01 Jun 2026 5 min read

Mesa Verde National Park

Wow! People really lived in these cliffs so long ago?

Last time I told you how much I loved Durango, the Million Dollar Highway and Silverton. Before Daddy and I fell in love with Durango, my silly sister was planning on having us stay in Cortez in order to be close to Mesa Verde National Park. It really didn't take AussieDoodle level of thinking to figure out that Durango was still the perfect base to visit Mesa Verde! Sister had an Action Tour Guide playing in the car and we learned all sorts of interesting tidbits. There were lots of places where dogs aren't allowed in the park. I'm more girl than dog, so I really didn't understand. Whatever! My herd said that if Lila can't go, they don't go. So, we enjoyed the park our way. They did slip off down a trail or two for a few minutes without me; that said, they weren't gone long and I always had the A/C on in the car.

OMP! Sister buckled me in my carseat and the herd went back into the hotel without me! I figured out they were at the restaurant, with a view of MY riverwalk, again! I get hungry too! I would like bacon and blueberry pancakes too! So rude! I forgave them the next time I got an elk jerky treat ... I simply can't hold a grudge if offered a tasty snack.

After what looked like a really nice breakfast, we headed for Mesa Verde National Park. We stepped back in time for most of the day. Way back in time ... some of the mesas, buttes, and other big rock formations date back 75 million years ... Holy Frito (I love Fritos)! They say the region is constantly changing but it is so slow you could never see a change without comparing over many years. That boggles my brain! The Ancestral Puebloans apparently started building homes out of stone by about year 1000 (gulp). From what I could tell from a distance (no doggies allowed on the tours), they got really good at this type of construction. There were a lot of details talked about on the audio tour which I may or may not have napped through ... what I heard with great clarity is they had crops of corn ... I love corn ... sister let me chew corn off a cob once and I grabbed the cob out of her hand ... popcorn is a delightful delicacy that beckons me to the kitchen when I hear the air popper working ... so, I can see how they needed these elaborate homes in the sky to oversee their very important corn crops!

Cliff Dwellings! Mommy was on the trip too ... she is shy ... pictured is Daddy and Sister and of course I'm the star!

Beautiful landscapes all around the park. That Knife's Edge seemed scary to me ... I'm glad the roads have improved!

We were planning to drive to Four Corners National Monument the same day as Mesa Verde but there simply wasn't enough time. It was more important for me to enjoy some sniffs and another few walks along the Animas River in Durango on our last night there! The next morning, we got up and booked it out of Durango ... snow was coming .... gulp, we were in a minivan ... the sky was ominous ... but we did just fine and even stopped at the most amazing rest stop with lots of grass and other sniff-worthy landscaping. We made it to the Four Corners National Monument and I was very disappointed to have to stay in the car! Rude!

There really should be a small set of four dog boots in the Four Corners picture!

Thanks for reading about my Mesa Verde adventure! After Four Corners, we kept driving until we got to Virgin, Utah ... Oh My Little Paw (OMLP) ... our time in Virgin was amazing .... I'll tell you all about it in future postcards! Be blessed, remember to wear your boots when the pavement is hot, eat lots of elk jerky treats, and know that I appreciate you! Bye!