Agile Trekker: Petroglyph Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
5/21/2024	2.8 miles	1 hour 42 minutes	265'	1.7 mph	353.6 miles

Parking:

Fees & Passes - Mesa Verde National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
There is a fee. The National Park Service annual pass will work here.
Spruce Tree House Trailhead, Chapin Mesa

Map:

Directions: This is a loop trail from the trailhead.

We still had time after hiking the Point Lookout Trail, so we decided to drive down to the Spruce Tree House Trailhead. The park is large, so we were told to estimate around 40 minutes to get from the campground to the trailhead. They also recommend you make sure you have gas, though there is a gas station available at the campground. I love petroglyphs, so off we went to go find them. We didn't know where on the trail they were, so we were searching all the cliff faces. I was concerned we wouldn't recognize them, or we'd miss them. They actually have a bit of fencing in front of them, so we found them :) Petroglyphs are so fascinating. Early art, early communication, ancient graffiti? We also had our first views of cliff dwellings! Tomorrow, we have 2 cliff dwelling tours scheduled. This hike was more challenging with a bunch of steep steps. Just tricky terrain. It was so worth it though!

The campground had a large building with free hot showers. Yeah! Tara also managed to manifest a new tent for herself. She has skills! She noticed a tent in the campground registration office's lost and found. She asked if she could borrow it due to her missing tent pole. They told her that the tent has been there for over a month, and no one had claimed it. So, she got a tent to sleep in rather than the car! We headed back to our tent for dinner. We saw an amazing moonrise and had a great view from our campsite. This is why I love tenting!