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Holiday Open House At Mesa Verde National Park Set For December 5

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Mesa Verde National Park will host its annual Holiday Open House on December 5 this year. NPS photo of cliff dwellings illuminated by luminaria.

The soft glow of luminarias will guide visitors through some of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park on December 5 when the park holds its Holiday Open House.

The event will run from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Chapin Mesa headquarters area.

Everyone is invited to join the park staff in this holiday celebration featuring special tours, luminarias, musical entertainment and refreshments.Ranger-guided tours of Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling in the park, will be presented at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Spruce Tree House will be open for self-guided tours from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Luminarias will glow along the pathways throughout the headquarters area, a National Historic Landmark District, and along the trail to Spruce Tree House. It's recommended that you dress warmly and bring a flashlight.

The Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum will remain open until 9 p.m.There will be musical entertainment in the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum Auditorium throughout the evening.

The non-profit Mesa Verde Museum Association (MVMA) Museum bookstore will be open highlighting the sale of books, posters, puppets, historic photographs, and great holiday gifts as well as in-store specials.Bring your gift list along to take advantage of this special occasion. Proceeds benefit Mesa Verde National Park.

Attendance at the Open House is free.Refreshments will be provided by ARAMARK at the Spruce Tree Terrace.

No park entrance fee will be charged after 4 p.m. on Thursday, December 5. Mark your calendar and plan to join us in the park festivities! For further information, please contact the park at 970-529-4465.

Comments

Nice response Perpetual Seasonal. I can see both sides of the issue, but you do have a point about the Mesa Verde ceremony. The Native american people may have had campfires, I do not know, but it would have been impressive to walk the mesa and see that.


Perpetual Seasonal, While the inhabitants of Mesa Verde never celebrated Christmas or utilized luminarias, I have no problem with this event. Mesa Verde is, to me, a very spritual place. Seeing the pathways and ruins illuminated with luminarias, I think, would simply accentuate that spritual feel. The residents of Acoma Pueblo line the roadway to the pueblo and the pueblo itself with luminarias on Christmas eve. Very magical. As rmackie said "...it would have been impressive to walk the mesa and..." see campfires. This is about as close as we will get. If this event draws people to the park that would not normally have come, and they then develop a love and affinity for the park because of this event, I think that is great. In this day and age of a more urbanized, technology oriented culture, the NPS has to find ways to connect with and remain relivant with the public. This very well might be a way to do that.


Maybe in today's "more urbanized, technology oriented culture" it will be the parks that gain in appreciation because places to escape that culture will be all the more rare. But again my real issues with special events are that they often but not always make the NPS do things that are not authorized in law and subtract scarce resources from the things that are the park's primary mission in order to achieve goals such as increased visitation and increased concession sales bringing a real tacky vibe to what should be special places --not another Disney World.


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