SUMMERFUN: Crisscross — Four Corners and Mesa Verde

May 19, 2016

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For the love of Pete, please don’t tell anybody else about the wonders of Colorado. We don’t need any more transplants.

Sign at the Four Corners. It is a region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico.

Marker at Four Corners Monument – Border of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico

If you were totally honest about our state, plenty of hidden secrets exist that would bring people flocking if they knew.

Next time you are up for an adventure, fight the natural inclination to head west to the mountains and point your car to the far south and west of the metro area and head to Mesa Verde National Park and the Four Corners monument.

First, hit up the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park, where native peoples flourished under the protection of rock walls between 1190 and 1300 A.D. and left a lot of well-preserved artifacts and clues about their unique way of life. Take guided or self-guided tours, visit the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum to see a number of recovered artifacts from the site and many dioramas giving a glimpse of what life was like in the cliff dwellings and hang around the sparkling new Visitor Center (open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. between May 27 and Sept. 5). where you can purchase tickets to visit the Cliff Palace, Balcony House or Long House. Hiking, bird watching and many other outdoor activites make the long trek worthwhile.

Sixty-six miles from there, visit the Four Corners Monument, the only place in the United States where four states come together at one point. Touch Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah at the same time. It’s the perfect place for a selfie to make your friends jealous, as the most recent reconstruction — circa 2010 — makes for a pretty picture.

Other SUMMER FUN installments here:

AMagCoverForWeb5.16 SUMMERFUN: Just the ‘Fax, man — Vacation of Lifetime on the Metro Boulevard of Dreams