Mancos is a wonderful spot to visit any time of year! And we're here all year to make your visit memorable. Visit Mesa Verde, stay for the Country (area calendar of events)
Summer - brings plenty of opportunity to explore outdoors. The outfitters are busy with their pack strings, eager to take folks for a ride or a camping trip. Hiking, rafting, fishing are all here in SW
Colorado. Mancos is home to wonderful stagecoach excursions, too. How many states can YOU see at once or stand in with only one foot? Answer: the Four Corners!
July is some of the best of summer. Each local town celebrates an old fashioned July 4th, perhaps a BBQ downtown, music festivals, parades and fireworks. The end of July is Mancos Days, when the school reunions occur. There’s a parade plus games and a bazaar in the park. It is a great weekend in Mancos! July is also the start of what we call Sunset season, when the sky gives us a bit of majestic theater most evenings.
Fall - is synonymous with cattle drives (our local "traffic jams") and the incredible golden, quaking aspen throughout the Colorado Mountains. Local towns host Balloon Festivals and
Fall Festivals in late September. Drive the scenic San Juan Skyway, which tours you through some awesome fall color. Fall is also hunting season: deer, elk, and turkeys all have special hunting seasons. Mother Nature can easily give us a wake up call by delivering a little snow on the La Platas!
The entire county celebrates its newer personalities with Colorado Wine and Art Festival in Cortez. The motorcycle rally is Labor Day with events from Cortez to Durango.
Winter – the weather that skiers look forward to and delight in! There is skiing at Telluride and Purgatory for the downhill folks (about an hour and half drive). Stay with us and ski Telluride one day, Purgatory the next and Wolf Creek the third. Here at 7000+ ft., folks enjoy cross country skiing wherever you want to take a walk in the woods with long, skinny skis on your feet. Chicken Creek is a groomed area here in Mancos.
Mesa Verde is open all year. Depending on conditions, the back roads are closed to cars, but open to hiking, snow-shoeing, or cross-country skiing. Snow is usually followed by bright sunshine and blue sky, and days automatically feel warmer than the thermometer reads. Perfect picture taking at the Cliff Dwellings. The night sky is majestic -- the stars are unbelievable!
Spring
-the change of season comes when the snows disappear from the Sleeping Ute Mountain—in late April? Maybe May? That’s the signal for farmers to plant and gardeners to go play in the dirt. Spring break draws families back to Mesa Verde. Communities of the 4 Corners are beginning a new tradition -- Memorial Day Week -- Celebrating Our Song Indian Market.