Day 24: Four Corners and Mesa Verde National Park

Today we left a campground that we loved and headed south again. We drove to the Four Corners Monument. It's a little place without much around, but they've definitely fixed up the main area since I was there back in 5th grade! I vividly remembered little shops/stands selling handmade jewelry all around the monument, but they've since made permanent booths on all four sides with overhangs for shade. The monument isn't anything special, but it's fun to say that you're in four states at the same time; Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. We stood in line for our photos and then shopped around. We each got something either for ourselves or friends. I love the handmade items.

Then we checked into our campground and headed to Mesa Verde National Park that was 2 minutes from our campground. We were glad we went to the visitor's center first because they closed at 4:30pm and also because they were only allowing 10 people inside at a time due to Covid protocols. We made it a quick trip inside and then headed into the park. It takes so long to get in! After about an hour we made it to the Step House, and just in time. It's a self-guided up-close tour and they close the trail at 3:30pm. We made it at 3:15pm. It was great and the kids enjoyed it. I had wished we could do a ranger guided tour, but Cliff Palace and Balcony House are both unavailable due to road construction. I had held out for them because they were supposed to be available for July, but they never finished the roadwork. They had Long House tours available but since I was waiting for the other two, I missed that too. Oh well, next time! We then went on a hike to the Nordenskiold cliff dwelling, also on Weatherill Mesa. While we were hiking we saw a bigger lizard that the kids liked and a group of wild horses too! Then we went to Chapin Mesa and drove the Mesa Top Loop. We went to a bunch of pit houses, saw cliff dwellings, and more advanced pit dwellings. We also saw Cliff Palace from afar. It was neat to see.