 hours from the park entrance on a windy, steep mountain road. 1.5 hours to and 1.5 hours from — for an hour long tour.

We AGONIZED to get these tickets....didn't make the cut the first attempt, then 2nd attempt we *actually* got tickets!!! We were so fortunate. Now to review the "tour". It was not a "tour". The park ranger makes sure to check your tickets, walks you to the steps (we saw Long House), then leaves. You are left to walk around the site and simply "ask questions". Nobody to tell you ANYTHING unless you ASK questions. Was it worth it? All the suffering and stress to get these tickets? I can't believe I'm saying this: probably not. We were extremely sad that we had to pry information from these national park guides, who were out of work for over a year. What a let down. If the guides had actually been slightly interested in giving information it might have captured my teen kids interest, and mine....but alas. I told the park rangers I didn't know enough to ask questions, so I tried overhearing other folks Q&A, which helped tremendously. I was so excited to visit with my own children, having visited when I was a teenager. I will not be returning, even if I could get a free ticket without the stress. Why on earth would they hold the tickets until 2 weeks prior?! Families plan vacations a YEAR OR MORE in advance so this is extremely unfair. Tour companies seem to magically not have this problem.

We did the 700 tour. Amazing. Holly was a great tour guide. I like the way we made stops to comprehend the basics. Eventually we got to walk through the largest cliff dwelling. 90% of the people on the tour bus were seniors. It was challenging to climb down and then back up after viewing the dwelling. We all did it and a few people needed a little extra time to rest. Go for it.

After seeing a negative review of the 700 year tour, we were apprehensive. However, our tour guide, Carolyn, a former NPS ranger, was an expert in all the sites on the tour and really did an excellent of preparing us for the highlight of the trip: the hike down to the Cliff Palace. The $70 price was part of a package with our room at the Far View Lodge and included the $5 Cliff Palace entry fee. I don’t believe we really would have understood and appreciated the history of the Mesa if we had saved a few bucks and simply stopped at sites along the way. Carolyn’s interpretation made the trip well worth the time and price.

Victoria and Grady were our guides. Very knowledgeable and super friendly. Was an amazing tour. Plenty of photo opportunities. The tour was about 3 hrs long.

The tour guide and driver were great and we did learn a number of things we might not have if we hadn’t taken the tour. But the tour price is $70 each and yet all of the places we visited were free with plenty of parking. The Cliff Palace did require a booking with Park ranger and this $5 cost was in the $70. If I ever went there again I would definitely just buy a park guide for the Pueblo’s and visited on our own.

We did the 4 hour 700 year history tour. The highlight of the tour is getting to see the Cliff Palace which takes just a little over an hour and is led by a park ranger (not the guide that’s on the bus tour). Tickets for this event by itself are $5!! This is the best thing on the tour. You see a couple other kivas which you could easily see on your own and just read the signs. The other couple things are just stopping by the side of the road to take photos. Just do the Cliff Palace by itself and do the rest on your own.

Our Bus tour was excellent. We learned so much from our guide. Then we stopped at Cliff Palace where our Guide Rising Buffalo did a wonderful tour of the largest cliff dwelling in North America. It was so spiritual and uplifting. He was the best!

This was a well organised tour, covering a significant number of the Park’s key sites. Comfortable coach, good commentary, very cheery guide and coach driver as well as reasonable time at stops. A good overview of the Park if you are time limited.

We did the Balcony House Tour at Mesa Verde National Park. Steep decent by stairs, then tall ladder up to it. Also, along a cliff! Narrow 12 ft tunnel to crawl through to exit, then a climb up over the cliff ,using only foot hold in the rock and chain "handrail". Scary, but what an awesome sight! Our guide, Teresa, was very knowledgeable, however, pushed her political views at the end of the tour...which soured the experience.

We stayed in Durango, and then headed to Mesa Verde in mid morning, and then treated ourselves to an utterly compelling visit rooted in history, once-in-a-lifetime sites, great hiking and an experience not soon forgotten. Deciding on a guided tour of Cliff House (the only way to access the largest actual cliff dwelling in the massive Mesa Verde footprint), we purchased tickets at the visitor center in Durango the day before for the shocking price of $5 per person. There is a $25 entry fee to get into the national park itself, but there isn't a price you can put on this chance to step way back in time. Some guidepost thoughts for others: Stop at the welcome center to get a real sense of the Pueblo people, and to get a sense of some of the less-well-known visitor spots within the gargantuan park; don't hesitate to hit overlook spots coming in or leaving the park, a few of them provide vistas you just won't find anywhere else; be prepared for a nearly one-hour drive to get from the visitor center down to the southern tips of the park where the more-frequented tourist sites are located; be prepared to see incredible swaths of land that remain completely barren - save the darkened shadows of stark pinyon and juniper trees - because of horrific fires over the last 30 years; the guided tours can be a mixed bag because of large groups, which, inevitably, include a few people that just can't behave themselves in a sacrosanct, pristine setting; a challenging foray out of Cliff House that includes several ladders and a very tight fit in a vertical rock formation. Cliff House, Balcony House and several of the other main waypoints are just incredible, both as reminders of the ingenuity and engineering skill of the Pueblos (not Anasazi, as they're offered referred) and as incongruous visual points of reference under massive granite and sandstone overhangs. Couple of sidenotes: The museum at Chapin Mesa is free, but very dated and not terribly interesting; Wetherill Mesa, and it's accompanying driving loop, are FAR less crowded and hold a huge appeal all their own; take water with you everywhere, as it's in high demand once you get out into the park. I'm an unabashed, fervent fan of the national parks, and this one stands out for its uniqueness, beauty and lessons in history. Bonus points for a welcoming, friendly and helpful set of rangers, both in facilities and for our guided tour.

Plan on spending a couple of days in this park to experience it properly. The driving distance once you get to the visitors center is at least 45 minutes to each guided tour. Stop at the visitor's and purchase your tickets. The tours fill up fast. The thing to remember is that the "movie" about the area is not located at the visitor's center, like most other parks, but up the mountain at the museum. We stayed at the Far View Lodge. We had a very nice dinner that night and the buffet breakfast in the morning. Not cheap but worth staying in the park.

We went up to see Mesa Verde...very nice place. Lots to see and do in the park. Beautiful views on a great family outing!

Mesa Verde has many extremely interesting stops to see, plan to spend at least 6 hours here. The guided tour to the Palace is a must do.