MESA VERDE Rules and Regulations 1920

ADMINISTRATION.

Mesa Verde National Park is under the exclusive control of the National Park Service, which is authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations and establish such service as it may deem necessary for the care and management of the park, and for the preservation from injury or spoliation of the ruins and other relics of prehistoric or primitive man within the limits of the reservation; and to grant permits for the examination, excavation, and other gathering of objects of antiquity by persons deemed properly qualified to conduct the same provided they are undertaken only for the benefit of some reputable museum, university, college, or other recognized scientific or educational institution with a view to increasing the knowledge of such objects and aiding the general advancement of archaeological science.

The National Park Service is represented in the actual administration of the park by a superintendent, who is assisted in the protection of its natural and historic features by a number of park rangers. Mr. Thomas Rickner is superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park. His office address is Mancos, Colo,

The park season is May 1 to November 1.

HOW TO REACH THE PARK.

RAILROAD INFORMATION.

Mesa Verde National Park as a destination.—During summer season round-trip excursion tickets at reduced fares are sold at practically all stations in the Middle West, East, and South to Mancos, Colo., a station on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad system, and to Mesa Verde National Park as a destination via Mancos and the automobile service operating between Mancos and the park. Passengers traveling through Denver, Colorado Springs, or Pueblo en route to the park have choice of varying fares via different routes for going and return journeys between Denver, Colorado Springs, or Pueblo and Mancos, among which are the following:

Via Salida, Gunnison, Moatrose, and Telluride.
Via Walsenburg, Alamosa, and Durango.
Via Salida, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, and Telluride.
Via Salida, Alamosa, and Durango.

Map showing railroad routes to Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain National Parks.

Mesa Verde National Park as a side trip.—Passengers wishing to visit Mesa Verde National Park as a side trip in connection with journeys to other destinations will find stop-over privileges available on round-trip excursion tickets and may make side trips to the park from Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Grand Junction, or Montrose. Stop overs on one-way tickets are allowed at Grand Junction and Montrose to permit passengers to make the Mesa Verde side trip from those stations. Holders of excursion tickets reading via the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad between Denver, Colorado Springs, or Pueblo and Salt Lake City or Ogden, in either direction, have option of traveling between Salida and Grand Junction via Leadville and Glenwood Springs or via Gunnison and Montrose, and have choice, at varying fares, of the following side-trip routes to the park and return:

For westbound passengers.

From Montrose or Grand Junction to the park and return, via Telluride in each direction.

From Montrose or Grand Junction to the park and return, going via Telluride, returning via Durango. Silverton, and Ouray (stage trip between Silverton and Ouray included); or the reverse.

From Pueblo or Salida via Alamosa and Durango to the park, returning via Telluride to Montrose.

For eastbound passengers.

From Montrose or Grand Junction to the park and return, via Telluride in each direction.

From Montrose or Grand Junction to the park and return, going via Telluride, returning via Durango, Silverton, and Ouray (stage trip between Silverton and Ouray included); or the reverse.

From Montrose via Telluride to the park, returning via Durango and Alamosa to Salida or Pueblo.

ROUTES AND SCHEDULES.

NOTE.—The following schedules, subject to change, correspond with trips to and from Mesa Verde National Park, referred to in preceding paragraphs, entitled: "Mesa Verde as a Destination," and "Mesa Verde as a Side Trip." All trains daily except as noted below.

SCHEDULE No. 1.

From Denver and Colorado Springs, going via Salida, Gunnison, Montrose, and Telluride, returning via Durango, Alamosa, and Walsenburg.

SCHEDULE No. 2.

From Denver and Colorado Springs, going via Walsenburg, Alamosa, and Durango, returning via Telluride, Montrose, Gunnison, and Salida.

SCHEDULE No. 3.

From Denver and Colorado Springs, going via Salida, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, and Telluride, returning via Durango, Alamosa, and Walsenburg.

SCHEDULE No. 4.

From Denver and Colorado Springs, going via Walsenburg, Alamosa, and Durango, returning via Telluride, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, and Salida.

SCHEDULE No. 5.

From Denver and Colorado Springs, going via Salida, Alamosa, and Durango, returning via Telluride, Montrose, Gunnison, and Salida.

SCHEDULE No. 6.

From Denver and Colorado Springs, going via Salida, Gunnison, Montrose, and Telluride, returning via Durango, Alamosa, and Salida.

SCHEDULE No. 7.

From Grand Junction or Montrose, via Telluride in each direction.

SCHEDULE No. 8.

From Grand Junction or Montrose, going via Telluride, returning via Durango, Silverton, and Ouray (stage trip between Silverton and Ouray included).

SCHEDULE No. 9.

From Grand Junction or Montrose, going via Ouray, Silverton (stage trip between Ouray and Silverton included), and Durango, returning via Telluride.

SCENIC APPROACHES TO MESA VERDE.

The lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad traverse some of the most magnificent scenery of the Rocky Mountain region, and this fact gives the journey to Mesa Verde National Park a double value for the tourist. The railroad offers several routes and combinations of routes, which enable the passenger to vary his journey—going one way and returning another, taking advantage of side trips, stops at points of interest en route, etc. By means of this choice of routes he may ride through two great gorges with walls nearly 3,000 feet in height and along the rim of another gorge nearly 3,000 feet deep, and he may cross three passes the altitudes of which exceed 10,000 feet. The gorges are the Royal Gorge in the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas, where the width of the chasm at the base is but 30 feet and the railroad engineers found it necessary to swing a steel bridge parallel with the stream in order to secure a foothold for the track; the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, with its wonderful Curecanti Needle and beautiful Chipeta Falls; and Toltec Gorge of Los Pinos River, where may be seen the monument to President Garfield erected in 1881. The three passes are Marshall Pass, the Great Continental Divide (altitude 10,856 feet); Lizard Head Pass (altitude 10,250 feet), with the peak of the same name in the background; and Cumbres Pass (altitude 10,015 feet) one of the approaches to which is; Toltec Gorge. However, the deep canyons and high passes to be seen and enjoyed on the railroad trip to the Mesa Verde are only a few of the journey's attractive features. There is, in fact, but little of the landscape presented that is not replete with interest. If when passing through the fertile valleys a commonplace foreground should momentarily appear, there are always present the towering mountains, either near or distant, to lend grandeur to the picture.

In one of these valleys the United States Reclamation Service's Uncompahgre project for irrigation may be seen. Further southward the railroad passes through the valleys of the Uncompahgre, San Miguel, and Dolores Rivers. For many miles after leaving Montrose there are visible on the left the great, jagged Sawtooth Mountains, while beyond Ridgway, the magnificent Sneffels Range, dominated by the majestic Mount Sneffels, near the center of the group, presents such a series of snowy heights, unbroken by vegetation, as is found nowhere else in the Colorado-Utah Rockies. There is scenery everywhere along the line, and the train schedules. for this part of the journey are so arranged that during the summer season everything may be seen by daylight. En route via Telluride, passengers remain overnight in that picturesque mining town, and, leaving early next morning, the beautiful Cathedral Spires and Ophir Loop are traversed. En route via Durango, the metropolis of southwestern Colorado, a night is spent in that city. If desired at Ridgway a side trip may be made to the mountain town of Ouray and over the scenic Ouray Stage Line; and at Durango a side trip may be made up the beautiful Canyon of the Animas to Silverton.

The above enumeration comprises some of the main features of the Denver & Rio Grande's regular "Around the Circle" tour, which is customarily used in making the trip to Mesa Verde National Park. If desired, however, what is termed the "Big Circle" trip may be made, using that portion of the standard gauge line which lies between Salida and Grand Junction and between Grand Junction and Montrose. On this journey westward, after passing through the Royal Gorge, the train turns northward from Salida, passes through Brown's Canyon and beside the Collegiate Range (Mounts Princeton, Yale, and Harvard), over Tennessee Pass (altitude 10,240 feet), between the castellated walls of Eagle River Canyon with mines perched upon their sides, and down the Canyon of the Grand River (one of Colorado's largest streams) to Glenwood Hot Springs, the famous resort in the heart of the Rockies; then through the fruit-growing districts of the Grand River Valley to Grand Junction, whence, after a night's rest, the journey is resumed eastward to Montrose, where the regular "Circle" trip southward is followed.

MESA VERDE AND OTHER NATIONAL PARKS.

From many sections trips may be planned to include visits to two or more of the following national parks in the Rocky Mountain region: Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, Yellowstone, Glacier.

DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT TRAVEL.

For further information regarding railroad fares, service, etc., apply to railroad ticket agents, or address F. A. Wadleigh, passenger traffic manager, Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, Denver, Colo.

Automobile roads between Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Glacier, and Zion National Parks.

POST OFFICE.

The post office is at Mancos, Colo.

TRANSPORTATION AND CAMPS IN THE PARK.

Parties desiring to camp within the park may obtain suitable outfits and provisions in Mancos, Cortez, or Dolores at market rates, which are reasonable. Guides may be had either at Mancos or Cortez. Mancos is preferable as a starting point for the ruins, as it is on the line of the railroad. Cortez may be reached by stage from Dolores. The two towns are of about equal size.

Oddie L. Jeep, Mancos, Colo., maintains a tourist camp near Spruce Tree House. Rates, $1 for each meal and $1 for bed per person for tent accommodations, and $1.50 for bed per person for cottage accommodations.

Mr. C. R. Beers operates an automobile service for the transportation of tourists from Mancos to and in the park. Automobiles will leave Mancos, 2.30 p. m.; leave Spruce Tree Camp, 8 a. m. Time consumed each direction, between Mancos and Mesa Verde National Park, three hours.

The round trip from Mancos to the park includes transportation service between Spruce Tree Camp, Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Sun Temple, the principal points of interest accessible by automobile road from the public camp; rate, $10 for the round trip.

Baggage should only be checked to Mancos, Colo. The auto stage company will carry not to exceed 25 pounds free allowance. Persons having baggage in excess of 25 pounds can make special arrangements at Mancos, Colo., for its transportation to Mesa Verde National Park and return. The excess baggage rate is 3 cents per pound in each direction.

Storage charges on baggage at Mancos station will be waived while passengers are making tour of the park.

ROAD.

The road of the Mesa Verde National Park, which is open during the season to both horse-drawn vehicles and automobiles, may be reached from a point on the Mancos-Cortez road, about 8 miles from Mancos and 12 miles from Cortez. After leaving the county highway the Government road winds through the pinyon-covered hills at the base of Point Lookout and ascends to the top of the mesa on an average of 8 per cent grade.

From the Mancos-Cortez highway to station 64 the road is newly constructed, ascending the mesa on the east side at an even grade and avoiding that portion of the road which has been unsafe because of overhanging rocks. This new road opens up to travelers a wonderful view of the Mancos Valley and the La Plata range of mountains, and for scenic value is unsurpassed by anything in the State.

From station 64 to station 327 the road is 15 feet wide and in fine shape. This portion of the road passes through Morefield Canyon, over a low divide, and down into Prater Canyon, then up along the west side of Prater, gradually rising until it strikes the old road at station 327. From this point the distance to Far View House is 9-1/4 miles. This great ruin is situated on Chapin Mesa, slightly southeast of the ancient Mummy Lake reservoir and a short distance east of the automobile highway. From Far View House, it is 4 miles to Spruce Tree Camp.

From Spruce Tree Camp automobile roads lead to Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Oak Tree House, Square Tower House, and Sun Temple.

Distances to points of interest in Mesa Verde National Park from Spruce Tree House.