We were able to drive our campervan up after dark and get a shower and still find a camp site (paid for the next day). The parking space was a little small for the van but perfect for a smaller vehicle. Would definitely camp here again.
stayed for two nights, almost no other campers. Our site had small trees for shade. Its pretty, but not the most gorgeous views, those are at the top of the park! The campground was clean and quiet. The stars were out with little light pollution. There is a cafe at the camp store, recommend the all you can eat 8 dollar pancake breakfast. If you have two days do it, there is so much to see! There are also showers which were clean. Did the ranger tour of balconey house, was amazing.
Nice and convenient campground inside of Mesa Verde National Park. Very clean and well maintained. Many hot, 24 hours showers available in a large bathhouse within driving distance of campground. Sites were chosen upon arrival and lots of shady spots. Great location to start early and head out for the first cliff dwelling tour of the day! Don't miss a hike on the Petroglyph Point Trail to see amazing rock art and great views of the canyon.
We LOVED this campground (even though we froze our butts off)! We stayed here on the very first day of fall and it was absolutely gorgeous.
In the tent loop we stayed in (Navajo) there's a variation of how the sites are set up. Our site was set up with the parking area up above, with steps down into the gambel oak grove where the tent pad and picnic table were. We really loved this setup, and it was really nice to feel a little more secluded from our neighbors than other sites in the campground.
The bathrooms are well spaced and clean, and we're fairly certain that the Wi-Fi routers in the campground were in the bathroom buildings. If we stayed there for a longer amount of time where we'd need to be working, we would probably consider staying in a site closer to the bathroom for better Wi-Fi signal. But for our relatively short (and work-free) stay, it was fine.
There are showers and laundry located in the main building near the camp store /cafe (where they have breakfast in the mornings, yum). The showers are free, and the laundry is very reasonably priced. The showers, though, at least in the fall, weren't my favorite. The ceiling is very high, and the changing area has no real separation from the shower itself, which makes showers pretty chilly as the water and water vapor has to heat up a much larger area than a smaller shower area. I think when we go back, we might try to rig our own shower curtain with suction cups or something to keep the shower a little warmer. Our second night there it had rained all day and the temperature dropped pretty rapidly once the sun went down (it dropped below freezing overnight, we had to make an emergency stop at Walmart to buy more warm bedding as the lowest it had been the rest of our trip was 51!), and a nice hot shower helped warm us up (especially in the morning) but it would've been nicer if there had been a shower curtain. I'm sure it's just a pain to keep shower curtains clean, but it would make a huge difference, especially in the "shoulder" seasons.
There is also gas at the camp store, but it costs a fortune. Fill up in Cortez before heading up onto the mesa and you shouldn't need any gas while in the park. There are also free dump/fill stations for RVs, which is definitely handy. It's definitely worth it to stay in this campground up on the mesa rather than having to drive back down to Cortez every night.
Overall we really enjoyed this campground and are hoping to go back soon!
We LOVED this campground (even though we froze our butts off)! We stayed here on the very first day of fall and it was absolutely gorgeous.
In the tent loop we stayed in (Navajo) there's a variation of how the sites are set up. Our site was set up with the parking area up above, with steps down into the gambel oak grove where the tent pad and picnic table were. We really loved this setup, and it was really nice to feel a little more secluded from our neighbors than other sites in the campground.
The bathrooms are well spaced and clean, and we're fairly certain that the Wi-Fi routers in the campground were in the bathroom buildings. If we stayed there for a longer amount of time where we'd need to be working, we would probably consider staying in a site closer to the bathroom for better Wi-Fi signal. But for our relatively short (and work-free) stay, it was fine.
There are showers and laundry located in the main building near the camp store /cafe (where they have breakfast in the mornings, yum). The showers are free, and the laundry is very reasonably priced. The showers, though, at least in the fall, weren't my favorite. The ceiling is very high, and the changing area has no real separation from the shower itself, which makes showers pretty chilly as the water and water vapor has to heat up a much larger area than a smaller shower area. I think when we go back, we might try to rig our own shower curtain with suction cups or something to keep the shower a little warmer. Our second night there it had rained all day and the temperature dropped pretty rapidly once the sun went down, and a nice hot shower helped warm us up (especially in the morning) but it would've been nicer if there had been a shower curtain. I'm sure it's just a pain to keep shower curtains clean, but it would make a huge difference, especially in the "shoulder" seasons.
There is also gas at the camp store, but it costs a fortune. Fill up in Cortez before heading up onto the mesa and you shouldn't need any gas while in the park. There are also free dump/fill stations for RVs, which is definitely handy.
Overall we really enjoyed this campground and are hoping to go back soon!
We arrived on Saturday afternoon and stayed til Monday morning. Campsite was big enough to accommodate our 2 tents. Also provided lots of shade. We really enjoyed the nightly ranger talks at the nearby amphitheater held at dusk. The park offers lots of hikes and tours of the cliff dwellings. The only thing missing was a pool or some place to cool off at the campground as it was very hot mid afternoon. Bathrooms were nice and free showers are included.
Mesa Verde National Park was our second stop on our year-long trip to visit all 59 national parks. We were pleasantly surprised with the comfort, quiet and access to great hiking trails that Morefield Campground provided.
According to the NPS website, the campground rarely fills, and when we visited in August 2015, it was nearly empty. We chose a site in the tents-only loop to ensure a quiet environment. The sites are scenic and spread out, so we had no trouble with solitude.
From the campground, it is easy to access some of the best hikes in the park: we loved 7.8-mile Prater Ridge Trail and 2-mile Point Lookout Trail, both accessed from the Morefield trailhead. Yes, you should definitely spend time visiting the cliff dwellings (we liked the Long House hike & bike tour on less-frequented Wetherill Mesa and the Balcony House tour on Chapin Mesa in particular!) but hiking is an underrated way to experience this park.
The views at Morefield itself are not necessarily jaw-dropping, and it certainly doesn’t feel too rustic (free showers, coin laundry, and a general store) but it is a comfortable, convenient, and quiet campground that serves as a perfect launching-off point for exploring beautiful and historic Mesa Verde.
You can read much more about our four days in the park on our blog: Switchback Kids (Mesa Verde)
came to this campground for our honeymoon and we had a blast.. seen lots of wildlife hit lots of trails the cliff dwellings were amazing!! would LOVE to go back!!
We stayed here 2 nights the summer of 2015. It's priced fair and we were able to find a camp spot with some good shade. We were camping in a tent se we didn't need hook-ups. I'm not sure what the hook-up situation is for campers. We were able to enjoy cool evening walks; where we would often spot deer. It was also fairly close to the amphitheater to hear the ranger talks. I would recommend going to the talks because they would talk about a lot of the history that you may miss out on. Also the showers were free; a little old school but got the job done.
Stayed here in summer 2012.site was level with gravel/sand. Little to no trees in the loop. No hookups but you can use generator if needed. Not much to it. No frills here. Nice to see Deer walking around though. We stayed here so we could visit the cave dwellings. Very cool to climb in, crawl through and learn about the ancient Indian civilization.The Morefield Campground area inside the park was very basic. We were dry camping. No water, electric or sewer on the sites. Good thing we were self-contained for short periods of time! There were two tours that we signed up for, Cliff Palace and Balcony House. Cliff Palace was the largest example of a cliff dwelling in North America and spectacular. We were asked not to touch anything due to how fragile they are. This tour was a little strenuous due to the stairs and ladders that we had to climb. Next was Balcony House and it was supposed to be a lot more strenuous. The sky darkened and the rain started lightly as our ranger guide talked about the ancient people who had built this structure. Since it wasn't lightning, we continued the tour. This dwelling had lots of stairs and mostly ladders to climb as well as a tunnel to crawl through that was only 18" wide. When we exited, it was really starting to come down and Wesley had fallen asleep somewhere during the tour. Jason had to carry him out which was nerve-racking and dangerous!
