Yes, it will take you an entire day and you still won’t see everything—even in winter when some of the park is closed.   In the summer, there are several ranger-guided tours you may take.   They cost $4 per person and may be obtained a day in advance at the park Visitor’s Center near the entrance or the Colorado Welcome Center on Main St. in downtown Cortez.   If you are going with children and don’t have a problem crawling through a short tunnel, Balcony House is the best tour.   You have no other option for viewing Balcony House except for this tour.   We generally do not recommend the Cliff Palace tour because you are never going into the ruin, only in front of it.   You can see Cliff Palace directly just above it off of Cliff Palace Loop or from a distance on the Mesa Top Loop overlook.   You may do the first option in winter if snow doesn’t close the road to Cliff Palace.   The Mesa Top Loop is open in winter.  The above p...

Lightning Hawk of the White Mesa Utes plays at Kelly Place Bed and Breakfast The history of the Ute Indians goes back to times unknown.   They were a powerful people with a heritage of nomadic living that pre-dates the Navajo in this region.   The Ute Mountain Ute reservation is located on the Colorado corner of the 4 Corners, with Navajos on the Arizona, Utah and New Mexico corners.   The Utes offer guided tours of the Ute Mountain Tribal Park, the southern neighbour of Mesa Verde National Park.   When Euro-Americans decided to form the National Park, the Utes told them that, if they really want to preserve the Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) ruins, they should just leave the land in the property of the Utes, because their tribe had kept the ruins in pristine, unpillaged condition for hundreds of years already.   In truth, when you visit the Tribal Park, you can see artefacts on the ground where they have lain for centuries—unlike our sterilized, collecte...

Needless to report, Navajo rugs are a major attraction in this region. The best way to purchase a rug is directly from the weaver, who is often the person who raised the sheep, carded and spun the wool, dyed the yarn, and finally designed and created the rug.  The second best way is to go to the Crown Point, NM rug auctions.  They are held once a month and you will find masses of beautiful weavings, large and small, at the most reasonable prices.  Kelly Place has some rugs for sale which were purchased from Navajo weavers who came to us or from the Crown Point auction.  This rug (17" x 23") is a raised weave, giving it a 3-dimensional effect.  Check out the Crown Point website to find dates and location:  www.crownpointrugauction.com