Spring to Fall
Peak Season: Summer
Morefield Campground
This whole corner of the country is spectacular. Mesa Verde is so educational and you get immersed in the culture of the early Pueploans. I have to look into whether or not these people had a better name, but the Park Ranger for the Balcony House called the people Puebloans which seems kind of generic to me.
Cliff Palace is indeed the palace of all the cliff dwellings. It consists of dozens of Kivas and over 100 different rooms. Everywhere we went the rangers were claiming that 40% of the people resorted to the cliffs for shelter due to a draught. They lived in the cliffs for protection. Not protection from enemies, but a spot to protect their food, to protect themselves from the water and a spot to collect water that ran off through seep springs. I'm not entirely sold on this as I think they were just the first real estate developers. Little, five feet tall Donald Trumps who thought the views and ammenities of living on the mesa were so 1800 and it was time to have actual buildings built into the cliff wall. I think Puebloans would pay a premium for this. Maybe a few bushels of corn a month?