Canyons of the Ancients National Monument protects about 176,000 acres of red-rock canyons and mesas near Dolores and Cortez. It holds the highest known density of archaeological sites in the United States, including thousands of Ancestral Puebloan villages, towers, cliff dwellings and rock art panels.

President Bill Clinton proclaimed the monument on June 9, 2000, and the Bureau of Land Management manages it as part of the National Conservation Lands. More than 8,000 cultural sites have been recorded here, and some areas have more than 100 sites per square mile, evidence of people living, farming and building in these canyons for at least 10,000 years. The best-known sites include Lowry Pueblo, a National Historic Landmark with a restored great kiva, the hilltop Sand Canyon Pueblo and the Painted Hand Pueblo tower, perched on a boulder above a canyon. The monument is close to Mesa Verde National Park, but it feels very different. There are no paved scenic loops, just dirt roads, quiet trailheads and ruins you can walk up to.

Start at the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum in Dolores, formerly the Anasazi Heritage Center. It’s the premier archaeological museum in Southwest Colorado, with hands-on exhibits, millions of artifacts in its collections, a theater and an easy paved half-mile trail to Escalante Pueblo, a hilltop site that looks out on the San Juan Mountains and McPhee Reservoir. From March through October the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from November through February it’s open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Museum admission is $7 for adults and free for anyone under 16, and America the Beautiful passes are honored. The monument itself is open 24 hours, and cultural sites may be visited from dawn to dusk. Many roads are dirt and may need high clearance or four-wheel drive when wet, and cell service is unreliable away from the visitor center.

Check road conditions, visitor center hours, programs and site etiquette on the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument page from the Bureau of Land Management.