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Mesa Verde National Park's Wetherill Mesa To Be Closed All Year

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By Compiled From N... - March 20th, 2023

You won't be able to visit Long House this year due to public closure of Wetherill Mesa for construction/Rebecca Latson file

The Wetherill Mesa area of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado will be closed for the 2023 season to accommodate the demolition and construction of a new visitor contact station in the Wetherill area.  The existing contact station was damaged by the Pony Fire in August 2000 and needs to be replaced. The lightning-caused Pony Fire devastated many of the day-use facilities in the Wetherill area that year and burned 1,352 acres, but no ancestral sites were damaged.

Demolition of the current structure is expected to begin in late April and will involve the removal of large amounts of concrete and steel. Material staging and construction will occur in visitor use areas large truck traffic will be on the narrow roadway resulting in visitor safety concerns.

The project was originally scheduled to be completed in time to open the Wetherill Mesa area to visitors in July. Late winter snowfall will delay contractor access to the site. Additionally, the manufacturing and delivery schedule for the new structure has been delayed by many weeks. Construction of the new contact station may not be complete until October.

An additional large waterline replacement project may extend the Wetherill closure through 2024.

Among the cliff dwellings on the mesa is Long House. This dwelling has a large central plaza that was used for dances and ceremonies. It was excavated between 1959 and 1961 as part of the Wetherill Mesa Archeological Project.

Visitors and those making travel plans are encouraged to check for closures and alerts on the park website.

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