Cliff Place Mesa Verde by Caitlyn Willows
Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The park occupies 81.4 square miles (211 square kilometers) and features numerous ruins of homes and villages built by the ancient Pueblo people.
It is best known for several spectacular cliff dwellings — structures built within caves and under outcroppings in cliffs — including Cliff Palace, which is thought to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The Spanish term Mesa Verde translates into English as “green table”. Mesa Verde is located near the Four Corners. The Four Corners are four states (Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.). They are referred to as such as they are the only states to be positioned in such a manner.
Geography
Mesa Verde National Park is located in the lower south-western corner of the state of Colorado [show location on an interactive map] 37°11′02″N, 108°29′19″W (37.183784,-108.488687).
Elevations in the park range from about 6,100 feet (1,860 meters) to about 8,400 feet (2,560 meters). The terrain in much of the park is dominated by ridges and valleys running roughly north and south; many of these ridges peak at an east–west crest near the park’s northern border which turns more northerly–southerly towards the park entrance. The northernmost point is 13.2 miles (21.2 kilometers) farther north than the southernmost; the westernmost point is 11.9 miles (19.2 kilometers) farther west than the easternmost.