Essence: Mesa Verde is a complicated, vast, and elevated canyon-shredded tableland in Southwestern Colorado. Multiple, ever deepening defiles stream south to join forces in Mancos Canyon. The Ancestral Pueblo people lived among the clouds on the mesa top for over 700 years. They arrived in the area around 550 CE. Initially they lived in pit dwellings, and then in stone masonry houses on the mesa top. Around 1200 CE they moved into cliff villages at dizzying heights above the canyon floors. Late in the 13th century, the Ancestral Pueblo people began migrating clan by clan from Mesa Verde and the Four Corners region. This post describes three Class 1 hikes on maintained, engineered trails at the head of Morefield Canyon in the north wedge of the park. Point Lookout, 8,427' (LiDAR 8,432') is a ranked summit with a rise of 610 feet. The most recognizable landmark, the signature of Mesa Verde is easy to achieve. The Prater Ridge Loop Trail goes over ranked "Prater Ridge," Peak 8,418', with a rise of 541 feet. The Knife Edge Trail contours around the north end of Prater Ridge. Views on all three hikes extend unimpeded from the Montezuma and Mancos valleys in the immediate surroundings to the crystalline ranges holding down the Four Corners. The hikes are on trails managed by the National Park Service.
Travel: Measure distance from the entrance station and drive south on Mesa Top Ruins Road. Pass the Visitor Center and wind steeply up a series of S curves at the base of Point Lookout. At 3.1 miles turn right on Navajo Road signed for Morefield Village and Campground (ranger station, store, gas station, etc.). Prater Ridge Trailhead is on the left at 3.7 miles. Knife Edge Trailhead is at 4.3 miles. Point Lookout Trailhead is at the end of the road in an oversized paved lot shared with the Amphitheater at 4.7 miles. Restrooms and water are near Point Lookout parking.
Distance and Elevation Gain: Point Lookout, 2.2 miles, 550 feet; Prater Ridge Loop, 7.6 miles, 1,000 feet; Knife Edge Trail, 2.0 miles, 160 feet.
Total Time: Point Lookout, 1:00 to 2:00; Prater Ridge, 3:00 to 4:30; Knife Edge, 1:00
Difficulty: Class 1 trails; navigation easy; no exposure (cliff edges can be avoided)
Map: Point Lookout, Colorado 7.5' USGS Quad. The Visitor Center has a brochure listing hikes open to the public.
Park Information: Fees, camping, cliff dwelling tours
Latest Date Hiked: November 14, 2025
Quote: Humans are vulnerable and rely on the kindnesses of the earth and the sun; we exist together in a sacred field of meaning. Joy Harjo
Point Lookout has been a landscape marker for the migration of peoples into southwestern Colorado over the centuries. Its sheer sides rising to a verdant mesa top defines the northern perimeter of Mesa Verde. The thrusting sandstone prow is seen from the high La Plata Mountains hard to the east, The Blues (Abajo Mountains) well to the west, and along the Highway 160 corridor from Cortez to Mancos. Today, Point Lookout signifies arrival at Mesa Verde National Park and home ground for locals. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo)
Route: All three hikes are on trails with excellent signage. The park asks hikers to stay on the trails. Point Lookout: From the head of Morefield Canyon, ascend the west slope of the mesa and walk to the promontory at the far north end. Prater Ridge Loop: Hike roughly north and then switch south to gain the mesa top. From there, this description runs the circuit counterclockwise. There is an option to hike just the North or South loop in either direction. Knife Edge Trail: From the trailhead at the base of Lone Cone, walk westerly along the northern front of Prater Ridge mesa. Return as you came.
Point Lookout, 8,427'
The Point Lookout Trail begins from the northeast end of the parking lot, elevation 7,900 feet. (THW, photo)
The pounded dirt footpath is smooth and buff. The hike is easy and short enough to appeal to people who are not regular hikers. The payoff is enormous. I have seen a gleeful four year old in the company of elderly grandparents on the mesa top.
The trail bears north along the base of the west slope of the north-south running mesa. If you were to see this photograph completely out of context, you would know without hesitation it was shot in the American West. Rabbitbrush has fluffed up and gone to seed along with its little brother snakeweed. A full compliment of native grasses include Indian rice grass, a staple food for Indigenous people. The monochromatic straw-colored flat contrasts with aromatic big sagebrush on the fringe. Gambel oak in variegated shades of maroon to rust and ubiquitous piñon and juniper favor the slope.
Soon, the trail begins climbing all the while maintaining a pleasant grade with a series of switchbacks. Shallow stairsteps are fashioned from juniper logs and stone blocks. Trail crews are commonly seen maintaining the treadway.
Right away, the trail lifts enough to open a westward view of Montezuma Valley, the city of Cortez, and Sleeping Ute Mountain. The nearby flat-topped butte, image-left, is Lone Cone. Perhaps you noticed it driving to the trailhead because, from the south it truly looks like a cone. (THW, photo)
Pause and consider the corkscrew pattern in the trunk and limbs of a large piñon resting beside the trail. Spiral grain is most obvious in trees that have lost their bark. The helical form taken by xylem tissues (charged with transporting water and nutrients from the roots upward), gives the tree more strength to withstand stresses caused by wind and slope angle. One of my favorite neighborhood trees is a fallen ponderosa pine. For 25 years, every time I pass that tree I lie down on its massive trunk and envision being spiraled up into the heavens. (THW, photo)
Ah, the mysteries and wonder of lichen. There are different classes of lichen. Common in the West are crustose lichens. They form a crust over the surface of boulders. They are not plants, but they are alive. Lichen are composite life forms resulting from a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and alga. The fungus provides a
protective home for the alga. The alga produces food for the
fungus from sunshine, water, and air. Crusty lichens come in a wide range of colors, including bright shades of lime, orange, red, and yellows so brilliant you will insist sunshine lives on stone.
Continuing up the trail, pass by a large weathered boulder dressed in subtle gray and blue lichens.
Retaining walls made from stone rubble hold back the slope.
Hikers who have explored in the Four Corners will immediately recognize the fully mature perennial
Ephedra growing beside the trail. Ephedra is common in semi-desert rock, mesas, and canyons. Its leaves are
reduced to tiny dark scales. It doesn't have true flowers but
instead, produces spores in cone-like structures. It is a relative of pines, junipers, and spruces. The Greeks named Ephedra in ancient times. The Chinese realized that certain species of Ephedra acted as a stimulant. The FDA banned all Ephedra products in 2004. They are also banned by the International Olympic Committee. The Four Corners species Ephedra viridis has no medicinal qualities. Indigenous and current day westerners brew Mormon Tea from the stems.
Banana yucca is easily recognized by its thick and rigid sharply pointed leaves. It was an essential, multi-purpose plant for Indigenous peoples. Every few years, in the month of June, it sends out a thick flowering stalk. Primitive-looking robust white flowers are followed by edible fruit. Fibers were spun into ropes, sandals, and baskets. The root of the plant can also be used as a cleansing soap. (THW, photo)
Arrive on the mesa top at 0.65 mile, elevation 8,380 feet. With all the effort behind you, enjoy the flat, half mile stroll through a piñon-juniper woodland to the far north end. (THW, photo)
Mesa Verde is in the Rocky Mountain and Utah juniper overlap zone. The
Rocky Mountain variety are the trees with feathery, droopy leaves. They have a blue-green cast and abundant blue
berries. They
grow straight up from a central trunk. Utah juniper are a darker yellow-green and the foliage is stiffer. It
branches out from the base into a broad spreading tree that can be as
wide as it is tall, up to 20 feet. Be on the lookout for this multi-trunk forest elder.
The trail affords a glimpse of the cliff structure up ahead that we associate with the distinctive Point Lookout landmark. Surely the Ancestral Puebloans were on this mesa flintknapping, hunting game, keeping a sharp eye on the movement of people, and spinning stories about happenings inextricably tied with this very landscape. (THW, photo)
There is a sense of spaciousness in all directions. Roughly 20 miles east (as the crow flies), the La Plata Mountains rise mightily above a mantle of autumnal gold. A handful of peaks over 13,000 feet are clustered at the northern end of the range. Highest of them all is
Hesperus Mountain, marking the northern boundary of the traditional homeland of the Navajo. Hesperus is the Sacred Mountain of the North. (THW, photo)
The ridge narrows to 30 feet, dropping sharply on either side. However, there is no sense of exposure because the surface is flat and trees offer protection.
The trail opens to a view of the western escarpment, a good place to pause and consider geology. There are two primary rock formations visible from there. Mancos Shale is the thickest and oldest
formation in the region. It was deposited from 95 to 80 million years ago over a large portion of the Western Interior Cretaceous Seaway. It was named in 1899 for outcrops near the town of Mancos. It is as much as 2,000 feet thick in the San Juan Basin. It is the gray formation image-left, underlying Point Lookout.
Point Lookout Sandstone is the
lowest (and therefore oldest) member of the Mesaverde Group. It was deposited
in the Cretaceous era
as the sea receded. The sandstone was first described by A. J. Collier in 1919 for exposures in the cliffs at Point Lookout. It is an impressive sandstone up to 430 feet thick, overlying Mancos Shale and underlying the Menefee Formation. Often quite dark in color, the Menefee is the middle layer of the Mesaverde Group, consisting of shale and coal.
The youngest, and final member of the Mesaverde Group is
Cliff House Sandstone. The formation was named for the Ancestral Puebloan
habitation sites built in alcoves typically found in this layer. It has a distinctive yellow-orange cast and can be almost 1,000 feet thick. It was
deposited when the sea was rising to inundate the Colorado Plateau once
again. Just think, the rise and fall of the sea is recorded in the rocks.
As I closed in on the far north end of the mesa at 1.1 miles, I felt a primal sense of excitement and breathlessness. Humans are hardwired to detect an impending precipice well before they are in danger of stepping off into thin air. This is the time to gather up your children because the only protection is common sense. Yes, it is exhilarating to walk along the edge but some of
the boulders are overhung and not well seated. Don't succumb to the allure of cliff suck. The views from all three hikes are superb but this vantage point is the most comprehensive. At skyline, moving west to east are Lone Cone, the San Miguel Mountains, the Wilson group of fourteeners, and the medley that is the San Juan Mountains. (THW, photo)
From a safe perch take a airy look down on the winding park road cut into Mancos Shale. (THW, photo)
Looking westward, the Knife Edge Trail wraps around the north face of Prater Ridge (image-left). From this perspective it is easy to see why the old road earned its name, and why it was later abandoned due to persistent rockfall. Sleeping Ute Mountain is revered as a sacred place by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Weenuche band of the Ute Nation of Indians. On a cloud-free day you can see the La Sal and Abajo mountains further west and north.
My favorite feature of this hike is the sandstone shelf running along the east edge of the mesa. Please use existing trails to get there and back. Below, I'm gazing into the Mancos Valley. (THW, photo)
Standing on sheets of rock overlooking the face of the sky, a fertile valley, and a mighty mountain range--no wonder those who came before were tethered to this mythic landscape. So am I. (THW, photo)
Prater Ridge Loop Trail, Prater Ridge Peak, 8,418'
The Prater Ridge Trail is a stem and loop. Upon reaching the mesa top, hikers may choose among three circuits that loosely track the mesa rim. Statistics from the trailhead are:
Entire Loop: 7.6 miles, 1,000 feet
North Loop: 5.8 miles, 920 feet
South Loop: 4.5 miles, 750 feet
From the Prater Ridge Loop Trailhead, elevation 7,740 feet, the footpath ascends gradually to the northwest. I have been on Prater Ridge many times and that is reflected in the photos. For instance, you will see Gambel oak pictured in varying shades of autumn. I have yet to visit at the height of wildflower season but I have noticed mule's ears and penstemon gone to seed. A few late-season hearty goldeneye were still blooming in late autumn. This is the season to revel in native grasses backlit by low angle sun.
As you might surmise because of proximity, Prater Mesa is held up by Point Lookout Sandstone. If rock can be sensuous, these weathered blocks surely qualify.
At a quarter mile, a link trail branches right and makes for the Knife Edge Trail. Occasional shallow steps are fashioned from stone or juniper logs. The grade is impeccably consistent. At 0.6 mile, the path hooks sharply south, the first of several switchbacks. Lone Cone, 8,302' (LiDAR 8,305'), is a ranked summit with a rise of 406 feet. It holds down the head of Morefield Canyon. Astoundingly, what Colorado residents will insist is the real Lone Cone
is seen in the wedge to the left of Point Lookout.
Lone Cone, 12,613', is the westernmost peak in the San Juan Mountains. (THW, photo)
Gathering elevation, the La Plata Mountains rise over the top of the Point Lookout mesa. The range is bifurcated by the La Plata River into two north-south running ridges. (THW, photo)
As you near the mesa top, the trail tracks along the rim on shelves composed of Point Lookout Sandstone. My family and friends all agree this hike is all about the broad stone ledges and the unobstructed views.
Arrive at a well-marked trail junction at 1.1 miles, 8,220 feet. For the shortest option, walk a few steps south on a connector trail and then do the South Loop in either direction. For the longer North Loop or to hike the entire circuit, turn right. This description runs counterclockwise but you could reverse the loop without penalty. The trail steepens just a little as it closes in on informally named Prater Ridge Peak.
Round off on Peak 8,418' at 1.7 miles. While the prominence is the highpoint of the hike with a respectable rise of 541 feet, it presents as a broad roller. I had to look at the topo to be sure that Point Lookout was taller, indeed, by 14 feet. This mountain has yet another grand sweeping view from Sleeping Ute to the Abajo, La Sal, San Juan, and La Plata mountains.
The trail passes by a secondary roller on its way to the north end of the mesa top. It is just as scenic as the highpoint. A sculptural charred piñon tree raises the question of fire. According to park literature, 95 percent of recorded wildfires within the park were started by lightening. Seventy percent of the park has been burned since it was designated in 1906. The lightning-ignited Bircher Fire in July, 2000 was the most destructive fire in the park's history. The fire burned 19,607 acres inside the park, incinerating the landscape featured in this post.
There are many sandstone slabs with colorful striations or rings lying on the surface. "Liesegang" bands are observed predominantly in sedimentary rocks such as sandstones. The bands are composed by minerals, generally iron oxides. The phenomenon was first described in 1896 by a German chemist named Raphael E. Liesegang. Once you know what to look for, you will see Liesegang banding anywhere sandstone is present throughout the West.
The trail reaches the north end of the mesa at 2.2 miles and turns west, then south. The pathway runs along on the west rim bench for a good distance or parallels it by a few feet. We got the nod from a ranger to cruise on solid rock adjacent to the trail. This stretch is the highlight of the circuit.
If off-trail hiking was allowed, we would have scampered out a small westward ridge to the ultra appealing linear outcrop, shown. It is located above the terminus of the Knife Edge Trail.
The water-stained and curvaceous perpendicular rim wall, plus the white-gray color and turtle back weathering resemble Navajo Sandstone. However, Navajo Sandstone is over 100 million years older than Point Lookout. It is the most prominent rock formation on the Colorado Plateau but is not present in the park.
This triangular boulder is about five feet to a side. The surface is covered with concretions, compact masses of iron oxide or calcium carbonate that form within preexisting rock. The nodules are often spherical and are always harder than the host rock.
The ripples recorded on this thin slab are associated with the shoreline marine environment from which the Mesaverde Group emerged. Marvel at that!
At 4.4 miles arrive at a posted junction adjacent to a comfortable sitting log. If you'd like to incorporate the South Loop into your circuit, continue south. If you need to return to the trailhead, hike north on the cutoff trail for 0.3 mile and link back up with the stem trail, retracing your steps to the trailhead, 1.4 miles from this point.
The South Loop continues to follow the rim, skimming by standing dead clinging to the precipice. The Bircher Fire was spotty in this area and the trail passes by refreshing live piñon-juniper trees. (THW, photo)
As you near the south end of the mesa you will see Prater Canyon heading south toward the Mancos River. Both Prater
and Morefield canyons are flat-floored. And while they were created by water millennia ago, the clay-bottomed canyons have been dry as long as humans have lived in the area. It takes a torrential rain to create even a thin, ephemeral creek.
The trail swings from south to north at 5.4 miles. You can see the east entrance to the Morefield-Prater Tunnel as it burrows under the mesa.
Both weathering and erosion alter the landscape. The photo above is a beautiful example of weathering rounding the edges and smoothing stone
in place through heat, water, ice, and wind. Erosion always involves the movement of material. Below, erosion has cleaved gigantic blocks from the edge of the rim. Gravity will take over from there.
(THW, photo)
The east side of the South Loop wraps up with more extensive stone platform walking. Oh joy! Look out over the Mancos Valley and the entire length of the west block of the La Plata Mountains from Sharkstooth to Baldy Peak.
This is one of the few places where you can see the entire mesa hosting Point Lookout. At 6.5 miles, close the loop at the initial mesa top junction and retrace your steps 1.1 miles downhill to the trailhead.
Knife Edge Trail
The two mile (roundtrip) Knife Edge Trail follows a portion of the historic Knife Edge Road that came up and into the park from the west. Built in 1911, the road was narrow and steep and prone to rockfall tumbling from the cliffs above. The road was decommissioned in 1957 when the Morefield-Prater Tunnel was completed. The trail is fairly level with just 160 feet of elevation gain out-and-back. There are excellent views of cliffs high above, the Montezuma Valley, and the San Juan Mountains in the distance. From the Knife Edge Trailhead, elevation 7,820 feet, begin on a crushed rock trail utilizing the abandoned roadbed.
Bearing northwest, the link trail from Prater Ridge joins at 0.15 mile. The most intimate vantage point of Lone Cone and Point Lookout is effortlessly yours right from the trail.
The footpath swings westward and pretty much holds to the 7,850-foot contour on the slope below the Prater Ridge north face cliffs. Northward, eyes try to find a hold, drifting from the gray earth of Mancos Shale, to the viridian green of piñon-juniper blanketing the low country, to the high sky-cleaving wilds, up past the cloud-disheveled sky, to rest at last in cerulean blue. (THW, photo)
The Prater Ridge escarpment is about 200 feet in height. Buff-colored Point Lookout Sandstone has gray streaks where water flows over stone. The blocks are pleated with razor-sharp corners, confirming its reputation for shedding on a regular basis. Where did all that rock go? Some of it rests on the slope, of course. A geologist once told me, given enough force sandstone simply explodes on impact. The north slope is moist and shady enough to support sub-alpine fir growing on narrow platforms. (THW, photo)
Speaking of erosion the trail was closed in autumn, 2025 at 0.75 mile due to a recent rockfall. Look up and you'll see the fresh scar on the cliff face. Rangers we spoke with said it could be a very long time before the debris is cleared. The park is underfunded and has higher maintenance priorities.
We have been to the official end of the trail at one mile before. Look up to see peach-colored stone on top of the barrier wall, a beautiful variation in the same formation.
Toward image-right is the linear outcrop that I mentioned looked so appealing from the west rim of the Prater Ridge Loop. (THW, photo)
I have seen concretions in sandstone all over the American West over the years but never one this fascinating and fun. The surface is covered with multi-colored circular nodules and divots.
This vantage point over Sleeping Ute, Montezuma Valley, the city of Cortez, and the Abajo Mountains was common for those on the Knife Edge Road a century ago.
Seen from the park entrance ancient light burnishing Point Lookout beckons travelers across time--from human prehistory, to the Ancestral Puebloans, semi-nomadic Utes who imbued the mesa with stories and
myths that were old by the time the first Spaniards penetrated the
country, settlers who came by wagon, those of us permanently grounded in the Four Corners, and visitors passing through today. As Joy Harjo wrote, as humans we rely on the kindnesses of the earth and the sun. Wherever our chosen landscape, it encircles us in a sacred field of meaning. (THW, photo)
