Phone 719-846-6951

Park Office
32610 Highway 12
Trinidad, CO 81082

On November 29, 1864, Colonel John M. Chivington led approximately 700 U.S. volunteer soldiers to a village of about 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho people camped along the banks of Big Sandy Creek in southeastern Colorado. Although the Cheyenne and Arapaho people believed they were under the protection of the U.S. Army, Chivingtons troops attacked and killed about 150 people, mainly women, children, and the elderly. Ultimately, the massacre was condemmed following three federal investigations. The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site was authorized by Public Law 106465 on November 7, 2000. The purposes of the Act are to recognize the national significance of the massacre in American history, and its ongoing signficance to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people and descendents of the massacre victims. The Act authorizes establishment of the national historic site once the NPS has acquired sufficient land from willing sellers to preserve, commemorate, and interpret the massacre. Acquisition of a sufficient amount of land has not yet occured. Currently, the majority of land within the authorized boundary is privately owned and is not open to the public. The NPS is working in partnership with The Conservation Fund, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, and the State of Colorado towards establishment of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

Address:
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
Eads, CO 81036

Phone: main office in Eads 7194385916 administrative office in La Junta Recorded Message 7193832892

Mesa Verde, Spanish for "green table", offers an unparalleled opportunity to see and experience a unique cultural and physical landscape. The culture represented at Mesa Verde reflects more than 700 years of history. From approximately A.D. 600 through A.D. 1300 people lived and flourished in communities throughout the area, eventually building elaborate stone villages in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls. Today most people call these sheltered villages "cliff dwellings". The cliff dwellings represent the last 75 to 100 years of occupation at Mesa Verde. In the late 1200s within the span of one or two generations, they left their homes and moved away. The archeological sites found in Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States. Mesa Verde National Park offers visitors a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people. Scientists study the ancient dwellings of Mesa Verde, in part, by making comparisons between the Ancestral Pueblo people and their contemporary indigenous descendants who still live in the Southwest today. Twentyfour Native American tribes in the southwest have an ancestral affiliation with the sites at Mesa Verde. To fully enjoy Mesa Verde National Park, plan to spend a day or two exploring its worldclass archeological sites as well as its beautiful landscape. The entrance to the park is 9 miles east of Cortez and 35 miles west of Durango in Southwestern Colorado on US Highway 160.

Address:
PO Box 8
Mesa Verde, CO 81330-0008

Phone: Headquarters 9705294465 Visitor Information 9705294465

MAP

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/MEVEmap1.pdf

Phone 303-973-3959

Park Office
4751 North Roxborough Dr
Littleton, CO 80125

Phone 970-883-2208

Mailing
1526 County Road 982 (PO Box 1697)
Arboles, CO 81121

Phone 970-533-7065

Mailing
P O Box 1047
Dolores, CO 81323

Phone 719-738-2376

Park Office
70 County Road 502
Walsenburg, CO 81089

Phone 719-561-9320

Park Office
640 Pueblo Reservoir Road
Pueblo, CO 81005

Phone 719-829-1801

Park Office
30703 County Road 24
Hasty, CO 81044

Hovenweep National Monument protects five prehistoric, Puebloanera villages spread over a twentymile expanse of mesa tops and canyons along the UtahColorado border. Multistoried towers perched on canyon rims and balanced on boulders lead visitors to marvel at the skill and motivation of their builders. Hovenweep is noted for its solitude and undeveloped, natural character. The Square Tower Group is the primary contact facility with a visitor center, campground and interpretive trail. Other groups (or villages) include Holly, Horseshoe, Hackberry, Cutthroat Castle and Cajon. History&Culture Human habitation at Hovenweep dates to over 10,000 years ago when nomadic Paleoindians visited the Cajon Mesa to gather food and hunt game. These people used the area for centuries, following the seasonal weather patterns. By about A.D. 900, people started to settle at Hovenweep yearround, planting and harvesting crops in the rich soil of the mesa top.

Address:
McElmo Route
Cortez, CO 81321

Phone: Visitor Information (970)5624282 Headquarters (435)7192100

MAP

http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/HOVEmap1.pdf

William and Charles Bent, along with Ceran St. Vrain, built the original fort on this site in 1833 to trade with plains Indians and trappers. The adobe fort quickly became the center of the Bent, St.Vrain Companys expanding trade empire that included Fort St.Vrain to the north and Fort Adobe to the south, along with company stores in Mexico at Taos and Santa Fe. The primary trade was with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians for buffalo robes. For much of its 16year history, the fort was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements. The fort provided explorers, adventurers, and the U.S. Army a place to get needed supplies, wagon repairs, livestock, good food, water and company, rest and protection in this vast "Great American Desert." During the war with Mexico in 1846, the fort became a staging area for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearnys "Army of the West". Disasters and disease caused the forts abandonment in 1849. Archeological excavations and original sketches, paintings and diaries were used in the forts reconstruction in 1976.

Address:
35110 Highway 194 East
La Junta, CO 81050-9523

Phone: Visitor Information 7193835010 Visitor Information (TDD) 7193835032

Yucca House National Monument is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan surface site. Yucca House is located in Southwest Colorado between the towns of Towaoc and Cortez. Currently, there are no facilities or fees at Yucca House.

Address:
c/o Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde, CO 81330

Phone: Visitor Information Recorded Message (970)5294465