ruins road

If you're looking for some hikes, well, you're not going to get much mileage along this road, but it's a great way to get some expansive views and also to be able to go into some large sheds to look at the remains of some of the mesa top sites. If you're visiting in winter like we did, this is pretty much the closest you will get to most of the park, but even in summer, I imagine it would be a fun drive to take, many places to stop, and the views up and down the canyons are breathtaking.

After l;earning the hard way that most of the Mesa Verde sites are not accessible, this was a pleasant drive. Although you cannot get close to the ruins, you can get a look at several from nearby your car on the road.If you have mobility issues, this drive is your best bet for seeing what there is to see without climbing steep slopes, stairs and ladders.

We got to Mesa Verde in the late afternoon with about 4 hours to spare before the park closed. We weren't able to go on the tour for the cave dwellings but we were able to take the road and drive around viewing them and going into one. Thanks to one of the friendly rangers he told us to take the Ruins Road so to get as much out of our visit as we could The road was pretty awesome and sometimes scary. The park cave great information about different spots along the road so we actually knew what we were seeing. The dwelling that we went into was pretty cool. Definitely a place to stop.

It's easy to concentrate on Cliff House, Balcony, and Spruce Tree, but I really enjoyed the Ruins Road, too. Square Tower Ruins is one of my favorites.

If anyone in your car is prone to motion sickness, prepare for a long miserable drive. I got so sick driving into the park, that I had to start driving around Mesa Verde to keep from getting sick. I loaded up on motion sickness meds and tried my best to enjoy the views.

Did this in the early evening after all the other places were closed but before they closed this road and it was gorgeous and almost all to ourselves. So many spots to stop and see the cool cliff dwelling across the canyon on just below the look out points. Also, lots of other villages and kivas along the way. A great way to see the sites if you are not able to hike about due to time or physical limitations.

This was an absolutely stunning drive. I was glad to be in the passengers seat and not the one driving because there are numerous hairpin turns and sharp cliffs with no guardrails. I may have been nauseous if I had to do the driving, but I got yo ride and enjoy the phenomenal views. We spotted horses, chip monks, deer, and many species of birds. The kids wanted to see a bear, but we didn't get to see any of those. Absolutely worth it!

This is a great way to see some of the cliff dwellings from atop the mesa without taking a tour to them. You'll also be able to tour the mesa top sites (pithouses, Twin Trees, Sun Point Pueblo) and stop for vistas of Square Tower House and Cliff Palace. If adventurous cliff dwelling touring isn't your thing, you'll enjoy this short drive around the mesa top. Booklets available to help you understand what you're seeing.

This drive offers a variety of sites, most involving only very short walks. And it's fun to see if you can spot the cliff dwellings across the canyon - which is sometimes not easy, even when their locations are shown on interpretative boards.

Think 700 Years of Mesa Verde history – that ‘s what you’ll get while driving around this 6-mile Mesa Top Loop road starting with the park’s historic district. Most of Mesa Verde's beautiful stone service buildings, post office, restaurant and museum are found here - some buildings date back to the 1920's. We started and continued driving from the Chapin Museum car park to the twelve sites on the loop road which includes land dwellings and cliff dwelling overlooks (some have easy, paved trails). One amazing view is of the huge Cliff Palace complex but other must see sights include Sun Point Overlook - where you can see several cliff dwelling sites at one time - a visual masterpiece of history - plus the Sun Temple ruins which remains a mystery regarding it's purpose!You will have your ‘pick’ of the pit house stops with each one being slightly different to the other and several other overlooks have some stunning views. Depending on how long you want to stay or investigate each stop will determine the time needed - we took around 90mins. A good nps.gov map helps or a tablet app. to help explain each site around the Loop - although good interpretive signs are found at each stop.Enjoy your experience!

I loved every one of the 12 stops along this 6-mile drive. The loop, now referred to as the Mesa Top Loop, leaves from the Chapin Mesa Museum and ends essentially right back there. Along the drive you'll stop to see pithouses, pueblo ruins, and a few scenic overlooks. As a lover of history I enjoyed every stop, but my more normal wife grew bored with the repetitive sites and explanations of history. If nothing else, stop at the overlooks and take a few great pictures. If you stop and read everything it might take you an hour.

This is a nice drive with so many closely-spaced stopping points that your air conditioner won’t have time to kick in between them. The short walk to see into the Square Tower house is worth it and the second of the four pithouse stops was the most interesting. The viewpoint at the Sun Temple has a great view into the Cliff palace. If you stop at every sight and don’t rush this will take about 90 minutes. Just the highlights can be done in 30.

We visited Mesa Verde Aug. 2012. The weather was beautiful, I guess we lucked out. The views are spectacular. The history offered here is wonderful. It is a part of history that should be preserved for future generations. I wholeheartedly recommend everyone to visit and do a self tour.OK, now for the not so good part. The 20 mile road into the mountains past the park entrance is pretty frightening. There are lots of areas that have sheer cliffs right at the edge of the road and many areas without guard rails. Put together the hairpin turns along with the cliffs, pretty scary ride. I am from California and have traveled extensively throughout the world on various mountain roads and I have to say this one was one of the worst I've traveled on. Please use extreme caution while navigating this road.We arrived at the visitor's center and decided to buy tickets to the Cliff Palace tour as well as the balcony tour. The ranger told us that the balcony tour was the more strenuous of the 2. We decided to just buy tickets for $3 each for the Cliff Palace and we would see how that went before purchasing for the balcony tour. As it turned out that was a very wise decision. We drove over to the tour site which had an awesome view. The guide met us there and talked a lot about not touching, sitting, or leaning on the ancient dwellings. She also said that it was quite strenuous climbing 3 8' ladders and stairs. If we didn't feel we were up to it to not go. Sounded easy enough since my husband and myself are in good physical shape. We began our decent on rock stairs down the face of the canyon through narrow pathways between rock, very doable. But then, we got out of the rock and were right on the edge of the cliff with no guard rails at all. One bad move and someone would of been on the bottom of the canyon and would certainly not survive. Scared me to death. People brought their small children on this tour. I was in disbelief that they would allow elderly, children, and people afraid of heights on this tour. When we bought our tickets they never once mentioned being perched on the side of a sheer cliff was one of the dangers. Neither did the tour guide. Once to the ruins we all stood in a larger rock ledge and listened to our guide explain the ruins while she was standing on the edge. While she was talking she lost her balance and had to catch herself from falling down the cliff. I think everyone's heart skipped some beats. SCARY! After the tour we had to make our way back up the cliff on more narrow rock stairs and then through a very narrow passage between rocks up 3 8' ladders. Of course going up was more physically strenuous than coming down. I was fearful some elderly on the tour wasn't going to make it. For us, the physical challenge was not an issue. But, for others it was. This place is incredible for what it is. Although, the potential for a catastrophic event is huge in my opinion. I am the adventurous type and have done some crazy things in my lifetime and I have to say this was the most disturbing to me. If I would of fully known of the dangers I would of never went on this tour. I am at a loss as to why the National Park service would allow us all put ourselves in such a dangerous situation. Needless to say, we never bought tickets for the balcony tour.

We had a small group of four for this park (two adults and two teens) and really enjoyed ourselves, Great views and lots of stops to get out and walk and explore. Camera and binoculars ready!

Rated Very Good for heart-pumping action. Ruins Road going from the entrance to the Lodge scared me to death. I live at 83 feet above sea level. This roads rises and falls, and twists and turns it's way up to the lodge at 8,000 feet. I'm not used to driving something like this. Take it worse they let people towing and driving RVs go up this way. Add to that the tandem trucks bringing stone up for some road improvements and you can have some sticky situations. Maybe people who live out west are used to this, but not me!