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 daily from May 30 through September 6, 2010. These ranger-led 90-minute tours begin at 7:00 p.m. 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.
 

Tickets are $10 per participant and are sold only in person at the Far View Visitor Center . The MVMA 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.

 

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.”  Listen while she tells of the trials and tribulations, the heartbreaks and triumphs that went into saving Mesa Verde from total destruction.

Monday
A Night with Nordenskiöld
Ranger Josh Pelham
Come and hear what Gustav Nordenskiöld has to share regarding his findings at Cliff Palace.

Tuesday
Stories from a CCC Boy 
Ranger Scott Kortemeyer
Go on a journey back in time with a Civilian Conservation Corps boy and relive his experiences.

Wednesday
Virginia McClurg 
Ranger Jan Habenicht
Come experience Cliff Palace with one of Mesa Verde’s founding mothers, Virginia McClurg.

Thursday
Leaving Mesa Verde in 1902
Ranger Tim McNeil
Having spent two decades exploring and preserving Mesa Verde, Al Wetherill now fondly remembers his years here as he leaves for the last time.

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

Saturday
Adventures of Some Modern Cliff Dwellers
Ranger Aleta Lawrence
Join Aileen Nusbaum, wife of Superintendent and Southwest archeologist Jesse Nusbaum, in 1930, as she compares her and Jesse’s experiences in Mesa Verde with those of the “first” cliff dwellers in Cliff Palace.

*Subject to change due to Ranger availability.