Wildflowers will be celebrated at Mesa Verde National Park during the first full week of June/NPS photo of lupine on Wetherill Mesa

As mesmerizing as the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado are, that doesn't mean there's no time to smell, or photograph, the park's wildflowers.

During the week of June 4 the park will be celebrating Mesa Verde's native wildflowers. On Monday, June 5, and Wednesday, June 7, park staff and volunteers will be available to talk to visitors at the Visitor and Research Center; on Wetherill Mesa (between the kiosk and Step House trailhead); and the Geologic Overlook trail from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Friday, June 9, staff will be at the Visitor and Research Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help visitors locate good viewing areas for wildflowers in the park.

Not only are wildflowers beautiful, they also help to maintain healthy ecosystems; improve air and water quality; and support pollinators, birds and wildlife. The park expects a diversity of showy wildflowers to bloom the first part of June, with such varieties as silver lupine, mule’s ear, Utah sweet vetch, sego lily, Indian paintbrush, fleabane daisy, scarlet gilia, evening primrose, beardtongue, and yucca.

Good areas for wildflower viewing are the Geologic Overlook trail and along the roadside from Chapin Mesa to Wetherill Mesa. Wildflower viewers are reminded to use roadside pullouts, not enter into the backcountry of the park, and not to disturb or pick any plants or flowers.