Scenic Overlooks
Overlooks are available at Montezuma Valley, Mancos Valley, Geologic Overlook, Park Point, Headquarters, and on the Mesa Top Loop and Cliff Palace/Balcony House drives. Most of these overlooks are accessible with assistance, but fail to meet legal grade requirements.
Morefield Campground
Accessible with assistance. Wheelchair accessible camp sites are available along the Apache Loop in Morefield Campground. These sites are level and offer easier mobility without obstacles. Two wheelchair accessible restrooms are also available on the Apache Loop. An accessible, portable toilet is also available at one of the group sites. A fully ADA accessible restroom is located next to the Knife Edge Café at Morefield Village. Please ask about availability of wheelchair accessible camp sites when registering or making your reservation.
Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center
Fully accessible. This location has designated parking, ramps, restrooms, drinking fountains, and a wheelchair for loan option.
Mesa Verde Museum and Park Headquarters
Accessible with assistance. The museum will be fully accessible in summer 2024. This location has designated parking, restrooms, drinking fountains, telephones, a picnic area, bookstore, and a wheelchair for loan option. Food service and gift shops are available and accessible.
CHAPIN MESA
Mesa Top Loop Road
This area is the most accessible of all the ancestral sites in the park and is HIGHLY recommended. This drive and the stops along it make up a chronological sequence of the Ancestral Pueblo peoples' architectural styler. An audio tour, guide book, restrooms, and paved trails are all available. Drinking fountains are available during the summer months. This area is open during the winter, weather permitting.
Far View Sites
Accessible with assistance. Mesa top sites with gravel paths. An interpretive guide book is available. Portable toilets are available in the summer.
Spruce Tree House
Spruce Tree House is currently closed due to safety concerns relating to rock falls. You can view Spruce Tree house from an easily accessible covered balcony behind the Chief Ranger's Office, adjacent to the museum.
Cliff Palace and Balcony House
Visited by ranger guided tours only, both of these sites require climbing tall ladders and stairs cut into steep cliffs. An overlook accessed by a paved trail and one flight of stairs is available at Cliff Palace. Cliff Palace can also be viewed from Sun Temple (accessible). Designated parking, picnic tables, and accessible restrooms are available and accessible at Cliff Palace. No overlook of Balcony House is available. Designated parking and accessible restrooms are available at Balcony House. No water is available at Balcony House. Water is available at Cliff Palace during the summer months.
WETHERILL MESA
Wetherill Mesa is open in the spring, summer, and fall for day use only. It is a quiet area of the park with two major cliff dwellings (open summer only), a self guided nature walk, and mesa top sites. Most sites other than the cliff dwellings are accessible with assistance by paved and/or partially paved and graveled trails. Drinking fountains, portable toilets, paved trails, gravel trails, and food service are available. Vehicle length (25-foot maximum) and weight restrictions (8,000 lbs maximum) are enforced on the road to the mesa.
Step House
Accessible with assistance. Pithouses and cliff dwelling are self-guided with a ranger on duty. Paved trails, graveled in places. Step House is a very strenuous, 1-mile (1.6 km) round-trip trail. Access for wheelchairs is via the exit trail only. Wide rim wheels are highly recommended. The steep trail does not meet legal grade requirements.
Badger House Community
Accessible with assistance. Relatively level area with a partially paved and graveled trail to a series of mesa top sites. Round-trip distance is 2.25 miles (3.6 km).
Long House
Not accessible. Cliff dwelling by ranger-guided tour only. Strenuous trail with 50 steps.
Overlook is accessible, via a paved 3-mile (4.8 km) roundtrip trail from the Wetherill Mesa Kiosk.
