Day 7 - Southwest National Parks Adventure

9/30/2025

Today we explored the Chapin Mesa. We started with a 9:30 tour of the Cliff Palace. Again we walked down narrow stone stairs situated between large boulders and climbed wooden ladders to get from the top of the mesa into the cliff dwelling. Our ranger was great, knowledgeable and entertaining.

She ended the tour by telling us the creation story of the Pueblo people. The people who built and lived in the cliff dwellings. They believed we need to care for each other and for the earth. It was quite touching, and I wondered if she was getting sentimental, because as of midnight tonight she might be out of a job because of the impending government shutdown. 😞

After our tour we explored some of the other sites and visited the museum. The museum was neat, in a “hasn’t been updated in 50+ years” way. The museum was a museum of museums. But seeing as the artifacts are even older, it worked.

We found chicken tenders for lunch at the Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe. Hit the spot and prepared us for our next adventure. While eating we took advantage of the cafe WiFi to look up the hiking options in this area of the park. We decided on the Petroglyph Point Trail. We were so glad we did! It was spectacular, and will rank high in the list of trails we’ve hiked. The trail skirts along the edge of the cliff. We hiked up and down narrow stone stairs, through slots and under overhangs. After viewing the petroglyphs the trail climbs up the side of the cliff. The return trail offered more spectacular views of the canyon below.

After our hike we drove Top Mesa Loop, stopping to view more historic sites. From one overlook we could see multiple dwellings. 40,000 people once lived in these sites.

We stopped at the highest point in the park (8572 ft elevation) on our way back to the camper. We ate our leftover pizza for dinner.