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Stargazing at stunning Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites, sampling the bounty of local producers at verdant farms and ranches, epic fly-fishing on the Dolores River — there’s so much to see and do in Mesa Verde Country.

One Day Just Isn't Enough: Summer Fun in Cortez, Dolores & Towaoc

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There are special places and unique vistas around nearly every Colorado corner. You can help ensure these places exist for generations to come by staying on roads and trails, keeping speeds in check, leaving campsites and picnic spots just as you found them, and following instructional signs while you’re out and about in our state.

Travel Like a Local

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Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum contains a 3.5 million-item research collection. Exhibits interpret the history and culture of the Four Corners region including Ancestral Puebloans; historic Pueblo, Ute and Navajo Native Americans; and Anglo settlers.

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Visitor Center and Museum, BLM

Offers a homemade menu with soups, sandwiches and local favorites.

Once Upon A Sandwich

From the top of Lizard Head Pass, the Dolores River flows 241 miles until it empties into the Colorado River. The Dolores travels down in a canyon, past the old mining town of Rico and into McPhee Reservoir near the town of Dolores. The major fishing areas are the feeder streams, the river above the town of Dolores and the stretch below McPhee Reservoir.

Fly-Fishing on the Dolores River

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Stop at Dolores Outfitters for the scoop on the best local angling spots and everything you need for a fly-fishing adventure on the Dolores River.

Get Expert Fishing Advice

WildEdge Brewing Collective is the newest brewery in Cortez Colorado. Creative beer, local food, great community.

WildEdge Brewing Collective

The Cortez Cultural Center hosts <a href="https://cortezculturalcenter.org/native-american-dances/">Native American dances</a> on summer evenings.

Explore Our Native Roots

Programs will include Native American music and flute-playing, art, and other opportunities for in-depth appreciation of Southwestern cultures.

Cortez Cultural Center

There is a lot to see and do while your in Mesa Verde Country, we are surrounded by National Monuments, Parks, Forests, and Rivers. While at the hotel, remember before computers? Do more than reminisce, Lawn games, Horseshoes, Lawn Bowling, Badminton, Volleyball...

Retro Inn at Mesa Verde

Beny's Diner in Cortez has been serving breakfast and lunch for 13 years. All of our food is homemade, including the hash browns.

Beny's Diner

Agritourism Tours are now available through the Cortez Cultural Center. Experience the inner workings of today’s farm and ranch life in Mesa Verde Country. Discover what life on a farm is like as you taste the flavor of the region.

Mesa Verde Farm and Ranch Tours

Blondies Trophy Room is a restaurant &amp; bar serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with great cocktails. Opening daily at 9am for the best BREAKFAST in town.

Blondie's Trophy Room

Witness a special Native American interpretation of the culturally diverse homelands of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Spend time with one a Native American Ute guides who interpret history, pictographs, geological land formations and petroglyphs.

Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park

Delicious sushi rolls, sashimi, nigiri and other specialties. Open for lunch and dinner; happy hour Tuesday through Friday at 4:30pm.

Stonefish Sushi & More

The Sunflower Theatre presents performing arts, musical, cinematic, and educational events to enrich the cultural experience of a diverse rural audience in the Four Corners Region.

Sunflower Theatre

Located off Highway 160 in scenic Southwest Colorado. Take in the sweeping views of La Plata, the Blue Mountains, and Mesa Verde Ridge from your room. Our 100% non-smoking hotel is just minutes from Four Corners and other attractions.

Baymont Inn & Suites Cortez

We are a family friendly restaurant and bar with a chalk board menu that changes often with something for everyone.

Loungin' Lizard

The 7-mile out-and-back Sand Canyon Trail travels through a juniper and pinion pine forest to stunning Ancestral Puebloan ruins.

Take a Hike

Located near Mesa Verde, Canyon Trails Ranch offers scenic Southwest Colorado backcountry horseback rides in spectacular McElmo Canyon. Visit ancient ruins and learn the history of the Puebloan people via horseback.

Horseback Ride with Canyon Trails Ranch

The Farm Bistro is a casual yet elegant farm to table restaurant in the heart of historic downtown Cortez, Colorado. The lunch and dinner menus are comfort food with style, and features locally grown produce and meat, and is a hub for diners seeking fresh and flavorful cuisine. The cozy lounge serves all-Colorado spirits, beer and wine. Customers can buy local produce and eggs, body care products, locally roasted coffee, music, crafts and more at the year-round farm stand. Travelers seeking good food find a welcoming environment that features an art gallery, a selection of used books focused on sustainable living and a community bulletin board. 
At The Farm Bistro in Cortez, you're likely to be sitting next to the farmer who grew your lunch or dinner! Rusty and Laurie Hall's restaurant is an extension of their Mancos farm which, along with other local growers, provides much of the meat and produce. They believe that access to locally grown food is key to a community's well being.

The Farm Bistro

Due to its remote location surrounded by the Navajo Reservation and BLM public lands, Hovenweep preserves a primordial dark sky largely unaltered by modernity. In 2014, International Dark-Sky Association certified Hovenweep National Monument as the 17th International Dark Sky Park. Stargazing and exploring the night sky is allowed from the visitor center parking lot and campground only.

Stargazing at Hovenweep National Monument

Just northeast of The Four Corners, Ancient Echoes at Kelly Place encompasses 40 acres in the sculpted red rocks of McElmo Canyon at the base of Sleeping Ute Mountain. Our oasis on the edge of the desert offers gardens, orchards and lodging – from rustic to deluxe.