Cultural World Heritage Package
The Southwest is home to 2 of only 20 World Heritage sites in all of the United States and some of the most rich and fascinating cultural history in the world. This 4-night, 3-day vacation package will give you a unique and in-depth understanding of the exceptional and distinctive cultural heritage of the Southwest Four Corners Region - home to the ancient Puebloan people (formerly known as the Anasazi).
On Day 1 of this tour, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the ancestral Puebloan people by experiencing a rare opportunity to visit an active archaeological investigation at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center (available Seasonally and Wednesdays and Thursdays only - Winter package will not include Crow Canyon Archaeological Center). On Day 2, you will take a tour of your first World Heritage site, Mesa Verde National Park, to witness the amazing remnants of this ancient culture and home of the largest cliff dwellings in North America. Finally on Day 3, you will visit your second World Heritage site, Chaco Canyon National Historical Park, which was a major center of Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250.
Package Includes:
- (1) Night in Cortez at your choice of available partner lodging options.
- (3) Nights in Durango at your choice of available partner lodging options.
- A full day, guided tour to Crow Canyon Archaeological Center including a hot lunch.
- A full day, guided tour to Mesa Verde National Park with entrance to the park, all park fees, lunch and hotel pick up and drop off included.
- A full day, guided tour to Chaco Canyon with entrance to the park, all park fees, lunch and hotel pick up and drop off included.
Additional Options:
- Add extra nights to your trip (in Durango, Cortez, Silverton, and/or Ouray).
- Add additional activities to your itinerary: a ride on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, stagecoach tours, The Diamond Circle Melodrama, river trips, jeep tours, horseback rides, and more!
Description:
First Night:
After a beautiful and scenic drive or flight from any direction, check into your selected hotel in Cortez and kick your feet up, grab a bite and rest up for 3 days of cultural and historical exploration!
Day 1:
You will drive to Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and tour alongside professional archaeologists at a current excavation site and laboratory to view ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) artifacts that have been unseen and recently unearthed after over 800 years.
Examine artifacts in a hands-on activity designed to help you understand the basics of Southwestern archaeology and ancestral Pueblo history. You will tour an active archaeology laboratory and learn how discoveries are made through careful analysis of artifacts. You will then enjoy a delicious hot lunch on the campus where you can relax and take in stunning views or take a stroll along the nature trail. You will then head out to tour Goodman Point Pueblo, Crow Canyon’s current excavation site, and witness first-hand what an excavation in progress looks like. When the day is over, head into Durango and check into your Durango hotel. If you would like more out of your day, try an authentic stage coach dinner ride in Mancos or take in an evening of frontier style fun at the Diamond Circle Melodrama and Vaudeville show in Durango.
Day 2:
During their last century, some Pueblo Natives of Mesa Verde left the mesa tops and built their homes in the alcoves that abound in the many canyon walls, commonly referred to as “cliff dwellings.” The exact number of dwellings in Mesa Verde is unknown, but over 600 cliff dwellings have been documented. You will get to explore many dwellings with hand chosen experts of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Geology that will enhance your journey to this area with the knowledge and experience needed to fully understand the advancement of this civilization and their cultural development. This tour is truly hassle-free as it includes the entrance fees, refreshments and bag lunch of your choice in tour price.
Day 3:
The cultural flowering of the Chacoan people began in the mid-800s and lasted for more than 300 years. We can see it clearly in the grand scale of the architecture. Using masonry techniques unique for their time, they constructed massive stone buildings ("great houses") of multiple stories containing hundreds of rooms much larger than any they had previously built. The buildings were planned from the start, in contrast to the usual practice of adding rooms to existing structures as needed. Construction on some of these buildings spanned decades and even centuries. Although each is unique, all great houses share architectural features that make them recognizable as "Chacoan."
Experience some of the richest cultural heritage in the United States with this World Heritage/Crow Canyon tour – a fun and exciting learning journey for the entire family.
