Yucca House National Monument preserves a large unexcavated pueblo with a
stunning setting in Montezuma Valley, nestled between Mesa Verde and Ute
Mountain. Since Yucca House was protected as a national monument in 1919, it
has remained largely untouched, offering intrepid visitors a sense of
discovery and preserving the pueblo's beauty and integrity for future
generations.

Yucca House National Monument preserves a large unexcavated pueblo with a stunning setting in Montezuma Valley, nestled between Mesa Verde and Ute Mountain. Since Yucca House was protected as a national monument in 1919, it has remained largely untouched, offering intrepid visitors a sense of discovery and preserving the pueblo's beauty and integrity for future generations.

Bird's eye view of the park

Yucca House National Monument

For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on
the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Today, the park protects the rich
cultural heritage of 27 Pueblos and Tribes and offers visitors a spectacular
window into the past. This World Heritage Site and International Dark Sky Park
is home to over a thousand species, including several that live nowhere else
on earth.

For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Today, the park protects the rich cultural heritage of 27 Pueblos and Tribes and offers visitors a spectacular window into the past. This World Heritage Site and International Dark Sky Park is home to over a thousand species, including several that live nowhere else on earth.

Mesa Verde National Park

This comparatively low-elevation (6,000-7,000 feet) area offers a unique
combination of terrain, scenery, and climate that allows for nearly year-round
recreation close to towns and surrounded by panoramic backdrops. The
relatively small blocks of public land are particularly well-suited to non-
motorized trail use with opportunities for short motorized trails. This area
also contains the only "open" (to cross country travel) motorized areas in the
field office, providing rock crawling, OHV play and skill-building. Mountain
biking trail systems are currently the greatest draw, highlighted by Phil's
World just east of Cortez, which is one of the BLM's 20 premier mountain
biking destinations. For more information, please contact the Tres Rios Field
Office.

This comparatively low-elevation (6,000-7,000 feet) area offers a unique combination of terrain, scenery, and climate that allows for nearly year-round recreation close to towns and surrounded by panoramic backdrops. The relatively small blocks of public land are particularly well-suited to non-motorized trail use with opportunities for short motorized trails. This area also contains the only "open" (to cross country travel) motorized areas in the field office, providing rock crawling, OHV play and skill-building. Mountain biking trail systems are currently the greatest draw, highlighted by Phil's World just east of Cortez, which is one of the BLM's 20 premier mountain biking destinations. For more information, please contact the Tres Rios Field Office.

Cortez SRMA

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument ('the Monument') encompasses over
174,000 acres of federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM). The Monument is located in the Four Corners region of southwestern
Colorado, about 50 miles west of Durango, 10 miles west of Cortez and 12 miles
west of Mesa Verde National Park. The Monument was designated on June 9, 2000
by Presidential Proclamation to protect cultural and natural resources on a
landscape scale.

The Monument contains the highest known archaeological site density in the
United States, with rich, well-preserved evidence of Native American cultures.
The archeological record etched into this landscape is much more than isolated
islands of architecture. This cultural landscape contains more than 8,300
recorded sites reflecting many physical components of past human life:
villages, field houses, check dams, reservoirs, great kivas, cliff dwellings,
shrines, sacred springs, agricultural fields, petroglyphs and sweat lodges.
Some areas have more than 100 sites per square mile. The total number of sites
is estimated to be up to 30,000.

This landscape has been used or inhabited by humans, including the Northern
Ancestral Puebloan culture, for at least 10,000 years, and continues to be
used by humans today. Contemporary uses of the Monument include recreation,
hunting, livestock grazing and energy development.

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument ('the Monument') encompasses over 174,000 acres of federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Monument is located in the Four Corners region of southwestern Colorado, about 50 miles west of Durango, 10 miles west of Cortez and 12 miles west of Mesa Verde National Park. The Monument was designated on June 9, 2000 by Presidential Proclamation to protect cultural and natural resources on a landscape scale.

The Monument contains the highest known archaeological site density in the United States, with rich, well-preserved evidence of Native American cultures. The archeological record etched into this landscape is much more than isolated islands of architecture. This cultural landscape contains more than 8,300 recorded sites reflecting many physical components of past human life: villages, field houses, check dams, reservoirs, great kivas, cliff dwellings, shrines, sacred springs, agricultural fields, petroglyphs and sweat lodges. Some areas have more than 100 sites per square mile. The total number of sites is estimated to be up to 30,000.

This landscape has been used or inhabited by humans, including the Northern Ancestral Puebloan culture, for at least 10,000 years, and continues to be used by humans today. Contemporary uses of the Monument include recreation, hunting, livestock grazing and energy development.

Yucca House National Monument

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Nearby Parks

Mesa Verde National Park

Cortez SRMA

Canyons of the Ancient National Monument