On our way to Utah last month, we went through Southern Colorado to get to Mesa Verde National Park. The beauty of travel field trips is that you get to walk around and crawl into awesome spots that you’d otherwise only see in books. Mesa Verde is a perfect example of this. We visited Spruce Tree House, which (after the park entrance fee) is a free self-guided tour close to the museum.

The American Indians that lived here left more mysteries than they did answers, and archeologists still dig to find out what became of these people. Here the kids are using the grinding stones the Indians used to make flour. The sand in the stones mixed with the flour, abnormally grinding their teeth down with age.

Of course our kids had to test the foot and hand-holds that had been carved into the cliff face. These cliff dwellers must have had very strong and lithe bodies to climb the rock walls.

We even climbed down a ladder to enter a “kiva” built like a basement, and which housed the fire that would keep extended families warm throughout the winter. Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling, was constructed between AD 1211 and 1278 by the ancestors of the Puebloan peoples of the Southwest. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (ceremonial chambers,) built into a natural cave measuring 216 feet wide. It is thought to have been home for about 80 people.

Southern Utah Series:
Bryce Canyon
ATV and Antelope
Zion National Park
Zion Canyon Family Adventure, Part II
ATV Trails
Mesa Verde, Colorado
Grand Canyon, Arizona