DID YOU KNOW?
Ohio has three of the 12 sites on the Tentative List for World Heritage Site designation:
• Dayton Aviation Sites (Huffman Prairie Flying Field; Wright Cycle Company and Wright & Wright Printing; Wright Hall, and Hawthorn Hill)
• Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, a group of sites including Fort Ancient near Oregonia
• Serpent Mound in Adams County
These sites are poised to become the first in Ohio to receive this special status. If approved in the coming years by UNESCO, they will attract many more visitors from all over the world.
U.S. World Heritage Sites
Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado)
Independence Hall (Pennsylvania)
Everglades National Park (Florida)
Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)
Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, plus small portions in Montana and Idaho)
Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek (Alaska)
Redwood National and State Parks (California)
Mammoth Cave National Park (Kentucky)
Olympic National Park (Washington)
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (Missouri)
La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina)
Yosemite National Park (California)
Statue of Liberty (New York)
Chaco Culture (New Mexico)
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (New York)
Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (Virginia)
Taos Pueblo (New Mexico)
Carlsbad Caverns National Park (New Mexico)
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (Montana)
Papahānaumokuākea (Hawaiian Archipelago)
Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point (Louisiana)
San Antonio Missions (Texas)
U.S. World Heritage Sites
Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado)
Independence Hall (Pennsylvania)
Everglades National Park (Florida)
Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)
Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, plus small portions in Montana and Idaho)
Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek (Alaska)
Redwood National and State Parks (California)
Mammoth Cave National Park (Kentucky)
Olympic National Park (Washington)
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (Missouri)
La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina)
Yosemite National Park (California)
Statue of Liberty (New York)
Chaco Culture (New Mexico)
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (New York)
Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (Virginia)
Taos Pueblo (New Mexico)
Carlsbad Caverns National Park (New Mexico)
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (Montana)
Papahānaumokuākea (Hawaiian Archipelago)
Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point (Louisiana)
San Antonio Missions (Texas)
Mesa Verde National Park is a cultural marvel amid a majestic Southwest landscape.
Located in southern Colorado near the Four Corners region, it’s the largest archaeological preserve in the country, with more than 600 Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings.
Ranchers searching for lost cattle discovered the cliff dwellings in the late 1800s, and shortly afterwards, “pot hunters” began taking much of the pottery, tools and other artifacts abandoned at the sites. Places like Mesa Verde inspired the Antiquities Act of 1906 to protect archaeological sites. The same year President Theodore Roosevelt signed the law, he established Mesa Verde as a national park.
In 1978, Mesa Verde National Park and Yellowstone National Park became the first two U.S. properties designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The prestigious distinction by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization means a property is deemed to have universal cultural or natural value. Earlier this week, the San Antonio Missions (including the Alamo) joined Mesa Verde, Yellowstone and 20 other U.S. properties on the World Heritage List.
At Mesa Verde, visitors can explore several of the cliff dwellings open to the public, hike and camp. From the mesa top, where the Ancestral Puebloans raised squash, corn and beans, the view of the Four Corners region is breathtaking. On clear days, the enormous Shiprock, a volcanic plug in northern New Mexico, is visible.
Several of the cliff dwellings are only accessible on guided-tours. One of those is Cliff Palace, the largest in North America. It contains 150 rooms — many for storing crops — and about two dozen round, sunken rooms called kivas where families are believed to have lived. About 100 people lived in this compound built out of sandstone blocks held together with mortar made of soil, juniper ash and human urine. It was built over the course of several generations, between 1190 CE and 1260 CE. Shortly afterwards, it was abandoned. Researchers believe a 23-year-long drought drove the Ancestral Puebloans to relocate in New Mexico and Arizona. To see this site, visitors must go on a guided tour that costs $4 per person.
An experience not for the faint of heart is a guided tour of Balcony House, named for ledges where crops or other items were believed to be stored. Visitors must climb a 32-foot-long primitive ladder as well as crawl on their hands and knees through a 12-foot-long tunnel that’s only 18 inches wide. To exit the site, there are several more ladders and steep stone steps. The cost of this adventure is also $4 per person.
I visited Mesa Verde a few weeks ago and went on Cliff Palace and Balcony House tours. Tickets for the guided tours are purchased at the Visitors Center, just off Highway 160 between Durango and Cortez. It will take about 45 minutes to an hour to drive from the Visitors Center to the top of the mesa. Southern Colorado is hot and sunny in the summertime so be prepared. Carry an ample supply of water; sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses and sturdy, close-toed shoes are also necessary.
Mese Verde is definitely a bucket-list destination. The dwellings are testament to a robust and resourceful culture proficient in engineering, craft making and living within the means of the environment.
To plan your visit, go to www.nps.gov/meve.
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