Midwest National Parks

Do: Fly to Salt Lake

Depart: Salt Lake

Arrive: Torrey, UT

Lodge: Motel Torrey

Depart: Torrey

Capitol Reef National Park Sign

Twin Rocks Scenic View

Panorama Point

The Fluted Wall

Arrive: Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center (8-4:30)

Do: Scenic Road

Ripple Rock Nature Center

Gifford House Store & Museum Homestead

Fruita Barn

Slickrock Divide

Capitol Gorge Trailhead

See: Petroglyph Panels

Behunin Cabin

The Gray Ones Scenic View

Kathline Rock

Arrive: Green River, UT

Lodge:

Depart: Green River, UT

See: Canyonlands National Park

Intestine Man Petroglyphs

Monitor & Merrimac Viewpoint

Big Mesa Viewpoint

Plateau Viewpoint

The Knoll

Islands in the Sky Visitor Center (8-5)

Shafer Trail Viewpoint

Mesa Arch (.6 miles RT)

Candlestick Tower Overlook

Buck Canyon Overlook

Orange Cliffs Overlook

Grand View Point Overlook (1.8 miles rt) 1.5 hrs-Stunning out and back trail showcases spectacular panoramic views as it follows the canyon edge.)

Arrive: Moab, UT

Lodge:

Depart: Moab

See:: Arches National Park

Visitor Center

La Sal Mountain Viewpoint

Courthouse Towers

Tower of Babel

Petrified Dunes Viewpoint

The Great Wall

The Phallus Pillar

Balanced Rock (.3 miles) 35 ft

Garden of Eden and Owl Rock

Double Arch Trail (.6 miles)

Turret Arch and NorthWindow Trail (1.1 miles)

Panorama Point-Restroom

Salt Valley Overlook

Fiery Furnace Viewpoint-restroom

Devil's Garden Trail- restroom

Tunnel Arch

Pine Tree Arch

Landscape Arch

Arrive: Moab

Lodge:

Depart: Moab

Arrive: Kane Springs Rest Area

Hole in the Rock

Mouth Rock

Wilson Arch

Lopez Arch Viewpoint

Home of Truth Ranch

Newspaper Rock State Historical Monument

Bears Ears National Monument

The Woman Face

Six Shooter Peaks View Area

See: Canyonlands National Park

The Needles Visitor Center

Wooden Shoe Overlook

Pothole Point Trailhead

Big Spring Canyon Overlook and Trailhead

Arrive: Monticello

Lodge:

Depart: Monticello

See: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Tomichi Point -restroom

South Rim Visitor Center

Gunnison Point-restroom

Pulpit Rock Overlook- restroom

Chasm View (.3 miles)

Sunset View

Arrive: Montrose

San Juan Mountains Scenic View

Sunshine Mountain Scenic Overview

Lizard Head Peak Vista Overlook -vault toilet

Memorial Rock

Arrive: Mesa Verde National Park

Lodge: Far View Lodge

Depart: Far View Lodge

See: Mesa Verde National Park

Arrive: Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center (8:30-4)

Mancos Valley Overlook

Montezuma Valley Overlook

Geologic Overlook

Far View House (.75 RT)
Was one of the most densely populated parts of the mesa from A.D. 900 to about A.D. 1300. Nearly 50 villages have been identified within a half square mile area, and were home to hundreds of people. Today, several excavated and stabilized sites are linked by a trail system within a short walking distance. These surface sites include Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir, Megalithic House, and Far View Tower.

Cedar Tree Tower (1/2 mile loop)
One of several tower sites that have been discovered on the mesa tops. Towers were primarily built during the Classic period (A.D. 1100 to 1300) at Mesa Verde and are usually associated with a kiva. The purpose of a tower-kiva complex is not known. Some speculate that towers had a ceremonial purpose based on their close association with kivas.

Do: Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe (11-3)
https://assets.milestoneinternet.com/aramark-parent/visit-mesa-verde/pdf/stt-menu-boards.pdf

Mesa Verde Museum (10-4:30)
Constructed between 1922-25, it replaced a log cabin that had exhibited cultural items since 1917. The musem was built using Cliff House Sandstone, the same stone used by the Ancestral Pueblo people to construct nearby Spruce Tree House and other cliff dwellings, in an architectural style known as Modified Pueblo Revival, which was inspired by the architecture of Mesa Verde's descendant communities. Bookstore, water, restroom, snack bar, gift shop, post office.

Pithouse (.2 mile)

Navajo Canyon View
A flat, paved overlook adjacent to the parking area offers beautiful views of Navajo Canyon and Echo House cliff dwelling. Canyon views from your vehicle.

Square Tower House (.3 mile)
Restroom

Pithouses and Villages (.2 mile)

Mesa Top Sites
Paved, level 100 yard (91 m) trail with a 1% grade. Excavated site covered for weather protection.
The 6-mile (10 km) Mesa Top Loop takes you through 700 years of Ancestral Pueblo history. From remains of early pithouses and masonry villages to multi-storied cliff dwellings, archeological sites along this loop show how early Pueblo architecture evolved. Archeology and Pueblo oral histories shed light on what life may have been like for people who lived, worked, and raised families here for generations. Along the road, you’ll find short, easily-accessible paved trails to view twelve archeological sites. Short trails along the Mesa Top Loop lead to surface sites such as pithouses and pueblos; overlooks of cliff dwellings tucked into alcoves; and viewpoints where you can enjoy the beauty of the landscape that was home to generations of Ancestral Pueblo people.
Restroom

Sun Point Pueblo
Flat, paved 50 yard (46 m) easy trail to ancient pueblo, covered for weather protection.

Sun Point View
Short walk leads to an uneven sandstone overlook with guardrails where you can see 12 alcove sites, including Cliff Palace. There are 12 tall, uneven stone steps on the left and about a 40 foot (12.2 m) ramp on the right. Over 30 cliff dwellings occupy these canyon alcoves and ledges. How many can you spot?

Oak Tree House
It was part of a larger community, neighboring many other cliff dwellings in Fewkes and Cliff Canyons.While most cliff dwellings are small, with fewer than 10 rooms, this neighborhood includes many of Mesa Verde’s largest cliff villages. View this site from your vehicle if you wish. The overlook is uneven sandstone with guardrails. Parking is limited.

Fire Temple
View these sites from your vehicle if you wish. To get a closer view, there are three tall, uneven stone steps from the parking area to the sandstone viewpoint.

Sun Temple
The best panoramic view of Cliff Palace can be seen here from your vehicle. Walk to Sun Temple on the paved, mostly level 200 yard (183 m) trail.
The features classify it as a ceremonial structure. Because neither household goods nor roof beams were found by archeologists at Sun Temple, some believe the symmetrically planned "D" shaped building was never completed. Yet its size alone points to the amount of labor that went into its construction. The stones in the fine masonry walls were shaped and given a "dimpled" flat surface by the builders of the structure. Based upon the amount of fallen stone removed during excavation, the walls probably were between 11 and 14 feet high. The thick walls were double coursed and filled with a rubble core. Today, modern concrete covers the top of the walls to prevent moisture from going into the rubble placed between the walls. Please do not climb or walk on the walls of this fragile archeological site.

Lodge: Far View Lodge

Cliff Palace (Book) 30 minutes/25 miles $8
Largest cliff dwelling in North America. Built between 1190 and 1280 CE, Cliff Palace was once home to over 100 people.Today, it stands as a testament to the engineering and artistic achievements of the Ancestral Pueblo people.It contained 150 rooms and 23 kivas and had a population of approximately 100 people. Out of the nearly 600 cliff dwellings concentrated within the boundaries of the park, 75% contain only 1-5 rooms each, and many are single room storage units. If you visit the Cliff Palace overlook you will view an exceptionally large dwelling which may have had special significance to the original occupants. It is thought that Cliff Palace was a social, administrative site with high ceremonial usage.
Restroom

House of Many Windows

Roadside Fry Bread Stand

Hemenway House Overlook
Perched on a remote cliff in Soda Canyon, Hemenway House looks to fall off the small ledge on which it rests. Built in the 1200s, the cliff dwelling has 26 rooms and one kiva and was part of the larger Balcony House community. Hemenway House was named for Mary Tileston Hemenway, who funded the first scientific archeological expedition in the southwest. She never visited Mesa Verde, but she helped protect Ancestral Pueblo sites throughout the region.

Balcony House Overlook

Depart: Mesa Verde

Arrive: Carlsbad, NM

Lodge: Whites City Cavern Inn

Depart: White City

See: Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Visitor Center (9-5)

Big Room Trail (9:30-2:30) Finish by 4:45 p.m.
1.25 miles

Kings Palace Tour (1.5 hrs) $10/$5 Sr
1 mile
The King's Palace tour, a 1.5-hour ranger-guided tour through four highly decorated chambers will take you into the deepest portion of the cavern open to the public, 830 feet (253 m) beneath the desert surface. Although not as difficult as the Natural Entrance Trail, this one mile (1.6 km) tour does require additional descending, and at the end, walking up a very steep hill. Look forward to viewing a variety of cave formations including helictites, draperies, columns and soda straws. Rangers frequently conduct black-outs during this tour, briefly turning off all artificial lights to reveal the natural darkness of the cave.
Also note, some of the lights may flicker and/or be slow to turn on when coming out of the black-out. They will settle down once they have a few minutes to warm up. Random light changes like these (Flickering, etc.) can also occur during the tour. Consider if this is within your comfort level or tolerance.

Arrive: Whites City

Lodge: Whites City Cavern Inn

Depart: White City

Guadaloupe Mountains National Park sign

Arrive: Guadaloupe Mountains National Park

McKittrick Canyon Contact Station (8-5)

Frijole Ranch Museum-Today the Frijole Ranch History Museum occupies the old ranch headquarters, and displays the human history of the Guadalupes from Native Americans and the early ranching community to the establishment of a national park. Just outside is a tiny one-room schoolhouse and spring house that was constructed for water protection and storage. The cold, spring water which is channeled through the courtyard (once essential for subsistence and farming) provides precious moisture for the large shade trees and the grass that surrounds them. Shade and water, both scarce commodities in the desert, are coveted by a variety of species that frequent the area at dawn and dusk. As you look around, imagine what life may have been like in this remote West Texas locale.

Pinery Butterfield Stage Station Ruins

Pine Springs Visitor Center (8-4)

Guadalupe Peak Viewpoint

El Capitan Viewpoint

Van Horn, Texas

Marfa, TX

Lodge:

Depart: Marfa

Study Butte, TX

Big Bend National Park Sign

Chisos Basin Visitor Center (8:30-4)
1 Panther Junction

Lodge: Chisos Lodge

Arrive: Persimmon Gap Visitor Center

Panther Junction Visitor Center

Arrive: Great Sand Dunes National Park

Depart: Alamosa

Arrive: Great Sand Dunes National Park
11999 CO-150

See: Urraca Cemetery-

See: Visitor Center Center (9-5)

Montville Nature Trail-Walk along a shady forested trail named for a late 1800s settlement, comprising 20 houses in its heydey.

Great Sand Dune picnic area-restroom
Walk up to the sand dunes

Camp Store

Lodge: Great Sand Dunes Lodge-
Aspen Avion Camper-$219 -1 Queen bed / 2 Twin bed, Attached wooden deck with Full size Refrigerator, Micro wave, TV, Air Condition & Heat, Pots and Pans, Hot water, Linens, Crockery sets, Utensils. free Breakfast.
2 Queen Standard $239-2 Queen bed, Patio towards dunes, Refrigerator, Microwave, TV, single cup coffee maker, Hair dryer, free breakfast.

Depart: Great Sand Dunes

See: Historic Schoolhouse
Nathrop, CO

Kokomo Landmark

Scenic View East Bound I-70

Rainbow Bay Pull-Off and Scenic Stop

Granby Cutthroat Bay Pull-Off and Scenic Stop

Arrive: Grand Lake, CO

Grand Lake Visitor Center

See: Kawuneeche Visitor Center (9-5)
Gift shop, restroom

Lodge:

Depart: Grand Lake

Holzwarth Historic Site- .5 mile dirt path (9:30-2:30)

Public Bathroom on the right side.

Public Restroom at Bowen-Baker Trailhead

Public Restroom at Timber Creek Ranger Station

Beaver Ponds Picnic Area

Farview Curve Viewpoint

Milner Pass

Medicine Bow Curve

Alpine Ridge Visitor Center (9-4:30)
Trail Ridge Store, restroom, food-drinks

Gore Range Overlook

Trail Ridge Road Summit

Lava Cliffs Overlook

Rainbow Curve Overlook

Many Parks Curve Overlook

Beaver Ponds

Beaver Meadows Visitor Center (9-6)
Gift shop, restroom

Rocky Mountain National Park Sign

Estes Park Visitor Center

Lodge: Estes Park

Depart: Estes Park

Big Thompson River Scenic Stop

Big Thompson River Falls

The Dam Store
10103 W US 34

Natural Fort

Welcome to Colorado Sign

Meriden US 85 Rest Area

Welcome to South Dakota Sign

Bicycle Sculpture

Wind Caves National Park Visitor Center (8-5)
26611 US Hwy 385

Arrive: Hot Springs

Lodge:

Depart: Hot Springs

Arrive: Wind Caves Park National Park

Do: Garden of Eden Tour (9,10,12,2,3) 1 hr, .25 mile, 150 stairs
This one-hour tour is our least strenuous tour. It is a wonderful sample of Wind Cave. Small amounts of all of the beautiful cave formations - boxwork, cave popcorn, and flowstone - are seen along this 1/4 mile tour. The tour is designed for people with limited time or abilities. It enters and leaves the cave by elevator with 150 steps along the tour route.

Natural Entrance Tour (11:30, 1:30) 1.25 hrs, .6 mile, 300 stairs $1
This tour includes a visit to the natural entrance of Wind Cave where visitors can see the largest opening to the cave and learn how we get our name. Participants enter the cave through a man-made entrance and journey into the middle level of the cave. Wind Cave's famous boxwork is abundant throughout this trip. This moderately strenuous 2/3 mile tour lasts 1¼ hours and exits the cave by elevator.
Collect ticket 30 minutes before

Arrive: Mount Rusmore National Memorial

See: Lincoln Corglum Visitor Center (8-5)

Arrive: Keystone, SD

Lodge:

Depart: Estes Park

Cinnamon's Bakery Estes Park (7:30-10 a.m.)
920 W Elkhorn

See: Fall River Visitor Center (9-4:30)
Gift shop, restaroom

Depart: Estes Park

Natural Fort
Interstate 25 Frontage Rd
Carr, CO

Bison Statue

Colorado Sign

Scotts Bluff National Monument Visitor Center (9-5)
190276 Old Oregon Trail
Gering, NE 69341

Carhenge

Box Butte County Historical Marker

Scenic Overlook

Chief Big Foot Surrender Historical Marker

Arrive: Badlands National Park

Do: White River Visitor Center (9-5)
Restroom

Scenic Pass

Lodge: Cedar Pass Lodge
(AC, minifridge, microwave,

Do: Cedar Pass Restaurant (4 p.m.)
https://www.cedarpasslodge.com/dining/cedar-pass-restaurant/
(Indian taco, buffalo chili or burger, ,sandwiches, huckleberry cheesecake

Do: Breakfast (8-10)
https://www.cedarpasslodge.com/dining/cedar-pass-restaurant/
breakfast burrito, sandwich, biscuit and gravey, french toast, yogurt and fruit

Depart: Cabins

See: Badlands National Park

Ben Reifel Visitor Center

Toadstool Rock

Fossil Exhibit Trail-Restroom

White River Valley Overlook

Big Foot Pass Overlook-Restroom

Panorama Point

Prairie Wind Overlook

Burns Basin Overlook

Homestead Overlook

Conata Basin Overlook

Yellow Mounds Overlook

Ancient Hunters Overlook

Pinnacles Overlook-Restroom

Depart: Badlands National Park

Arrive: Wall

See: National Grasslands Visitor Center (8-4:30)
708 Main St

Wall Drug
510 Main St

Lodge:

Depart: Wall

Arrive: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Painted Canyon Visitor Center (8:30-4:30)
Just out back, a sidewalk traces the rim of the badlands with fantastic views of the South Unit all along the way. A nature trail and picnic pavilion offer travelers a break from the highway.

See: South Unit Visitor Center (8-4:30)

Maltese Cross Cabin

Roadside Pulloff

Johnson' Plateau Roadside Pulloff

Skyline Vista

Wayside Exhibit

Prairie Dog Colony Roadside Pulloff

Roadside Pulloff

Wayside Exhibit

Badlands Overlook

Vault Toilet

Talkington Trail Roadside Pulloff

Bolcourt East Overlook

Bolcourt Overlook

Wind Canyon

Wayside Exhibit

Peaceful Valley Ranch

Lodge: Medora

Depart: Medora

Arrive: Billings, MT

Do: Fly home