Twilight in Cliff Palace

See Cliff Palace as you have never seen it before!  

Through a special arrangement with the National Park Service, the Mesa Verde Institute will present extended Cliff Palace twilight tours from May 26 through September 7, 2013. These ranger-led 90-minute tours begin around 7:00 p.m. (see time schedule below) and are limited to 20 participants to provide an intimate, leisurely encounter with Mesa Verde's largest cliff dwelling. This tour's dramatic sunset lighting appeals to amateur and professional photographers as well as those seeking a deeper connection with this extraordinary archeological treasure.

Knowledgeable Rangers* portraying an historical character* from Mesa Verde’s past will  guide visitors through Cliff Palace as the sun begins to set below the mesa top. This is a unique opportunity to learn about North America’s largest cliff dwelling through the eyes of the people who found, stabilized, and preserved it in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Twilight Tour Dates and Time:

May 26 to July 27- 7:15 PM
July 28 to August 17 - 7:00 PM
August 18 to September 2 - 6:45 PM
September 3 to September 7 - 6:30 PM
 
Tickets are $10 per participant and are sold only in person at the Visitor & Research Center. The MVMA member discount does not apply to this program. 

For comparison purposes, daytime Cliff Palace tours are $3 per person for a 60-minute program with up to 60 participants.

The 2012 schedule of characters (2013 characters will be updated as we recieve them):

Sunday
Lucy Peabody: The "Mother of Mesa Verde"- Ranger Beth Wheeler
Return to the year 1910 and tour Cliff Palace with Lucy Peabody, the "Mother of Mesa Verde" as she shares the trials and tribulations, the heartbreaks and triumphs that went into saving Mesa Verde. 

Monday
Stories from a CCC Boy - Ranger Scott Kortemeyer
Go on a journey back in time with a Civilian Conservation Corps boy and re-live his experiences.

Tuesday
Meet the Mother of Mesa Verde: Virginia McClurg - Ranger Jan Habenicht
Travel back to 1912 and spend the evening with the woman responsible for saving the Cliff Dwellings. 

Wednesday
Hoes, Baskets, and Bows: Alice Eastwood Visits Mesa Verde - Ranger Ellen Hendrix
Alice Eastwood, a noted researcher of native flowering plants and herbs of the Four Corners Region, joined the Wetherill brothers in their first explorations of the cliff dwellings.  As the brothers focused on the dwellings, Eastwood focused on the plants.

Thursday
Willa Cather Returns to Mesa Verde - Ranger Paula Wolfe
Pulitzer Prize winner and acclaimed American author Willa Cather returns to Mesa Verde this year (1933) to take a select group of people through Cliff Palace.  She will share her experiences of Mesa Verde in 1915 and explain why the Cliff Dwellers are important to all of us.

Friday
Stabilizing Mesa Verde: The Lasting Contributions and Influence of the Dine - Ranger Venancio Aragon
Learn about the Navajo involvement in infrastructure, stabilization, excavation and visitor experience during the 1930s.

Saturday
Twilight with Jesse Nusbaum - Ranger Kevin Lloyd
Spend some time with “Mr. Mesa Verde,” Jesse Logan Nusbaum, the Park’s first scientifically trained superintendent.

*Subject to change due to Ranger availability