# Arches To Mesa Verde



## Excursions R Us (Jan 25, 2006)

Would anyone know the travelling time from Arches to Mesa Verde National Park? Are both parks worth visiting? We are looking at parking our 31RQS at Arches and taking a tent to Mesa Verde.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Excursions R Us said:


> Would anyone know the travelling time from Arches to Mesa Verde National Park? Are both parks worth visiting? We are looking at parking our 31RQS at Arches and taking a tent to Mesa Verde.


Both at definetly worth visiting and are very different. IMO, Arches is a lot shorter of a visit. You can get a good idea of the park in a couple hours. Last time we were through there, we dropped the trailer at the arches visitor center and then drove the road through the park taking a few of the shorter walks. We didn't drive between the two parks directly so I can't give you a travel time estimate. Mesa Verede has the cliff dwellings (as well as some mesa top ruins). You can visit a few of the sites in a day's stay. 2 would give more time to get to some of the out of the way sites. They also have a trailer drop as you enter the park (in case you have the OB with you but don't want to camp there).


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

Excursions R Us said:


> Would anyone know the travelling time from Arches to Mesa Verde National Park? Are both parks worth visiting? We are looking at parking our 31RQS at Arches and taking a tent to Mesa Verde.


The are both exquisite parks, completely different.

Arches NP and Canyonlands NP, along with Dead Horse Point SP are not only close together, but offer some of the most dramatic scenery on the planet, all within easy driving of Moab, Utah. We enjoyed our stay with our OB at the KOA five miles south of Moab.

Mesa Verde is the human touch - to see the phenomenal home/cities built into the cliffs of this area are impressive. I'd highly recommend taking a guided tour of any of the sites. And also taking the circular drive which will allow you to see close to a dozen different sites. We stayed a a KOA just two miles east of the park.

And while you're there, don't miss driving the Scenic Skyway, visiting towns like Durango, Silverton (take their narrow-gauge train) and Ouray. Or in the other direction to Telluride.

Highly recommended!


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## Colorado Outbacker (Jun 6, 2005)

Hi

It is just a couple hours between the parks. The Mesa Verde tours are guided tours now and well worth it. The last time I was there, a few years ago, I had to go to the visitors center up on the Mesa and get reserved tickets and times for each tour. This helps plan your day while you are there. I know they have changed the entrance area since I was there last so not completely sure how they are running things nowadays. It is simply amazing how those people lived and survived and the tour guides will take you into their world. Arches is also very fun, my kids loved it. The walks are wonderful. It is interesting to put yourself into earth time and step out of human time and just stand there in amazement.

I also agree completely with raynardo. If you have the time take the scenic skyway. It's in my backyard and I am simply amazed every single time I drive to Ouray. In fact I am going to do it this weekend if the passes are open. Can't wait.

Have an absolutely wonderful trip!!!
Tony


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## Wolfpackers (May 31, 2007)

What they all said. Unless you are going to be thru that area again, see all that you have time for.

We stayed at Spanish Trail, on south end of Moab for 3 nites. Visited Arches, Canyonlands (north end, called Island in the Sky), Dead Horse State Park. On our way to Mesa Verde, we did a drive thru of the south end of Canyonlands, called Needles, saw newspaper rock. Stayed at the KOA in Cortez, Co for 4 nites. Visited Mesa Verde, 4 corners, and drove the San Juan Skyway/Million Dollar Highway. The skyway is a day's trip to stop in the towns and visit. There's a steam locomotive train that runs from Durango to Silverton and back.

If I were going to omit any of what I saw, I would drop 4 corners and the south end of Canyonlands, but that's just me. Wish we had allotted a day for Mesa Verde. It's huge and takes time to drive to the different parts of the park. It's the only national park dedicated to people...all the rest are about natural features of the earth.

Wherever you go and however long you're there....have fun.
Brent


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## dunn4 (Feb 16, 2008)

We visited Mesa Verde a couple of years ago on the way back from Lake City, Colorado. We had a pop-up then and set up camp in a cute little campground in Durango called Lightner Creek. Very neatly kept, swimming pool, game room and other activities for kids. There were bigger campers there, but I remember most were smaller rigs. Durango is a good base camp with lots to do around there including the train to Silverton. Since we camped near Lake City we had done the jeep rental and drove the passes around Lake City and Silverton.

Mesa Verde is a definite one day visit and the guided tour was very interesting. Everyone was enthralled by the sights and learning about the lives of the previous inhabitants of the cliff dwellings. I don't remember a parking area at the entrance, but there is probably one there since the drive is quite steep and curving. The area history was given to us along the drive to our selected tour area. We would definitely go back for another tour and we really liked our time in Durango.


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