Visit the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum for an excellent sense of what life was like for the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived in and around the region of Mesa Verde National Park. Browse the informative, educational exhibits at this well-maintained museum to enhance your entire park experience.
Learn about the history of Mesa Verde through a 25-minute orientation film. The film gives you an introduction into the region’s appearance during prehistoric times and offers some background information that will help you prepare for the rest of your visit.
Wander around and examine the five very detailed dioramas that depict community life for the Ancestral Puebloans. Learn from these scenes how and where locals cooked, cleaned, hunted and constructed their buildings.
Linger over the cases displaying various artifacts, including handcrafted jewelry, carved stone tools and original oil paintings. These exhibits clearly show the evolution of design, not only in architecture, but also in cooking implements, crafts and even clothing.
Don’t leave without visiting the on-site bookstore, where you can browse a comprehensive selection of books, maps and posters regarding the history of Mesa Verde. Purchase replica pottery and products bearing the black-on-white design that was favored by the Ancestral Puebloans. This design was originally created using white clay and crushed rock and painted using the fibers of the yucca plant.
Find Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum along Chapin Mesa, 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the entrance of Mesa Verde National Park. The museum is open year-round and is free to visit after paying the entrance fee to the park.
Along with your visit to Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum, be sure to stop at the nearby overlook to view Spruce Tree House, the third-largest historic cliff dwelling within the national park. Built in the 13th century, the dwelling contains about 130 rooms and eight ceremonial chambers and is thought to have originally been home to between 60 and 80 people. The dwelling has been closed until repairs are completed to prevent dangerous rock falls. Ask park rangers for information about this interesting site.
