Traveling is a wonderful way to experience new cultures, incredible views, enjoy new foods, and meet amazing people. Just as traveling will leave positive impacts on you, there are many ways you can leave a positive impact everywhere you go! We have put together five tips for responsible travel in Mesa Verde Country on your next visit.
The American Southwest is suffering an extreme drought, so taking care to limit your water use is very important. You can do this by taking shorter showers and skipping daily housekeeping when staying at a hotel. While these actions may seem small, every drop of water counts.
We all know that a campfire is a great way to get people together and stay warm while camping. However, as we see more and more wildfires rage across the American West, it’s crucial to practice fire safety. If there is a ban in place, we promise you can still have a great time camping without the fire. Always make sure to obey local laws, fire restrictions, and bans regarding open fires and campfires. Pick a safe, open spot for your campfire and never leave it unattended. When you are ready to head to bed for the evening, make sure to extinguish it completely by drowning the fire. For more detailed tips for preventing wildfires, check out Smokey Bear’s How – Tos.
When recreating in the outdoors in Mesa Verde Country, it’s common to come across archaeological sites and artifacts. Some examples of this include broken pieces of pottery and arrowheads. While it may seem appealing to pick these up and bring them home with you, please leave these where you found them. The artifacts exist where they are to tell the story of that place; when you remove them, the stories and history can vanish along with it. Archaeological sites and the artifacts found in and around them are an important part of the history of the living descendants of those who made them. Please leave things as you found them, so they can be enjoyed and admired by future generations.
Leave No Trace principles are a great framework for minimum impact travel. Although they were originally created for backcountry travel, many of the guidelines are applicable to any outdoor recreation, as well as just traveling in others’ communities. Below is a summarized list of the seven Leave No Trace Principles. For an even more in-depth overview, please visit lnt.org.
Leave No Trace (LNT) practices are something you can do at home as well as traveling. Their principles are a great framework of tips for responsible travel in Mesa Verde Country as well as any other destination.
Mesa Verde Country is home to many people, and we have an exciting mix of cultures in our communities. This allows for an amazing variety of experiences, foods, and traditions. We also have a rich Indigenous culture in the American Southwest and the Four Corners region. When traveling through these tribes’ ancestral lands it’s important to participate respectfully and ask permission, support local Indigenous communities, and continue to educate yourself when traveling through these communities.