Morefield Campground, Mesa Verde National Park

Big, easygoing base for the cliff dwellings.

Morefield fills a grassy canyon of Gambel oak four miles inside Mesa Verde, and with 267 sites, reservations are optional except for the 15 full-hookup sites. Run by the park concessioner, it has comforts most park campgrounds lack: showers, laundry, a camp store, Wi-Fi and a pancake breakfast in summer. Use it as a base for ranger-led cliff dwelling tours and the Mesa Top Loop; deer and wild turkeys wander through camp.

At a glance

Sites

267, incl. 15 full-hookup RV and 17 group

Max RV

46 ft

Showers

Showers and laundry by the camp store

Reservations

Accepted, not required; book hookup sites early

Nightly

$38 dry, $51 full hookup (2 people)

What’s here

• Tent sites
• RV hookups
• Showers
• Pets allowed

Gear, rentals and guides

• Mesa Verde Discovery Tour

  The concessioner’s guided bus tour of mesa-top sites and cliff dwellings, with a walk into Cliff Palace.

• Kokopelli Bike & Board

  Cortez bike shop with local trail knowledge.

Where to stay

• lodgeFar View Lodge

  The park’s only lodge, on the mesa top with long views.

  20 min drive
• hotelRetro Inn at Mesa Verde

  Cheerful retro-styled motel in Cortez.

  20 min drive

Nearby

• Cliff dwelling tours · 40 min drive

  Ranger-led tours of Cliff Palace, Balcony House and others; tickets on Recreation.gov.

• Mesa Top Loop · 35 min drive

  Scenic drive with short walks to pithouses and cliff dwelling overlooks.

• Knife Edge Trail · From camp

  Easy 2-mile round trip from the campground, good at sunset.

• Canyons of the Ancients · 45 min drive

  National monument west of Cortez with more Ancestral Puebloan sites and fewer people.

Getting there

• Durango–La Plata County (DRO) · about 1 hr drive
• Durango · about 0.75 hr
• Albuquerque · about 4.5 hr

Directions in Google Maps