Part 5

The new public campgrounds are located in the pinons and junipers on the rim of Spruce Canyon only a few hundred feet from Spruce Tree Lodge and park headquarters. Individual party campsites have been cleared, and a protecting screen of shrubbery contributes to their privacy. Each site is provided with a fireplace, a table with seats, and a large level place for a tent. Good water has been piped to convenient places, and cut wood is provided without charge. Toilet facilities, showers, and laundry tubs are also provided. A ranger is detailed for duty in the campgrounds.

+Leave your campsite clean when you have finished with it.+

+Do not drive cars on, or walk over, the shrubbery.+

The campground facilities at Mesa Verde have been greatly improved and expanded through the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Provisions for campers are obtainable at reasonable prices in any of the nearby towns. Groceries, gas, and oil can also be purchased at Spruce Tree Lodge.

HORSEBACK AND HIKING TRIPS

Visitors who view the Mesa Verde from the automobile roads gain but an inkling of the weird beauty and surprises that this area holds for the more adventurous. Horseback and hiking trips along the rim rocks and into the canyons lead to spectacular ruins not seen from any of the roads. Such great ruins as Spring House, Long House, Kodak House, Jug House, Mug House, and Step House, as well as all of the ruins in the more remote canyons, can be reached by trail only. Each turn of the trail reveals entrancing vistas of rugged canyons, sheer cliffs, great caves, hidden ruins, distant mountains, tree-covered mesas, and open glades.

In making these trips it is important that the hiker prepare himself with proper footwear, as the trails are very precipitous in places.

HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL SERVICE

There is an excellent hospital at park headquarters where medical and surgical service is provided to care for all emergency cases. Prices are regulated by the Secretary of the Interior.

ACCOMMODATIONS AND EXPENSES

At Spruce Tree Lodge, situated among the pinons and junipers over-looking Spruce, Spruce Tree, and Navajo Canyons, cottages may be rented at prices ranging from $1.25 to $2 a person per day and comfortable floored tents at 50 cents to $1 per day. Meals table d'hote are served at the following reasonable prices: Breakfast, 50 cents to $1; luncheon, 55 cents to 85 cents; and dinner, 75 cents to $1.15. A la carte service is also available. Children: No charge under 3; half rates from 3 to 8. The official season for Spruce Tree Lodge is from June 15 to September 15.

The company also operates, for visitors who do not care to use their own cars or are without private transportation, automobile service to various ruins for $1 each round trip. A special evening trip to Park Point to see the spectacular sunset from the highest point in the park is $1.50 per person.

OUT-OF-SEASON ACCOMMODATIONS

From May 15 to June 15 and from September 15 to October 15, cabins may be rented from the caretaker of Spruce Tree Lodge at the regular rates. Meals, with breakfast 50 cents, and luncheon and dinner 75 cents, may be had at the Government dining hall. In nearby towns, less than an hour's drive from park headquarters, accommodations are also obtainable.

PACK AND SADDLE ACCOMMODATIONS

Saddle horses, especially trained for mountain work, may be rented from the Mesa Verde Pack & Saddle Co. For short trips the rental is $1 for the first hour and 50 cents for each additional hour. For short 1-day trips for three persons or more the cost is $3.50 each; two persons $4 each; one person $6. Longer 1-day trips for experienced riders are available at $2 per person more than the rate for the shorter 1-day trips. All prices include guide service, and a slicker, canteen, and lunch bag are provided with each horse. Arrangements should be made the evening before the trip is taken.

PACK TRIPS

Nonscheduled pack trips to the more remote sections of the park may be arranged (2 days' notice is required) at prices ranging from $9 a day each for parties of five or more to $15 a day for one person. This includes a guide-cook and furnishes each person with one saddle horse, one pack horse, bed, tent, canteen, slicker, and subsistence for the trip. Three days is the minimum time for which these trips can be arranged.

REFERENCES[3]

CHAPIN, F. H. The Land of the Cliff Dwellers.[4] W. B. Clarke & Co., Boston, Mass. 1892. 187 pages.

DOUGLASS, DR. ANDREW ELLICOTT. The Secret of the Southwest Solved by the Talkative Tree Rings, in National Geographic Magazine, December 1929.[4]

FARIS, JOHN T. Roaming the Rockies. Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., New York. 1930. Illustrated. 333 pages. Mesa Verde on pp. 193-203.

FEWKES, J. WALTER:

Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Spruce Tree House.[4] (Bureau of American Ethnology Bull. 41, 1909. 57 pages, illustrated.) (Out of print.)

Antiquities of the Mesa Verde National Park: Cliff Palace.[4] (Bureau of American Ethnology Bull. 51, 1911. 82 pages, illustrated.) (Out of print.)

Excavation and Repair of Sun Temple, Mesa Verde National Park.[4] (Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 1916. 32 pages, illustrated.) (Out of print.)

A Prehistoric Mesa Verde Pueblo and Its People.[4] (Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 1917. 26 pages.) (Out of print.)

Prehistoric Villages, Castles, and Towers of Southwestern Colorado.[4] (Bureau of American Ethnology Bull. 70. 1919. 79 pages text, 33 plates.)

GILLMOR, FRANCES, and WETHERILL, LOUISA Wade. Traders to the Navahos.[4] Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston and New York. 1934. Illustrated, 265 pages. Describes discovery of cliff dwellings by Wetherill brothers.

HOLMES, WILLIAM H. Report on Ancient Ruins in Southwestern Colorado Examined During Summers of 1875 and 1876. (Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (Hayden), Tenth Report, 1876, pp. 381-408, illustrated.)

ICKES, ANNA WILMARTH. Mesa Land.[4] Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston and New York, 1933. Illustrated. 228 pages. Southwest in general. Mesa Verde, pp. 100-101.

INGERSOLL, ERNEST. Reprint, first article. Mancos River Ruins, New York Tribune. Nov. 3, 1874; in Indian Notes, vol. 5, no. 2, April 1928, pp. 183-206, Museum of American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York.[4]

JACKSON, W. H. The Pioneer Photographer.[4] World Book Co., 1929.

JEFFERS, LE ROY. The Call of the Mountains. 282 pages, illustrated. Dodd, Mead & Co., 1922. Mesa Verde on pp. 96-111.

KANE, J. F. Picturesque America. 1935. 256 pp., illustrated. Published by Frederick Gumbrecht, Brooklyn, N. Y. Mesa Verde on pp. 121-124.

KIDDER, ALFRED VINCENT:

An introduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology.[4] 300 pages, illustrated. Yale University Press, 1924. Mesa Verde on pp. 58-68.

Beautiful America--Our National Parks. 1924. 160 pages pictorial views. Beautiful America Publishing Corporation, New York City. Mesa Verde views pp. 58-68.

MILLS, ENOS A. Your National Parks. 1917. 532 pages, illustrated. Mesa Verde National Park on pp. 161-174; 488-490.

MORRIS, ANN AXTELL. Digging in the Southwest.[4] Doubleday Doran Co., 1933. Readable account of the trade secrets of a southwestern archeologist.

NORDENSKIOeLD, G. The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde.[4] 1893. 171 pages, illustrated.

NUSBAUM, DERIC. Deric in Mesa Verde.[4] 1926. Illustrated. G. P. Putnam's Sons. Knickerbocker Press.

ROLFE, MARY A. Our National Parks.[4] Book One. A supplementary reader on the national parks for the fifth and sixth grade students. Benj. H. Sanborn & Co. 1927. Illustrated. Mesa Verde on pp. 221-234.

YARD, ROBERT STERLING:

The Top of the Continent. 1917. 244 pages, illustrated. Mesa Verde National Park on pp. 44-62.

The Book of the National Parks. 1926. 444 pages, illustrated. Mesa Verde National Park on pp. 284-304.

WHAT TO DO

+Things to See on Way from Park Entrance to Headquarters+

3.5 miles--Top of first grade--Mancos Valley and La Plata Mountains.

5 miles--Knife Edge Road--Montezuma Valley and Sleeping Ute Mountain.

10.5 miles--Scenic road to Park Point, highest elevation within Mesa Verde National Park, 8,572 feet above sea level; 2,200 feet above the Montezuma Valley. Views into four States--Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.

16 miles--Pueblo III ruins on top of mesa--Far View House Ruin, Pipe Shrine House Ruin, Far View Tower Ruin.

18.5 miles--Cedar Tree Tower Ruin--road branches off to left.

20 miles--Park headquarters. Park ranger will meet visitors' cars and give information.

+Things to Do While on the Mesa Verde+

_Motor caravans to ruins--Daily. Use your own car. No charge for ranger service_

8 a.m.--Earth Lodge A, Square Tower House, Little Long House, Sun Point, Fire Temple, Sun Temple. Return 11:15 a.m. Distance 6 1/2 miles.

10 a.m.--A shortened trip of morning route to accommodate late comers. Return 11:15 a.m.

1:30 p.m.--Cliff Palace, Rim Drive, Balcony House. Return 4:15 p.m. Distance 7 miles.

3 p.m.--A shortened trip of the 1:30 route to accommodate late comers. Does not go through Cliff Palace but views this ruin from the top of the mesa. Return 4:30 p.m.

_Motor caravan to park point--Daily. Use your own car_

6:30 or 7 p.m.--Departure is timed to arrive at Park Point to view colorful sunset. Ranger in charge will discuss the flora, geology, and scenic points. Distance 21 miles.

_Campfire lecture--Daily_

8 p.m.--Campfire circle at park headquarters. Archeological story of the Southwest followed by Ceremonial dances by Navajo Indians at about 9 p.m.

+Things to Do--Not on Regular Schedule+

Museum--Open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. A splendid collection of material from the cliff ruins and other sections of the Southwest.

Community building--A display of cut wild flowers. Porch, with comfortable chairs, overlooks Spruce Tree Ruin. Open at all times.

Spruce Tree Ruin--Below park headquarters. May be visited at your leisure without guide. Ranger on duty in this ruin for information.

Nature trail--The path to Spruce Tree Ruin has been prepared with a series of signs explaining the flora and rock formations.

Horseback trips--Splendid trails lead in all directions. Large, unexcavated ruins, magnificent canyons and mesas off the beaten path unfold the charm of this primitive region. Rates are very reasonable.

Hikes--To any section of the park can be arranged for with the park naturalist. If sufficient numbers enroll for such hikes, a naturalist guide will be provided.

+Accommodations+

At park headquarters, 20 miles from entrance. SPRUCE TREE LODGE--Cabins, tents, meals, beverages, campers' supplies, and curios. FREE GOVERNMENT CAMPGROUND--Firewood and water furnished.

* * * * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Approximate dating. Exact dating by the methods of tree-ring chronology is yet to be accomplished.

[2] The Secret of the Southwest Solved by Talkative Tree Rings, by A. E. Douglass: National Geographic Magazine. December 1929.

[3] For complete bibliography apply at the park museum or write to the Superintendent, Mesa Verde National Park.

[4] Copies in Mesa Verde Museum Library.

* * * * * * *

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

With the exception of the following items, the text presented here matches the printed booklet which may include some inconsistancies with modern usage that were left unchanged:

A. Rearranged Text: Footnotes moved to the end of the text.

B. Typographical Corrections: Page ii - missing period after "(4,192 feet)" Page iii - missing period after "Visitors" Page 2 - comma moved out of quotes "The Mesa Verde region",

C. Emphasis Notation: _Text_ Italics +Text+ Bold + Italics

End of Project Gutenberg's Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, by Anonymous