The Petroglyph Point Trail in Mesa Verde National Park offers stunning views of Spruce and Navajo Canyons and leads hikers past an impressive petroglyph panel. The trailhead is conveniently located near the Spruce Tree House Overlook by the Mesa Verde Museum. This moderately challenging hike is about 3 miles round trip and gains approximately 350 […]
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado is open 24/7 all year round, with no timed entries or reservations required for visiting. As an International Dark Sky Park, it offers stunning opportunities for stargazing. The park features a 30-square-mile dunefield that visitors are free to explore, making it ideal for daytime or nighttime […]
Black Canyon Of The Gunnison National Park features two campgrounds within the park to accommodate the visitors it receives each year. This year we stayed at the South Rim Campground located one mile from the South Rim Visitor Center. Reservations may be made on recreation.gov for mid-May to mid-October, and it is first-come first-served after […]
Riverside Park and the Ralph Mitchell Zoo are nestled in the charming town of Independence, Kansas. Established in 1914, Riverside Park offers year-round fun, while the zoo, founded in 1925, provides a free, family-friendly experience every day of the year. The park features a large playground for children and numerous walking paths to explore. […]
The River Trail links the Green River and Split Mountain Campgrounds on the Utah side of Dinosaur National Monument. The trailhead at the Green River Campground is located at the northern end of Loop A, while in the Split Mountain Campground, it is past the dark sky viewing area. This out-and-back trail covers 3 miles round-trip, […]
The Knife Edge Trail is a 2-mile round-trip interpretive hike located in Mesa Verde National Park. This relatively flat trail, with an elevation gain of just 150 feet, is great for families. Hikers follow a section of the park’s historic entrance road which leads them to breathtaking views of the Montezuma Valley. The parking […]
From A.D. 900 to around A.D. 1300, the Far View area was one of the most densely populated regions of Mesa Verde, serving as a thriving farming community for the Ancestral Puebloans. Within just half a square mile, nearly 50 villages have been identified, housing hundreds of people. The Ancestral Puebloans lived in Far […]
The 6-mile Mesa Top Loop in Mesa Verde National Park offers a journey through 700 years of Ancestral Pueblo history and is open daily from 8 am to sunset. This scenic drive features short, paved trails leading to eleven archaeological sites, where you can explore the remains of ancient pithouses, pueblos, and masonry villages. […]
Spruce Tree House, the third-largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park, was first discovered in 1888. Known as one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in the park, approximately 90% of the visible materials—including walls, wood, and plaster—are original. Built by the ancestral Pueblo people between 1211 and 1278 AD, it sits within […]
The Soda Canyon Overlook Trail is located about a mile beyond the Balcony House parking area along Cliff Palace Loop Road in Mesa Verde National Park. The parking area is quite small, and on our first attempt, we couldn’t find a spot. However, we were lucky on our second try. Cliff Palace Loop Road […]
