Park Point Lookout

Park Point Lookout (8,571ft) – Highpoint of Mesa Verde National Park

At the summit

Eric Gilbertson, October 21, 2015

I was driving around the southwest hitting national park highpoints and had just finished climbing Micah Mountain in Saguaro National Park. The next park on my agenda was Mesa Verde, so I drove north until I found a place to camp in northeastern Arizona. The next morning I crossed into New Mexico at Gallup, then drover north past Shiprock and into southwestern Colorado.

I drove into Mesa Verde National Park and made a beeline to the Park Point Lookout. This is a very easy highpoint, since the road goes basically to the top. I just had to walk outside for 5 minutes, then was able to enjoy the summit vistas.

With the rest of my day I drove farther into the park and did a few short hikes to visit the archeological sites, then drove back into Arizona for the night. I stopped at the four corners monument on the way back, but was a bit disappointed by all the trinket stands outside it. At least the true 4 corners location was publicly-accessible, though. My next park would be Petrified Forest the next morning.

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