For the past couple weeks, I’ve been recounting our Memorial Day weekend trip to southwestern Colorado to visit the Ancestral Puebloan ruins of Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients. We also made brief stops at two other nearby national monuments, a roadside attraction, and spent some time in the town of Cortez. Since none of these warrant their own individual posts, I figured I’d toss them together here as a final wrap-up of our trip.
Table of Contents
Yucca House National Monument
Yucca House is, to be completely honest, probably not worth a visit. I kind of knew that going in, but it wasn’t too far out of our way so I figured we might as well at least check it out.
Getting to Yucca House is a lesson in trusting your navigation, even when you’re 100% certain it’s leading you astray.
For starters, unlike every other NPS site I’ve ever been to, there’s no sign on the highway marking the turnoff. Once you’re on what I guess we could consider the “entrance” road (turn west onto County Road B from US 491 about 10 miles/16 km south of Cortez), there are a couple signs, but until then you’re on your own. My maps app got us here without any issue, though.
Follow signs down this dirt road through farmland, navigating a couple turns as you head further from the highway. As you approach Yucca House, you’ll feel like you’ve definitely taken a wrong turn. I believe my husband’s exact words were, “Are you sure this is right? This looks like someone’s driveway.”
He wasn’t wrong. That’s pretty much where we were.
And we were in the right place.
We parked along the edge, next to a worn wooden sign pointing to a boardwalk, which led through two sequential fences into a grassy enclosure that doesn’t look like much of anything. It’s something, though. Actually, multiple somethings. There are two unexcavated structures that just look like hills and one partially-excavated wall that’s actually visible. And that’s it.
It look us longer to drive here than to see the monument. But now we can say we’ve been to Yucca House.
(Also, if you collect passport stamps, you can find this one at the Mesa Verde or Hovenweep Visitor Centers.)
Cortez, Colorado
If you’re visiting Hovenweep, Yucca House, Canyons of the Ancients, or Mesa Verde, you will inevitably find yourself in the town of Cortez at some point. It’s a good base camp for visiting these destinations, particularly if you’d prefer a hotel rather than camping.
It’s a super pretty location, close to both Mesa Verde and the San Juan Mountains.
We didn’t stay in Cortez, but we did spend a few hours there one day sampling some local beer and grabbing dinner with Chelsea, who happened to be in the area for the long weekend as well!
Flight: semisweet stout, melon pale ale, kolsch, and ale-cider blend from Wild Edge Brewing Collective
We saw signs for a history museum and a couple other local attractions as well, so if you have more time in Cortez, I’m sure it wouldn’t be that difficult to find some things to do.
Chimney Rock National Monument
In contrast with Yucca House, Chimney Rock is well-marked, not in someone’s driveway, and absolutely worth a stop.
This wasn’t actually on our initial itinerary because I forgot it existed. It’s managed by the US Forest Service rather than the NPS so you won’t find it on NPS maps. But we saw the sign for it on the first day of our trip and, after doing a bit of research that night, decided we’d stop for a short visit on our way home. I’m very glad we did!
Chimney Rock and the adjacent Companion Rock are parallel spires that rise from one end of a narrow, rocky ridgeline in the San Juan Mountains between Durango and Pagosa Springs. Uniquely, every 18.6 years during what is called the northern major lunar standstill (MLS), the full moon rises directly between these two pinnacles. The next MLS begins later this year.
Much as the sun rises and sets at different places on the horizon throughout the year due to the tilt of the earth’s axis, so does the moon. However, while the sun rises from a particular place on the horizon on a particular day year after year, the same is not true of the moon. The north-south fluctuation of the moonrise and moonset varies from year to year, with the largest fluctuation occurring every 18.6 years. In other words, this is the furthest north the moon will ever rise. This is the northern MLS.
It’s likely that the Ancestral Puebloans who lived here were aware of this phenomenon, because atop the ridge at 7600 feet (2315 m) of elevation are various structures, including kivas, pithouses, and a 35-room Great House. During the MLS, the moonrise between the spires is visible from the Great House. Additionally, closer examination of the Great House reveals it was initially constructed 18 years before it was expanded; both building periods took place during past MLSs. Clearly, the location of these structures was not an accident.
Interestingly, these structures and many others throughout southwestern Colorado are built in the Chacoan style, meaning their construction is very similar to those found at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. This suggests a relationship between these populations and, in this case, may even suggest that people traveled from far and wide to view the MLS at Chimney Rock. It’s unlikely that people lived up here full time, though, due to the complete lack of water.
Today, during a visit to Chimney Rock National Monument, you can stop at the visitor center and museum and then drive a 2.5 mile (4 km) maintained dirt road up to the top.
Not all the way to the top, as Chimney and Companion Rocks and the adjacent ridgeline are closed to the public due to their sacred nature. However, you can drive partway up and then walk two trails to view the ruins. The Mesa Village Trail is a paved, mostly flat 0.3 mile (0.5 km) loop while the Great House Trail is a steep, rocky, somewhat exposed 0.6 mile (1 km) roundtrip hike up to the Great House, with a handful of other things to see along the way.
Astronomy, archaeology, hiking, and views all in one place? Sign me up!
Treasure Falls
Located on the southern side of Wolf Creek Pass, about 15 minutes north of Pagosa Springs, is Treasure Falls Observation Site. Here, you’ll find a parking area with a view of the falls and, for those who want to stretch their legs, a trail up to two viewing platforms.
The lower platform is a bridge over the creek that’s far enough downstream for you to stay dry.
The upper is called Misty Deck, and boy is that accurate. I walked out to the edge to take a video of the waterfall and gave up halfway through because it was only about 50°F (10°C), which is not exactly a pleasant temperature for getting sprayed by cold water.
Also, I shouldn’t have hiked this trail in flip flops. The last stretch to Misty Deck was wet, muddy, and slippery, and my husband had to help me across. Hiking boots or, at the very least, shoes would have been much safer.
And lastly, a couple views from the drive. Reaching southwestern Colorado is a bit of a drive, so it’s not a place we frequent – which is unfortunate, because it’s our favorite part of the state. However, we’re hoping to return at least once later this summer and next summer to continue exploring this diverse and colorful corner of the state. Stay tuned!
Up next: visiting Austin, Texas
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