Mesa Verde National Park is entering a milestone summer as officials prepare to mark the park’s 120th anniversary on June 29, which coincides with Colorado’s 150th birthday and the nation’s 250th year.
Park leaders briefed Montezuma County commissioners Monday, reporting a slight decline in visitation last year but projecting a busy upcoming season with events, long-term infrastructure projects and wildfire‑mitigation work.
“It is spring break. It is starting,” said Mesa Verde superintendent Kayci Cook‑Collins. “As I came down the mesa, lots of cars going up. I think the long dry spell of winter is just about over.”
Collins said the park recorded about 475,000 visitors in 2025, a 3.4% decline from the previous year. Year-to-date visitation through February was about 13,000 people, which she described as “oddly low,” but she said traffic is already picking up. Seasonal hiring is nearly complete.
She said the park expects to operate as normal this summer. Mesa Verde includes 21 trails across about 52,120 acres and contains more than 4,000 archaeological sites from the Ancestral Pueblo, including twelfth and thirteenth century cliff dwellings.
Commissioner Jim Candelaria asked whether the visitation decline was typical or if there was a clear cause. Collins said several factors may have contributed, including uncertainty during last October’s federal government shutdown, a drop in international travel and a broader multi‑year downward trend. Although the main 20‑mile park road remained open without fees, tours, facilities, trails and historic sites were largely closed because of limited staffing.
Collins said several long‑planned improvements will move forward this year.
The park is beginning work to replace six overlook barriers on the Mesa Top and Cliff Palace loops, starting this week at the Square Tower House Overlook. Only two overlooks will be closed at any time.
Beginning in April and continuing through summer, crews will rebuild various access roads near park headquarters, the Far View sites and Cedar Tree Tower through a federal highways project. Work includes pavement pulverization, drainage improvements, redesigned parking areas and restoration of historic stone culverts.
Parking lots at the Far View Terrace and the Far View Visitor Center are also being remodeled. The park plans to improve traffic flow by creating a new public access point to Wetherill Mesa from the visitor center lot, which Collins said will address safety concerns caused by vehicles lining up before the road opens.
Wetherill Mesa will open seven days a week starting May 22.
Additional summer work includes chip sealing long stretches of the main entrance road and maintenance on retaining walls. Collins said chip sealing on the hill between the park entrance and mile 4 may cause delays for visitors.
Other projects involve rehabilitating historic structures and advancing preservation work at Spruce Tree House, which may restrict public access until 2027. Funding for the stabilization project is secured, and repairs are expected to begin this fall.
Commissioners also asked about wildfire planning.
Collins said the park is pursuing several mitigation projects, including improving administrative fire roads to access backcountry areas and creating defensible space around historic sites, especially on Chapin Mesa.
“We have projects that we’re establishing to improve some of our administrative fire roads so that we can get to some of the backcountry areas,” she said.
Crews will also continue fuel‑reduction efforts around archaeological resources.
awatson@the‑journal.com
