Mesa Verde and More

See the historic National Parks of the Southwest

Take one long weekend to explore six Pueblo sites in four states, starting in Durango, Colorado.

Day One

MORNING  From Durango, head south on Highway 550 to Aztec Ruins National Monument in New Mexico. This mammoth, 900-year-old site lies right off the highway.

AFTERNOON  Head about 75 miles northwest on Highway 160 to Mesa Verde National Park, where you can:

• Drive the 6-mile Mesa Top Loop Drive to see all the villages in the park.
• Explore the Cliff Palace or Balcony House on a ranger-led walking tour.
• Try the self-guided walking tour of Spruce Tree House, where you can descend a ladder into a kiva, a subterranean ceremonial structure.

EVENING  Cortez, Colo., about nine miles west, is the usual base camp for Mesa Verde visitors, but head 12 miles north instead and you’ll find the smaller, cooler town of Dolores. Dolores hotels on Expedia

Day Two

MORNING  Set out for Yucca House National Monument, about eight miles south of Cortez.

Though small, these ancient clay-brick ruins are worth the adventure. There are no signs to this site and you’ll have to navigate dirt roads, but you’re likely to have the site to yourself.

AFTERNOON  Follow County Road G, leading west from Cortez to Hovenweep National Monument, where’ll you’ll find blissful solitude among 800-year-old towers and rock carvings. At Hovenweep:

• Hike the two-mile loop from the visitor’s center around the Square Tower Group, where as many as 500 Puebloans lived between 1200 and 1300 A.D.
• Make time for some of the five outlying sites.

EVENING  About an hour from Hovenweep is the breeze-by frontier town of Bluff, Utah—don’t miss the Cottonwood Steakhouse’s famous BBQ.

Day Three

MORNING  The 100-mile drive south to Chinle, Arizona, the gateway to Canyon de Chelly National Monument, will take about an hour and a half.

• Cruise the “rim drives” along the canyon’s edge.
• Hire a Navajo guide to get to the canyon floor. As you descend on foot, horseback, or four-wheel-drive vehicle, marvel at ancient cliffside dwellings.

AFTERNOON  Before heading north to Durango, swoop 30 miles south to the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, the oldest continuously operating trading post of the Navajo nation.

• Shop for rugs, pottery, and baskets among antique scales and cupboards.
• View weaving demonstrations by Navajo women.

EVENING  Spend the night in the delightful old mining town of Durango, Colorado before heading home. Search Durango area hotels on Expedia