Day 8: Mesa Verde National Park
Drive from Montrose, CO to Cortez, CO
On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, I drove from the Super 8 by Wyndham Montrose to the Retro Inn at Mesa Verde in Cortez, CO, arriving around 12pm. Luckily, my room was ready, and they let me check in early.
I had considered staying at Far View Lodge, the hotel located within Mesa Verde National Park. However, I knew I wanted to have dinner at La Casita de Cortez, a well-rated Mexican restaurant in Cortez, the larger of the two towns near the park (Mancos is the other). In the end, I felt like it made more sense to stay outside the park rather than spend up to an hour and a half driving for dinner on my last night. Plus, at only $213.03 for two nights in September 2022, the hotel was a great deal.
After changing into hiking clothes, I headed back out to hike the Point Lookout Trail and Knife Edge Trail at Mesa Verde National Park. Both trailheads are just a few minutes apart on the northeast side of the park and only about a 20-minute drive from the hotel.
Point Lookout Trail
The Point Lookout Trail begins at the Morefield Campground, ascending a series of steep switchbacks for roughly half a mile along the backside of the mesa. From there, it follows the mesa’s top to Point Lookout, which offers sweeping views of the surrounding countryside, including the Montezuma and Mancos Valleys. It started drizzling when I arrived at the trailhead. Armed with my trusty rain jacket and a rain cover for my daypack, I decided to brave the weather and start hiking. The higher I climbed (the trail gains 528 feet of elevation, which you definitely feel), the more nervous I became about the possibility of lightning striking. About 0.5 miles from Point Lookout, looking east, were beautiful views of the Mancos Valley. Content with what I saw, I decided to head back down to lower ground. The 2.3-mile out-and-back hike took me about an hour to complete.
The rain stopped when I got back to my car, so I drove the couple of minutes from Morefield campground to Knife Edge Trail, an easy trail along a section of the old Knife Edge Road, dating from 1914. Today, it is an easy, mostly flat walk. At the end are wonderful views of Montezuma Valley. Along the trail, heading back to the trailhead, you can also see Point Lookout. It took me about an hour to hike the 2.2 mile out-and-back hike.
Knife Edge Trail
The rain stopped by the time I returned to my car, so I drove the couple of minutes from Morefield Campground to the Knife Edge Trail. This trail follows a section of the old Knife Edge Road, dating back to 1914, and today it’s an easy, mostly flat walk. At the end are wonderful views of Montezuma Valley, and on the return, you can see Point Lookout off in the distance. The 2.2-mile out-and-back trail took me about an hour.
After finishing both hikes, I left the park to make a quick stop at the Walmart Supercenter for supplies before returning to the hotel to relax for the night.
