Dolores, CO – The Anasazi Heritage Center is also the visitor center for the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and is located near Dolores, Colorado. The Anasazi Heritage Center includes artifacts from the monument, a museum with interactive exhibits, a library and a theater. Information is available there regarding the Ancient Puebloan culture, Trail of the Ancients Byway and the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. It’s a great place to stop before a visit to the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.
Anasazi Heritage Center is located near Dolores, Colorado
Stone tools on display
Many of the exhibits are hands-on and interactive. You can weave on a loom, grind corn meal on a metate, examine the past through microscopes, handle real artifacts, or feel the finger indentations on corrugated pottery.
Pottery display at the Anasazi Heritage Center
More pottery on display
Tools and shards on display
More tools, sandals, and jewelry items
Basketmaker period items
Hopi woman photo taken by Adam Clark Vroman in 1901
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is a national monument protecting an archaeologically-significant landscape located in the southwestern region of Colorado. The monument’s 176,056 acres are managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The monument was proclaimed in order to preserve the largest concentration of archaeological sites in the United States, primarily Ancestral Puebloan ruins.
Canyons of the Ancients is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Directions to the Anasazi Heritage Center: From Dolores, Colorado, travel west on State Highway 145, then turn west (right) on State Highway 184. From Cortez, travel north on State Highway 145, then turn west (left) on State Highway 184. Continue on 184 for approximately 1 mile and the Anasazi Heritage Center will be on your right.
We visited here while staying at the Sundance RV Park in Cortez, Colorado. We also visited Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Yucca House National Monument, and the Four Corners Tribal Monument.
