Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (Colorado), like Colorado National Monument and Dinosaur National Monument, is a Colorado example that not all significant nationally protected sites of interest are national parks.

The drive to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument from Colorado Springs is approximately 45 minutes with most of the drive being on U.S. Route 24 (Florissant is west of Colorado Springs).

There is a small visitor's center with ample parking and staffed with helpful and informative rangers and volunteers.

The Visitor's Center has a small bookstore.

There is also a small but interesting exhibit area with several interactive exhibits.

My favorite part of visiting Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument was hiking the mostly easy but interesting hikes.

You don't have to hike to see some of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument's famous huge pertified tree stumps because there are a few right behind the Visitor's Center.

These stumps are a reminder that Colorado once, a very long time ago, had huge trees like those most of us associate with California.

We started with the Petrified Forest Loop.

One of the main attractions on the Petrified Forest Loop is the Big Stump.

There are multiple other stumps on this relatively easy trail as well.

The Petrified Forest Loop also feature several clear signs that are clear and provide just about the level of details we desired.

The Petrified Forest Loop also provides an opportunity near the Visitors Center to walk in an area with trees, but most of the loop is in an open area.

We hiked the Petrified Forest Loop in a clockwise direction from near the Visitor's Center and came across the junction for the Geologic Trail as we neared the end of the trail (relatively close to the Visitor's Center again).

The Geologic Trail is not a loop and is 0.6 miles each way.

The Geologic Trail crosses Teller County Road 1.

Most of the Geologic Trail has relatively little elevation gain, but the last portion is steeper to the Geologic Trail Overlook.

The hikes on this cooler late September day were relatively easy, but I could see how they could be more difficult in warmer weather because large portions of the trails are not shaded.

The end of the trail is the Geologic Trail Overlook.

From the Geologic Trail Overlook, we returned to the last part of the Petrified Forest Loop and finished that to return to the Visitor's Center area. We heard one of the park rangers telling another group about a live tree growing out of a petrified stump on the easy Ponderosa Loop Trail and so decided to walk that trail near the Visitor's Center.

About hiking at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, the Hiking Trails Map provides a concise and accurate assessment of the available trails, "14 miles of trails exist at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The self-guiding Petrified Forest Loop offers the best views of petrified redwood stumps. Other trails provide excellent opportunities to view scenery and explore the modern ecosystem."

We sat in a small area in the Visitor's Center near the exhibits and watched the interesting 18+ minutes video called "Shadows of the Past – Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument." It was interesting to view this video immediately after seeing many of the sites featured in the video, but you can also watch this video online in advance of a visit to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument because the video is available online.

Mesa Verde's Spruce Tree House and Balcony House

Although we planned our trip to Mesa Verde National Park primarily to tour Cliff Palace and to then to tour Long House, we were also able to view both the Spruce Tree House and Balcony House.

The trailhead for Spruce Tree House is located near the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and one can park in the same spot for both.

We could not walk the entire Spruce Tree House trail because it was closed (since 2015 and still is closed as of this writing), but we were able to see it fairly clearly from the overlooks and trail.

The Balcony House is on the same road as Cliff Palace and is just a few minutes drive away.

We did not book a tour of the Balcony House because we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to tour both Cliff Palace and Long House. Although you cannot get a good view of Balcony House from its parking lot without going on the tour, there is a good vantage point a little further down the road at the Balcony House overlook.

As shown in the next couple of photographs, the view of Balcony House from its overlook is better if one has binoculars or can zoom in with a camera.

Given that there is no overlook for Long House, we were happy with our decision to book the Long House tour at the expense of not being able to do the Balcony House tour.

Although Cliff Palace and Balcony House are arguably the best known sites on the Cliff Palace Loop Road, there are other stops along this same loop road:

• Cliff Canyon Overlook
• House of Many Windows Overlook
• Hemenway House Overlook
• Soda Canyon Overlook Trail

You can see Hemenway House if you look carefully in the top right corner of the next photograph (click on image to enlarge and look in top right corner where red arrow is pointing).

Although we were not able to tour Spruce Tree House, Balcony House, or Hemenway House, we did enjoy seeing them from overlooks and the path.

Mesa Verde's Far View Sites

We planned our trip to Mesa Verde National Park around our scheduled Cliff Palace tour, but one of the Mesa Verde attractions we were not aware of was the Far View Sites Complex.

The Mesa Verde National Park Self-Guided Tours page provides a brief description of the Far View Sites Complex, including this sentence: "This mesa top community includes Far View House, four other villages, and a dry reservoir."

There is also a dedicated Far View Sites web page that includes this summary sentence of one of the most positive attributes of the Far View Sites: "Today, several excavated and stabilized sites are linked by a trail system within a short walking distance."

The Self-Guided Tours page states that "the level, unpaved 3/4-mile trail (1.2 km) is open 8:00 am to sunset."

The Far View Sites web page adds more description of the structures that are visible at Far View Sites: "Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir, Megalithic House, and Far View Tower."

Coyote Village was one of our favorites.

A good resource for a quick overview (with photographs) is the Far View Community Sites page.

The Far View Sites seemed less visited than the better known sites Cliff Palace and Long House, which is a good thing because the parking area is much smaller than at those sites. The parking area is essentially along a circular road next to the Far View Sites.

We are glad that we squeezed a visit in to the Far View Sites during our single very full day in Mesa Verde National Park.

The featured sites are near each other and make it is easy and quick to see them all. With far fewer people present, there's no need to wait for an opportunity to get a good position for taking photographs.