The campground is in Mesa Verde NP which is located in southwestern Colorado. The park entrance is along Highway 160 between the towns of Mancos and Cortez, Colorado and about 35 miles west of Durango, Colorado. Once you enter Mesa Verde national park, the access road to Morefield campground is found on the right side of the main park road about 4 miles inside the park.

Driving further into the park, the first site of a cliff dwelling is 21 miles (approximately 45 minutes) along a steep, narrow, and winding road.

Basin and Range Region of Colorado

Colorado Plateau Ecoregion

There is a considerable amount to say about the subject of these Ancient people because much of the Colorado plateau is the homeland of the North American family Groups of the pre-Columbus civilization.

For more information about these people, please the second migration into North America, the people known as the Uto-Aztecan

This is indisputably the greatest location on the continent for viewing the homes of the ancient Anasazi stone stackers who lived here over a thousand years ago.

The campsite here in this national park has some four hundred campsites in multiple loop with rest rooms in each loop. Also, most rest rooms are equipped with WiFi. Also, the village has Wife, a campground store, gas station, gift shop, hot showers, laundry, restaurant and rest rooms.

At most of the above listed federal park locations, Federal Parks Pass holders will receive half off camping fees.

Mid-April to Mid-October

The village rest rooms have hot showers.

National Park entrance fee not included with camping

267 Dry Camping sites: $38.00 per night, up to two people

15 Full hookup sites: $50.00 per night, up to two people

Access, Senior or Veteran Pass Holders receive half off.

Reservations are encouraged.

Fire pit and/or barbecue grill, picnic table w/seating, gravel tent pad. Potable water is near campsites.

Campground store has camp supplies, firewood, and food.

There is a free dump station.

During my 2020 visit I find out that parts of the cliff dwelling roofs are cracking and starting to collapse onto the stone stacker ruins. Many of these cliff dwellings will be closed in order to shore up the cracking roofs. Methinks, nothing lasts forever.

Also, during the 2020 visit, there are attendants at the shower rooms to charge a fee of $2.50 for any non-campers that wishes to take a shower. All the showers were locked and after each use were sanitized.

The laundry mat was still open for use and there are top load washers for $1.75 and front load washers for $2.25 per load. The dryers are $0.25 for seven minutes.

Then I begin my drive to the visitors center to get a ticket for the tour of Balcony House, the one immediately after the Cliff Palace tour.

As I drive to Cliff Palace, I see a lot of animals, first a coyote, then a couple of wild horses and finally a herd of deer.

I still arrive thirty minutes before the tour so I work on my journal for a short while and then I walk down to the trail head and wait for the tour to begin.