Montezuma Overlook

Montezuma Overlook is a roadside viewpoint on Mesa Verde's main park road, just beyond mile six, looking across the broad Montezuma Valley. When driving into the park, look for it on the right. It's an easy addition to the scenic drive, with two exhibits, a sheltered picnic area and an enclosed pit toilet. One exhibit covers the area's nature and culture; the other tells the story of the old Knife Edge road. Use a wide phone frame to take in the valley panorama.

The overlook's history panel points to the old route along the bluff. A trail on the ridge was described as the Crinkly Edge Trail in 1892; by 1911, Knife Edge had become a steep, narrow stretch of park road. A bypass through Morefield and Prater canyons was built in 1913, and traffic shifted to it after the first automobile trip in 1914. The scenic old road reopened in 1924 and remained in use until the Morefield-Prater tunnel was completed in 1957.

The panorama opens onto a landscape shaped by rocks left when the Western Interior Seaway reached this area about 100 million years ago. Dakota Sandstone forms the resistant base around Montezuma Valley and Cortez, while Mancos Shale makes low hills at Mesa Verde's foot. Along the entrance road, Knife Edge and Point Lookout are capped by Point Lookout Sandstone, another layer that helps shape the mesa's cliffs.