One last time into Mesa Verde National Park:

We visited the Cliff Palace overlook again:

Then went to the Spruce Tree House overlook:

Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling (Cliff Palace and Long House are larger), was constructed between about 1211 and 1278 CE by the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural alcove measuring 216 feet (66 meters) at greatest width and 89 feet (27 meters) at its greatest depth. It is thought to have been home for about 60 to 80 people.

(Quote from that NPS page.)

We visited Mesa Verde National Park again. This time we saw several of the major highlights of the park.

The mesa on entering the park:

The tunnel again, this time in sunshine:

We stopped at Park Point, the highest point in the park; read the info sign for details:

Views:

Info signs:

Fire lookout:

More views:

Info sign:

Then we proceeded to the Far View area, and the gift store there:

We got some pretty basic food from the small food court there:

Then we proceeded to the Far View Community sites, hiking between some fascinating Puebloan ruins:

Further into the park, Square Tower House is an impressive cliff dwelling:

Fire Temple:

And the main feature of Mesa Verde, the largest cliff dwelling in North America, Cliff Palace:

Finally, the nearby Sun Temple:

We visited Mesa Verde National Park several times while staying basically across the road.

The first time was a quick scouting trip on the afternoon of our arrival at the Ancient Cedars RV park.

The entrance sign:

It started raining, resulting in a fuzzy picture of the tunnel:

We stopped at the Far View Lounge for dinner; the view wasn’t all that far, due to a dust storm:

Pretty basic food:

On the way back down the hill, it started to snow!