Mesa Verde National Park

Flickering shadows dancing on the walls of Spruce Tree House at Mesa Verde National Park will help usher in the holidays at the park in southwestern Colorado early next month.

Trying to figure out how to squeeze in one more national park fix before summer ends? Well, the National Park Foundation and ARAMARK Parks and Destinations are closing out the summer with a “National Park Adventure Sweepstakes” that offers one giveaway each week now through Labor Day.

Greetings from Far View Lodge in Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park. It is early in the season and the park’s campground doesn’t open until later in the week. An added bonus of an early visit is a reduced entrance fee; $10 as opposed to $15 during high season.

Earlier this week we had a spirited discussion of whether the National Park Service needs to add a site to honor Cesar Chavez, who orchestrated the farm labor movement in the 1960s. That discussion nips at a larger question: Has Congress led the Park Service astray and turned it into a catchall agency?

For years visitors to Mesa Verde National Park were largely limited to touring cliff dwellings atop Chapin Mesa. Now, however, four ranger-guided hikes have been added to the possibilities of exploring Mesa Verde.

One-thirteenth of 1 percent of the federal budget gets you funding for the entire National Park System and the agency that oversees it. Yet that miniscule sliver hasn't stopped Congress from eyeing the National Park Service for cuts to help rein-in the federal deficit.

Authorities are searching for the individual or individuals who took potshots at the Entrance Station to Mesa Verde National Park the other day.

The more than 200 national parks established to preserve nationally significant cultural-historical resources "tell America's story" by interpreting about ten broad themes that increase our awareness and understanding of what American culture is and how it got that way.

Just because it's winter doesn't mean there's nothing to see or do at Mesa Verde National Park.

This year we posted 16 Traveler's Checklists to help you plan your park visits. Did you miss any? Here's a list with handy links.

A Colorado company has landed a $12.1 million contract to build a visitor and research center at Mesa Verde National Park, which long has needed a suitable building to house its millions of artifacts.

Baked by time like some multi-layer geologic tort, Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah features a landscape cut by canyons, rumpled by upthrusts, dimpled by grabens, and even pockmarked, some believe, by asteroids.

Still standing centuries after they were built, the ruins at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northern New Mexico have weathered centuries of storms, winds, and tortuous sun. More recent structures have struggled to stand such a test of time.

Wetherill Mesa is one of two sections of Mesa Verde National Park where roads and trails provide easy access to some of the finest cliff dwellings in the world. Wetherill Mesa is normally open to the public only during the summer season, but the park is reopening the area to visitors for a rare fall visit on Sunday, September 19.

It really is hard to beat sleeping out under the stars in a national park. And recent improvements to the campground at Mesa Verde National Park make that activity even more comfortable.

Situated on the Colorado Plateau in southwestern Colorado, Mesa Verde National Park offers a wonderful opportunity to experience a unique cultural and physical landscape. The park's numerous archeological sites, including renowned Cliff Palace, are some of the most significant and best-preserved in the U.S.

Like to mix food and national parks? Consider these special food attractions at Shenandoah, Mesa Verde, and Olympic national parks.

News that three additional tours will be available this year at Mesa Verde National Park is great news, for public access to the rich cultural resources in this park long has been restricted to five cliff dwellings.

A visit to Mesa Verde National Park and its famous cliff dwellings has long provided a look at some of the best archeological treasures in the country. Three new guided hikes will offer a much different experience for a limited number of visitors: a chance to get away from the crowds and see some rarely visited sites. Space is limited and sign-up begins April 26.

The American Southwest is honeycombed with ruins from long-past civilizations. Mesa Verde National Park and Canyon de Chelly National Monument are well-known for their cliff dwellings, while at Bandelier National Monument the sandstone walls are pocked with "cavates" used as shelter centuries ago.

Debate over the country's energy needs, environmental conditions, and the resulting quality of life is not new. It's unending, ongoing, and downright rancorous at times. But does it need to be? With hazy views across spectacular parks in the Southwest, how can we turn that debate into solutions?

Still wondering which national park to visit this summer? The folks who run the Far View Lodge at Mesa Verde National Park hope to entice you there with savings of 25 percent.

Interior Department officials launched an intriguing web portal the other day, one touted as promoting transparency in government operations. Well, one place Interior officials could create a whole lot of transparency is by adding more staff to handle Freedom of Information Act requests, which currently move at a glacial pace.

People who find themselves lost in the boonies, whether it's forest, field, desert or other terrain, frequently make the same mistake. If you find yourself unsure which route leads back to civilization, a recent incident at the Buffalo National River offers a clue about your most important task.

From time to time we try to profile restaurants, and even chefs, in the national parks. Last fall, after we ran a feature on the chef at the Metate Room Restaurant in Mesa Verde National Park, some readers asked about recipes. Well, for all who want to try to master one of the entrees served up there, here's Chef Brian Puett's recipe for Cinnamon & Chile Rubbed Port Tenderloin.

I've long been impressed with the performance of the Metate Room Restaurant at Mesa Verde National Park, and now the American Culinary Federation Colorado Chefs Association has weighed in by honoring Executive Chef Brian Puett as one of six winners of the association's inaugural "Award of Culinary Excellence."

Earlier this week we touched on the national parks mentioned in the book, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Somehow, Mammoth Cave National Park didn't make the cut, and if you've been there, you know it should have. Help us compile a list of the top 100 national park locations to see before you die. We'll start the list.

Regular guests of national park lodges have undoubtedly noticed persistent increases in room rates. Although we no longer have the receipt, it seems that we paid $225 per night during our 1996 stay in Yosemite National Park’s Ahwahnee for a room that now goes for approximately $500 per night. It probably doesn’t surprise you to learn that during the past decade lodging rates in national parks have risen faster than the Consumer Price Index.

Looking for a break from shopping, football, and end-of-year hustle and bustle? December is prime time for special programs and events in a number of parks. Here's a sampling in areas from coast to coast.