Everyone’s Welcome in Mesa Verde National Park

Service animals are allowed anywhere that you are allowed to go in Mesa Verde National Park including cliff dwelling tours. However, on tours with ladders, service animals must be carried in a pack or able to climb ladders on their own. Visitors must have both hands free for climbing ladders. 

A service animal is any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability.

Emotional support animals, comfort animals, and therapy dogs are not service animals under Title II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  A doctor’s letter does not turn an animal into a service animal. 

Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center 

The Visitor and Research Center is open year-round with accessible parking and road crossings, and a paved walkway. There are audio described wheelchair accessible, and tactile exhibits. A braille park brochure is free at the ranger desk. Additional features include push button entry, ADA restrooms and drinking fountain and Wi-Fi. Be sure to inquire about wheelchair availability.

Mesa Verde Museum

The Mesa Verde Museum is 20 miles from the park entrance. Visitors can watch the 17-minute, captioned park film and request an assisted listening device. Wheelchairs are available to borrow. There are ramps throughout the museum where a selection of ancestral and modern-day cultural items are on display. With 24-hour advance request, pottery samples can be made available to touch. Wi-Fi is provided by the Mesa Verde Association Park Store.

Spruce Tree House

Spruce Tree House is the best preserved and third-largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. It is best viewed from the covered back porch (see top photo) of a historic building to the right of the Museum. A closer vantage point is from an overlook down a paved steep path.

Morefield Campground

Some camp sites are accessed by steps or are located on uneven terrain. There are several designated, accessible camp sites and comfort stations (with flush toilets) available along the Apache Loop. See Camping for more information.

Far View Lodge

The Lodge has seven ADA rooms. There are no stairs in any of the Lodge Room buildings, a ramp from the parking lot to the Lodge entrance, and an elevator in the Lodge lobby for access to the upstairs lodge and the downstairs recreation room.

Restaurants

All the restaurants in the park—the Far View Terrace, Spruce Tree Terrace, the Metate Room, and Far View Lounge—are fully accessible.

Overlooks Along the Way

There are four roadside stops with exhibits and views of the landscape where ancestral people traveled and lived.

Mancos Overlook: On the left, four miles from entrance. Paved walk to exhibit and covered picnic table.

Montezuma Overlook: Near milepost 6, no designated parking but curb less access to vault toilets, two exhibits, and a covered picnic table.

Park Point: Near milepost ten on the right, accessible parking, restrooms, and picnic tables. From the parking area, the highest point in the park at 8,572 feet (2613 m) elevation is reached via a very steep hike on pavement. Once on top, there are two viewpoints and a historic fire lookout.

Geologic Overlook: Between mileposts 12 and 13, vault toilet, no designated parking, curb less area, paved walkway, exhibits. A steep incline to the second viewpoint

Cliff Dwelling Tours

Ranger-led tours to Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and the backcountry site Square Tower House, require reservations. In some years throughout the season there may be additional tours offered at other sites. Cliff dwelling tours involve rough trails with steep drop-offs, uneven steps, and climbing ladders. Descriptions of the tours are found on the cliff dwelling webpage.
 
Visit Recreation.gov to make a reservation. Please carefully read tour descriptions to ensure that your service animal is capable of accompanying you on tours that involve climbing ladders. On tours with ladders, service animals must be carried in a pack or able to climb ladders on their own. Visitors need to have both hands free for climbing ladders.

American Sign Language interpreters are available for ancestral site tours upon request. Please make your reservation through recreation.gov then contact the park with a request for an ASL interpreter at least one week in advance of your tour reservation. For more accessibility information visit Accessibility - Mesa Verde National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) 

Mesa Top Loop Road

Mesa Top Loop is 6-miles (10 km) with 12 ancestral sites and viewpoints, and two stops with toilets. A printed guide is found at the first and last sites, and exhibits are at all stops. Excavated sites are protected with a roof. The accessibility brochure which is available from the entrance station, Visitor and Research Center, or the Museum offers brief descriptions of the access to each ancestral site.

Download an audio tour on the National Park Service app and save Mesa Verde offline. Then go to "Self-guided Tours" and listen to the Mesa Top Loop Audio Tour as you explore the sites. Or download the audio tour as a podcast on your smart phone and listen in your car as you drive. Download the audio tour on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. Make sure to download before entering the park, because service is limited within the park.

Cliff Palace Loop

Cliff Palace Loop Road is 6-miles (10 km) with viewpoints. Binoculars are helpful to see cliff dwellings across the canyons.

Far View

Far View is an ancient farming community where people lived from the CE 700s into the early 1200s. A ¾-mile (1.2 km) dirt trail, sometimes rutted, muddy, and uneven, passes by five villages and a reservoir. A supplemental, archeological, trail guide is found near the trailhead. Two sites may be seen from your vehicle.

Cedar Tree Tower

Cedar Tree Tower is located less than 5 yards (4.6 m) from the parking area and can be viewed from your vehicle. In the same area is the 0.5-mile (0.8km) Farming Terrace Loop Trail. This is an opportunity to view an example of check dams built by Ancestral Pueblo farmers. 

Cliff Palace Overlook 

The Cliff Palace Overlook is accessed by a paved trail and one flight of stairs. Cliff Palace can also be viewed from an accessible paved overlook at Sun Temple on the Mesa Top Loop. 

WETHERILL MESA 

Wetherill Mesa is open seasonally for day use only. Many sites are accessible with assistance by paved and/or graveled trails. All Wetherill Mesa trails pass through areas that burned in the 2000 Pony Fire, where there is no shade. Be prepared for sun and weather exposure.

Step House

A steep paved and graveled, 1-mile (1.6 km) round-trip trail to a cliff dwelling. Open seasonally and only when staffed with a ranger. Access for wheelchairs is via the exit trail only. Wide rim wheels are highly recommended. The steep trail does not meet legal grade requirements. Accessible with assistance.

Badger House Community

A relatively level area with a partially paved and graveled trail to a series of mesa-top ancestral homes. Round-trip distance is 2.25 miles (3.6 km). Accessible with assistance.

Long House Loop

This paved road is available for hiking and biking and is accessible. The road loops around the top of Wetherill Mesa to the Badger House Community (2.5 miles/4 km roundtrip), Long House Overlook (3 miles/4.8 km roundtrip), and Kodak House Overlook (4.5 miles/7.2 km roundtrip). Accessible with assistance.

Contact Us

Please contact us if you need additional information, have questions, or if you have trouble accessing the information on this webpage.

E-Mail 

Email us to assist with planning your visit.

Mail

Interpretive Rangers 
PO Box 8, Mesa Verde, CO, 81330 

Phone

970-529-4465