Anasazi Heritage Center

Yesterday Ray started out his morning going into Mesa Verde about ten miles up the road to get some fall foliage pictures.

 Entrance to Mesa Verde National Park

There were several forest fires over the years, so there is many more deciduous trees/bushes to enhance the fall colours.

 Shiprock in the distance

After having a leisurely morning with laundry and chores and after Ray had some relaxing time, we decided to take the short drive to the Anasazi Heritage Center about 20 minutes away from our campsite and see what there was to see.

 "The Anasazi Heritage Center is a museum of the Ancestral Puebloan (or Anasazi) Culture and other Native cultures in the Four Corners region.  It is also the starting point for visits to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument."

They have a wonderful and informative museum. Free with our America the Beautiful Interagency Card or $3 per adult. They have built a pit house so you can see what they used to look like. Plenty of artifacts and for kids, lots of things to touch and check out. They can even try some weaving. I am not really one for museums but I did enjoy this one.

"Research collection of over 3 million artifacts and records from archaeological projects in Southwest Colorado, Picnic area & half-mile nature trail with Two 12th-century archaeological sites."

Here is an example of a "Pit House" that they have replicated.

Next is some the artifacts that the museum has on display.

A close up of their arrows.

Freya was also allowed to come on the trail. The old archaeological site overlooked the McPhee Reservoir which is one of Colorado's largest reservoirs. A second site indicated on the map given us, had been covered up due to deterioration apparently.

This pueblo had a fantastic view perched on the hill. This is the Escalante Pueblo.

"The McPhee Reservoir was constructed and is operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Dolores Project, and dams the Dolores River to furnish irrigation water for Montezuma and Dolores counties and the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation.

McPhee Reservoir is named for McPhee, Colorado, a company town founded by the New Mexico Lumber Company, that is now submerged under the reservoir. In 1927, the McPhee sawmill produced over half of Colorado's lumber. The town housed up to 1,500 employees. The sawmill closed in 1946.?"

Both the towns of Dolores and Big Bend died when the railway bypassed these towns. We took the drive into the town of Dolores as they have a Brewpub and Restaurant but unfortunately it was closed until 4 pm (interesting on their website they have a "lunch" menu). I noticed this funky shop though, "rustic furniture" and had to get Ray to take a picture of the headboards for beds ... pretty cool.

Today is a rest day to prepare for heading into New Mexico tomorrow. We have thoroughly enjoyed this area and still have things to see the next time we pass through this area.