Landmarks of Legacy

120 Years of Protecting a Civilization’s Home in the Cliffs

In 1906, the same year Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law, Congress established Mesa Verde National Park as the first national park in the United States created specifically to preserve archaeological resources. The cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people had stood for 700 years before that legislation. They stand today. As America marks 250 years, Aramark Destinations invites you to experience a place where the human story runs far deeper than any national anniversary, and where the responsibility of stewardship has shaped a century of decisions about what is worth protecting and how.

In 2026, Mesa Verde National Park commemorates its 120th anniversary. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to more than 600 cliff dwellings and 5,000 archaeological sites, and one of the most visited and most studied cultural landscapes in the National Park System. Far View Lodge, Morefield Campground, and the 700 Years Tour, operated by Aramark as the park’s authorized concessioner, put all of it within reach.

The Cliff Dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo People: 700 Years in the Making

Between 550 and 1300 CE, the Ancestral Pueblo people built a remarkable civilization on the mesas and canyon walls of present-day southwestern Colorado. They farmed, created advanced architecture and pottery, and lived on the mesa tops for centuries. Around 1300 CE, likely due to drought and conflict, they moved into canyon alcoves, building iconic cliff dwellings like Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Long House, and more than 600 others.

Experience History in New Ways

Guided interpretive tours and legacy experiences
Special events and commemorative celebrations
Property-specific stories and milestone moments
Culinary and retail offerings inspired by local destinations
Immersive content revealing the past, present, and future of each place

Our Promise to These Places, and to You

Landmarks of Legacy connects our destinations through three shared commitments.

Stewardship

Caring for What Endures: Mesa Verde was established in 1906 on the principle that archaeological resources are irreplaceable and deserve federal protection. More than a century later, that mission still guides the park. Stewardship means carefully managing access to fragile cliff dwellings through guided tours, restricted entry, and ranger oversight to help preserve structures that have endured for over 700 years. It also includes ongoing archaeological research, conservation, and operating lodging, dining, and tours in ways that protect the site's extraordinary cultural and historical significance.

Stories that Shape Our Destinations

Every landmark has a voice. The Ancestral Pueblo people who built Cliff Palace and Long House and Balcony House left the mesa around 1300 CE, moving south and east to the Rio Grande valley and the Colorado Plateau communities where their descendants live today. The Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, and other Pueblo nations carry the living continuation of the civilization that built these structures. The 120 years of the park’s history add another layer: the story of how a nation came to recognize that other civilizations’ legacies deserve the same protection as its own natural wonders, and the ongoing work of ensuring that protection is exercised with respect for the people whose heritage it is.

Experiences of Legacy.

Not Spectators. Participants. Descend the ladder into a kiva at Cliff Palace. Crawl through the tunnel at Balcony House. Watch dusk settle over four states from Far View Lodge as canyon walls glow in the last light. Camp beneath remarkably dark skies at Morefield Campground, where the Milky Way stretches overhead. Follow the 700 Years Tour from early mesa-top pit houses to the final cliff dwellings. Mesa Verde is not a passive look at history—it is a guided, immersive experience that brings visitors as close to the Ancestral Pueblo world as centuries of preservation allow.

Cta Name - Landmarks of Legacy

Give Back to the Places You Love

Through our Round Up program and other philanthropic initiatives, guests can support preservation, education, and community programs around the places we call home — helping protect these landmarks for generations to come. Because honoring legacy also means investing in the future.

Join the Journey

Landmarks of Legacy is more than a campaign. It is a movement across America's most meaningful places — a shared commitment to the destinations that shaped our nation and continue to define who we are. Learn more at landmarksoflegacy.com.