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   Meaning green tableland in the Spanish language, Mesa Verde National Park preserves a variety of dwellings occupied by Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here from 600 to 1300. Established in 1906, the park protects nearly 5000 archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These thousand year old sites are among the most notable and best preserved in the United States.
   Located in today's southern Colorado, Ancestral Puebloans moved into the Mesa Verde area about 550 CE. The Ancestral Puebloans (village dwellers) were at one time mistakenly called Anasazi, a Navajo word meaning enemy ancestors.
   One of popular stops on the Mesa Top Loop Road is this multi story cliff dwelling called Square Tower House. The structure was well made of double-coursed stone walls, constructed around 1100 CE. A 200 year period, from 1100 to 1300, Mesa Verde reflected advanced building techniques and farming practices. The population of this area may have reached several thousand and created a fair amount of trash which ended up at the base of the cliff. What we know today of these early residents are among the clues found in this garbage heap. To preserve these artifacts from looters, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Mesa Verde National Park.

    Area Map
    Park Map