Mesa Verde National Park

"A vegetarian restaurant, but don’t let that deter you if you aren’t a full time vegetarian. Their menu is full of aspirational plant-based dishes, is 100% organic, and the restaurant itself is casual and welcoming with a very friendly staff. There are dishes on the menu influenced by the cuisines from Spain, Sicily, North Africa and the Middle East, and each dish is beautifully presented, tasting just as good as it looks. I recommend the Rajas Tacos, made with grilled poblano and spanish onion, black beans, smoked vegetables, butternut nacho cheese, pickled carrot, cilantro, radish and avocado, Or the Falafel sandwich, made with hummus, mixed greens, cucumber, mint, red onion, pickled beet and tahini. Yum!" - Amanda Proudfit

"Known for its Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, including the Cliff Palace, with rich geology and ancient history." - Evie Carrick Evie Carrick Evie Carrick is a writer and editor who’s lived in five countries and visited well over 50. She now splits her time between Colorado and Paris, ensuring she doesn't have to live without skiing or L'

"Just outside Cortez, Colorado, you’ll find Mesa Verde National Park, a world-renowned park that houses the Cliff Palace, a well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwelling. After spending at least a day in Mesa Verde, continue north toward the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center & Museum, where you’ll learn about the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, a 174,000-acre expanse with an estimated 30,000-known and unknown sites." - Travel + Leisure Editors

"For anyone who believes that truly historic architecture doesn’t exist in the states, Mesa Verde National Park will make you think again. Still standing in the park are cliff dwellings built in 600 CE by the ancestral Pueblo people who once lived in the area. A transformative day trip, Mesa Verde is nearly two hours from Telluride but well worth the drive to see its 5,000 archeological sites, from Cliff Palace (a ranger will guide you on the hike up, which involves climbing ten-foot ladders) to Balcony House (which you’ll enter via a 12-foot tunnel)."