Hike the Parks: Mesa Verde National Park & Beyond - by Courtney Johnson (Paperback)

About the Book

"Pocket-sized hiking guidebook to popular Southwest Colorado national park and monuments that includes suggested itineraries for one, two, and three-day trips, 30 field-tested trails and hikes featuring archaeological sites. Locations include Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, and the nearby Colorado Plateau towns of Cortez, Delores, and Mancos"--

Book Synopsis

• Includes suggested itineraries for trips spanning one to three days
• Features 30 field-tested trails
• Many hikes include archaelogical sites

Southwestern Colorado boasts spectacular hikes as well as archaeological sites that offer insight into the region's Ancestral Puebloan, Navajo, Apache, and Ute peoples. This compact guidebook covers the 30 best hikes in Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, as well as in the nearby Colorado Plateau towns of Cortez, Delores, and Mancos. The centerpiece of this region, Mesa Verde, was one of the very first US national parks and is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, renowned for its hundreds of iconic cliff dwellings and five thousand archaeological sites. A handful of trails among the area's forests and rivers, in places such as Mancos State Park and McPhee Reservoir, contrast with the spectacular mesas, rock formations, and washes of canyon country.