History & Culture

On June 29, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park to "preserve the works of man," the first national park of its kind. Today, the continued preservation of both cultural and natural resources is the focus of the park's research and resource management staff.

 
View of Square Tower House




For cultural information on Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings and mesa top sites, click on Places.

 
Artist rendition of Ancestral Puebloan traders.


For information about the Ancestral Puebloans who lived at Mesa Verde, go to People.

 
Park Ranger archeologist documenting a wall in Spruce Tree House.


For information about Mesa Verde's Archeological Site Conservation program, current projects and research including stabilization, post fire site surveys, and architectural documentation, click on Preservation.

Did You Know?

Cliff Palace in the snow

Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park. It has 150 rooms, plus an additional 75 open areas.  Twenty-one of the rooms are kivas, and 25 to 30 rooms have residential features.  The number of Ancestral Puebloans living in Cliff Palace at any one time was 100 to 120.