We would love to spend time at Mesa Verde, and maybe a shorter stop at Great Sand Dunes makes sense for the harsh conditions.

We had considered ending the trip with a show at Red Rocks before we head back because my partner hasn’t been there before. If we ended up trying to do both national parks and back up to Denver area, it may end up being too crowded of an itenerary with more driving than we had hoped.

We originally hadn’t really considered Mesa Verde because it’s kindof out of the way (coming from the southeast), but we do love visiting world heritage/cultural sites. Mesa Verde is certainly impressive enough to merit a second look though.