Picnic area · Mesa Verde National Park
A handy lunch break near Spruce Tree Terrace.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mesa Verde Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Mesa Verde National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Spruce Tree Terrace Café and Chapin Mesa Picnic Area“You're approaching Spruce Tree Terrace Café and the Chapin Mesa picnic area near the museum. The café is a convenient lunch stop between sites, serving burgers, salads, and Southwestern dishes including Navajo tacos.”
Plays as you drive up to Chapin Mesa Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Mesa Verde Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
This is a dedicated picnic area west of Spruce Tree Terrace, beside the return of Spruce Canyon Trail. It is separate from the terrace, museum and tour-bus parking, so look for the picnic loop when you reach the Chapin Mesa visitor area.
The picnic area is shortly after the turn onto the Chapin Mesa museum loop, about 20 miles into the park. It is a sensible place for the lunch you brought while visiting the mesa-top sites, rather than a reason to make a separate trip.
Some tables are near steep drops at the canyon edge. Choose a table farther back if you can, and keep children close enough to watch.
Wildlife
36 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
159 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
14 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around noonSighting map
53 sightingsWild HorseMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
37 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Mesa Verde. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingSpruce Canyon Trail2.4 mi · 2 hr · 0.1 mi awayA steep loop into Mesa Verde's cool, shaded canyon.
ChallengingPetroglyph Point Trail2.4 mi · 2 hr · 0.1 mi awayA rugged loop to Mesa Verde petroglyphs and canyon views.
EasySpruce Tree House Trail0.5 mi · 1 hr · 0.1 mi awayA steep paved path leads to a cliff dwelling beneath an arch.
EasyFarming Terrace Trail0.5 mi · 36 min · 0.9 mi awayA half-mile loop through 800-year-old farming terraces
EasySquare Tower House Overlook Trail0.2 mi · 15 min · 1.3 mi awayA rare top-down view into a cliff dwelling's rooms.
EasySun Temple Trail0.2 mi · 18 min · 1.6 mi awayA short paved walk to Sun Temple and a Cliff Palace view.
EasySoda Canyon Overlook Trail1.2 mi · 40 min · 1.7 mi awayAn easy mesa walk to three views of Balcony House
ChallengingBalcony House Tour0.3 mi · 1 hr · 2.1 mi awayTry the tour if steep ladders and a tight crawl suit you.
Restaurant · 0.1 mi awaySpruce Tree Terrace CaféA canyon-view patio makes lunch an easy break between sights.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayMesa Verde MuseumA 1920s museum built from the same sandstone as the cliff dwellings.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayChapin Mesa AmphitheaterA 1938 sandstone campfire circle above Spruce CanyonSight · 0.1 mi awaySpruce Tree House OverlookA remarkably intact cliff dwelling tucked under a natural sandstone alcove.
Sight · 1 mi awayCedar Tree TowerAn unusual tower-and-kiva stop beside Mesa Verde's ancient terraces.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayPithouseAn excavated early home with a floor plan you can read.
Sight · 1.3 mi awayNavajo Canyon ViewA quick paved pause over a broad, sandstone canyon.
Sight · 1.4 mi awaySquare Tower House OverlookA four-story cliff dwelling, seen from an easy roadside overlook.Parkwolf’s Mesa Verde ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
