Arrival in Durango, Colorado. Transfer to Mesa Verde National Park. Cliff Dwellings and Petroglyph Point; 4 miles, moderate

You meet in Durango and immediately transfer to Mesa Verde National Park (approximately one hour). Mesa Verde was the first National Park set aside to protect manmade wonders. Today the park is home to more than 4,000 archaeological sites ranging from simple pithouses to complex cliff dwellings built in large alcoves in the steep sandstone canyons.

Your explorations begin with a visit to the park’s museum and the Spruce Tree House, an impressive cliff dwelling sheltered by Douglas fir, juniper, and piñon trees. After a picnic lunch and a short welcome meeting, you embark on a guided tour of the most famous and largest of the cliff dwellings, the Cliff Palace, during which you get an in-depth glimpse at how the Ancestral Puebloans lived during the 13th century.

This afternoon’s walk takes you on a three-mile loop lined with distinctive canyon vegetation—Douglas fir, Mormon tea, serviceberry, prickly pear cactus, and broadleaf yucca. The trail skirts a deep canyon and culminates at a panel containing the most well-known group of petroglyphs in Mesa Verde. A short climb to the mesa top provides sweeping views on the return leg.

Tonight you gather for a welcome drink and dinner in the Metate Room, overlooking the surrounding mesas. Here you choose from local specialties such as cactus dip, grilled blue corn trout, stuffed quail with Anasazi beans, or roasted elk.

Mesa Verde National Park: optional sunrise walk; 1 mile, easy. Sand Canyon; 6.5 miles, moderate with challenging sections

This morning you may wish to join the guides on an optional pre-breakfast walk and enjoy the view from Park Point Overlook. As the sun rises in the east, you savor the peace and quiet at this tranquil time of day.

After breakfast, you drive approximately one hour outside the park to Sand Canyon, nestled in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. The walk begins at the Sand Canyon Pueblo; although no standing walls are exposed, this ancient pueblo includes 420 rooms, 100 kivas (round buildings dug into the ground), and 14 towers (this site was excavated in the late 1980s and early 1990s and then backfilled to preserve the buildings). The walk follows the rim of Sand Canyon along a sandy trail. En route you pass several small, fragile cliff dwellings hidden in the shelter of natural alcoves. These sites were occupied by the Ancestral Puebloans during the 13th century.

Dinner this evening is at the lodge, highlighted by views of Mesa Verde as the sun sets in the distance.

Transfer to Moab, Utah. Negro Bill Canyon; 4 miles, easy with moderate sections

This morning you depart for Moab, Utah (approximately three hours), and following lunch at a favorite local restaurant, stretch your legs on an easy walk en route to the next hotel. The trail skirts a clear canyon stream, where you may hear spadefoot toad song, and follows a mixed route of flat, open trails of sandy ground and slickrock sandstone—with its curious natural gripping effect. After 1.5 miles you leave the stream and follow a side canyon to Morning Glory Bridge, an impressive natural arch that measures 243 feet—the sixth longest natural rock span in the United States.

Late this afternoon you check into your riverside lodgings and relax in the pool or Jacuzzi as you enjoy a dazzling sunset over red cliffs. Dinner this evening is alfresco (weather permitting) on the resort’s deck overlooking the Colorado River.

Colorado River rafting excursion. Canyonlands National Park; Island in the Sky; 2-4 miles, easy

Early this morning you meet your rafting guides and embark on a half-day float trip on the Colorado River (some short sections of class I and II rapids). You drift through red rock canyons and past famous rock formations including Fisher Towers, Castle Rock, and the Priest and Nuns. En route you stop to eat lunch on a river beach.

Later, you drive approximately one hour to the Island in the Sky Section of Canyonlands National Park, a wilderness area of sheer-walled canyons, sandstone spires, jagged cliffs, and high mesas. Once again, sweeping views accompany a walk to overlooks of the Green River snaking through the landscape in the distance.

Dinner is on your own this evening in the small western town of Moab. Your guides are available to assist you in selecting a restaurant.

Arches National Park; Double Arch and Landscape Arch; 4.2 miles, moderate; Delicate Arch; 3 miles, moderate

Following an early breakfast, you drive the short distance to Arches National Park, home to some of the region’s most extraordinary geologic sites. You begin the morning walk at the Double Arch area of the park. This park contains the world’s greatest known concentration of natural stone arches—more than 2,000. The walk leads to a few of the most impressive arches, including Landscape Arch, its 290 ft. span makes it the longest in the park (and possibly the world).

Following a picnic lunch amidst the red rocks, you continue toward Delicate Arch, one of the most recognized arches in the park. The trailhead begins near Wolfe Ranch, a historic settlement dating back to 1880 and also the site of a fascinating panel of Ute rock art. The terrain along the trail leading to Delicate Arch is varied; it begins with rocky paths and switchbacks, then yields to portions of slickrock. Steps have been carved into the sandstone to make ascending some of the steeper sections easier.

The final portion of the trail is exposed but wide, so even though it is flanked by sheer cliff drop-offs, the walking is safe and awe-inspiring. Pause to take it all in: sweeping red rock views and the rising La Sal Mountains on the horizon.

Tonight the week is celebrated in style with a final dinner, sampling wines from the lodge’s own vineyard.

Optional sunrise walk; 1-2 miles, easy. Transfer to Durango for departure

Early risers may wish to join the guides on a pre-breakfast walk in the hills behind the resort to enjoy a final sunrise in the lovely Southwest. After breakfast, the drive to Durango takes approximately three hours, stopping along the way to stretch your legs and have a picnic lunch.