About This Trip
Full Day Tours in Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is unlike any other national park in the United States. It is an expansive outdoor museum spanning across 52,000 acres, with over 5,000 archaeological sites spread throughout. Exploring the ruins of Mesa Verde with an experienced guide promises for a deeper appreciation and full experience of the park.
Mesa Verde Discovery Tours are led by incredibly knowledgeable guides who have studied the mysterious and complex legacy of the Ancestral Puebloans. The “Ancient Ones” left far more mementos behind than just their looming palaces, to which your guides will share throughout the day as you explore their abandoned villages, artifacts, and cliff dwellings.
With their guidance, you will learn more than you can retain about the history, culture, and architecture of the sites you visit around the park. If this is your one shot at Mesa Verde, you will undoubtedly value this comprehensive, interpretive tour. As for the vessel of your voyage, our tour vehicles are in comfortable and air-conditioned vans that allow you to take in the scenery between each stop.
- Witness the largest archaeological preserve and cliff dwelling in the United States.
- Explore ancient ruins for a snapshot into North American life 1,500 years ago.
- Mesa Verde is so saturated with artifacts, pottery shards and arrowheads still scatter the ground throughout the park.
- Views of the lush canyons, everlasting valleys, and surrounding mountain ranges are incredible sites all their own.
- Experience a National Park that comes with serenity, where traffic is always light and sites can be enjoyed without crowds.
Discover the World Renowned Ruins of Mesa Verde National Park
Itinerary
*Note: this is an example itinerary.
Booking Options
Mesa Verde Discovery Standard Tour
Explore all of the top sites of Mesa Verde with a knowledgeable guide along the way, with a ranger guided tour of Cliff Palace along the way! The shuttle to, through and from the park is in our comfortable tour van.
Accommodates up to 10 guests.
- All Ages
Mesa Verde Discovery Premium Tour
Explore all of the top sites of Mesa Verde with a knowledgeable guide along the way, with a ranger guided tour of Cliff Palace along the way! The shuttle to, through and from the park is in our comfortable tour van. A premium tour ensures a lower guest to guide ratio, with a maximum of 6 guests.
Accommodates up to 6 guests.
- All Ages
Per Person
$279
*Tickets to Cliff Palace are very competitive. We recommend booking at least two weeks in advance to ensure we’ll have tickets. We are not always able to accommodate late bookings since additional tickets are not always available.
Our Client Reviews from Google
Robert Sharp2025-07-24Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Rafting was great for first timers. Dillon was awesome working and helping Tim that was visually impaired. Great job and I highly recommend there service. Ron Howard2025-07-24Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. During our family of four 40-day adventure we spent four nights in Durango, Colorado. My 12 and 13 year old daughters had never been rafting so the Lower Animas Rafting 3/4 day adventure was the perfect choice. Steven was our guide and was the best! He ensured we were prepared before stepping into the raft. Safety, technique, and fun were the agenda for the day. While the river was lower than normal it was fun navigating different ways to get past the many rocks. It was also nice that Steven suggested we grab some trash that washed was stuck in river debris. Tyler was another guide helping kayakers we traveled with and was really nice. It was fun interacting and enjoying the perfect day together. I recommend the 3/4 day which includes lunch and more time on the river. There was plenty of time to jump for a swim and we even surfed one of the rapids. Eric Steinberg2025-07-24Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. All the folks at Mild to Wild are great and clearly love what they do. It’s like rafting with friends. My son, his friend and I had a great time! A special shout out to our guide Ryan who was outstanding and a ton of fun. Michael Barber2025-07-23Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Had a fantastic raft ride with Mild to Wild’s guide Toby. He was funny, informative and clearly very skilled at his job. We did a “Mild” ride but he still managed to take us on a class 2/3 rapid for a little wild and talked us through perfectly . 10/10 would definitely recommend Adam Kane2025-07-23Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We did a 3/4 day rafting trip, and had a FANTASTIC time! Our guide was Stephen, and he was AWESOME! Really professional on the water, and worked with us early on to work as a team on the water. The rapids were a blast, and the lunchtime stop was refreshing with some local sandwiches. Would HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! Ronny Robinson2025-07-23Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Sam is a great guide! We did the 1/2 day raft, and it was great! Toby was a guide in another raft, and they had good comradery going down the river together! Great time! Jacob Finseth2025-07-23Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Ryan our guide was the best captain 🫡. - The Fantastic 4️⃣ Beth Barber2025-07-23Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Fantastic time on the River with Toby as our guide. Friendly, knowledgeable, concerned about safety and clear instructions. Great time! Thank you Toby! Mel Garofalo2025-07-23Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. My wife and I booked a half day tour of Arches NP with Mild to Wild while staying in Moab. Due to the high temperatures and our age, we were not looking for strenuous hiking so we booked a guided tour on an air conditioned 15 passenger van. It turned out we were the only two who had booked this tour so we essentially had a private tour with Darren, our driver and guide. He was extremely knowledgeable, interesting to talk to and overall provided a great 4.5 hour experience. We stopped frequently, sometimes for short hikes, others for pictures. He left it up to us as to how much hiking we did. Besides doing Arches tours Darren does river raft trips and jeep tours as well. Highly recommend him and his company.
What are you waiting for? Call today (800) 567-6745 OR (970) 247-4789
Payments & Cancellations
Payment Options
- 1/2 down, 1/2 charged 30 days prior to trip.
- 1/3 down with remaining balance charged in thirds.
- Call for other arrangements!
Free Courtesy Hold
We don’t want you to miss out on this trip so we’ll hold your spots, payment-free, for 24hrs while you make your final arrangements & prepare for payment.
Fees
In addition to the listed trip cost, we collect an additional 9% for River and Land Access Fees (ie. Forest Service, BLM, City, Private Land Use).
Cancellation Policy
Receive a 90% refund with written notice 36 hours or more before the trip. Less notice, no refund.
What to Wear & Bring
- Dress in layers as the temperatures fluctuate.
- Warm jacket (Spring & Fall tours)
- Warm Hat & Gloves (Spring & Fall Tours)
- Sun Hat
- Rain jacket
- Light Hiking Shoes
- Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Water Bottle – your guides will have water for refills!
- Money for souvenirs
- Camera
Important Considerations
Colorado Car Seat Law states children up to 8 years old must be in an appropriate car seat. Please bring your own.
Summer is cool in the morning and hot by the afternoon. In fall and spring the weather can fluctuate quite a bit, so bring layers with you just in case! Mesa Verde can be prone to afternoon rain showers! Bring some rain gear.
For the Cliff Palace tour, you’ll be climbing 3 small ladders up to the cliff dwelling. Wear the right shoes for this! If you would like to opt out of the tour, you are welcome to stay with our guide and observe Cliff Palace from a scenic overlook.
All Mesa Verde tours are in our comfortable tour vans. If you’d like a Jeep for your Mesa Verde tour, call us about our Custom Tours!
For those who would prefer to meet at the Mancos Chamber of Commerce at 9 AM instead of our Durango office at 8:15 AM, please select that option during check out, or notify us when making your reservation.
Due to park restrictions, we cannot pick up guests in Mesa Verde. We are unable to make any exceptions and apologize for any inconvenience.
Plan Your Trip
National & State Parks
National Monuments
Where to Stay
Best Times to Visit
Museums
Moab with Kids
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