When In Mancos

Since I'm going to be traveling so much this year, I thought it might be fun to do a "When In Rome" inspired series of posts each Wednesday. I'll include something worth seeing and/or doing in each location.

I'm back in my hometown of Mancos, Colorado, currently, so this is the perfect place to start! Mancos prides itself on being the "Gateway to Mesa Verde." The cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park really are a must-see that bring in visitors from all over the country, and all over the world. There's nothing else quite like them.

The view from my front porch.

I grew up looking at Mesa Verde across the valley every day, and as is often the case, exciting tourist attractions are much less exciting when you live so close to them. I have only ever been inside the park four or five times, and one of those times was with my driver's ed instructor practicing my driving skills. In the last few years I have begun to appreciate the fact that I get to see this incredible landmark every day.

My most recent visit to Mesa Verde: January 2013

The National Park Service (nps.gov) explains that the cliff dwelling of Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in North America. Sometime during the late 1190s, after primarily living on the mesa top for 600 years, many Ancestral Pueblo people began living in pueblos they built beneath the overhanging cliffs. The structures ranged in size from one-room storage units to villages of more than 150 rooms. While still farming the mesa tops, they continued to reside in the alcoves, repairing, remodeling, and constructing new rooms for nearly a century. By the late 1270s, the population began migrating south into present-day New Mexico and Arizona. By 1300, the Ancestral Puebloan occupation of Mesa Verde ended.

I had always heard that these people that lived and built Mesa Verde as we know it today were called the Anasazi. I think that's such an awesome name! I grew up pondering the mystery behind their disappearance. Nobody really knows why they built such elaborate villages into the faces of these cliffs, only to abandon them and never return.

According to the National Park Service (nps.gov) Mesa Verde had almost 600,000 visitors in 2015, and again in 2016. In 2015, those visitors spent $55.4 million in communities near the park (that includes Mancos!). That spending supported 814 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $66.8 million. Our economy sure benefits from such a major tourist attraction!

FYI: Many people don't realize this at first, but from the time you turn off of Highway 160 and enter the park, you still have at least an hour drive ahead of you before you get to the top and reach the cliff dwellings. Keep this in mind when you're planning your trip!

I think it's time I play tourist in my own back yard and go up for another visit!