Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

Spruce House dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park

Plenty of people enjoy the wonders of Mesa Verde in summer, but have you seen it in winter under a blanket of snow?

Plan now to take a long weekend - or more! - early in the new year when you can get into Mesa Verde National Park for free.

You can't drive all through the park, but the main road and Mesa Top Loop Road will be open (weather permitting) all winter, and four cross-country ski trail systems - the Cliff Palace Loop, Wetherill Road Trail, Prater Canyon and Morefield Campground Trail - will be open for 28.4 miles of lung-busting cruising and snowshoeing.

Mesa Verde National Park is the nation’s seventh-oldest park and is the sole national park dedicated to the works of humankind. The original inhabitants, the Ancestral Puebloans, occupied the area from AD 1 to AD 1300.

Park hours are 8 a.m.-sunset, weather permitting. Learn about other winter fun in and around the park.