Denver Life Magazine – April 2019

wander road trip

86 denverlifemagazine.com | APRIL 2019

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Canyon of the Ancients Guest Ranch

No, it’s not a typo. While the National Mon-

ument uses the plural “Canyons,” this quaint

working ranch to the south drops the “s.” A

friendly and vivacious couple, Garry and Ming

Adams, run the place. As their guest—not

an easy honor to claim; book early—you’ll be

treated to the couple’s first-rate hospitality and

intimate knowledge of the area and its history.

With six uniquely themed cabins scattered

around the ranch, your options for lodging run

the gamut from the cozy Cowboy Log Cabin,

with polished timber floors and leather rocking

chairs, to the Pueblo-style Mokee House, with

its immense sky-lit shower and outdoor adobe

oven. Once home to the famous cowboy El-

den Zwicker, the ranch is now a secluded idyll

in the middle of McElmo Canyon, filled with

friendly livestock (the Adamses keep sheep,

horses, cattle, and an uncountable number of

roaming dogs and cats), an organic garden,

and a large collection of historic artifacts from

the region’s ancient cliff-dwelling people.

canyonoftheancients.com

Sutcliffe Vineyards

Just down the road from Canyon of the An-

cients Guest Ranch, this tiny winery draws

attention from around the Four Corners re-

gion, and for good reason. Stop by for a tour

or a tasting, and the cheerful owner, John

Sutcliffe—a self-described “soldier, cowboy,

restaurateur, polo player, and winemaker”—will

regale you with stories of his wild, practically

cinematic, globe-trotting life. Sit for a spell

on the shaded porch of Sutcliffe’s house (he

lives on the property) and you might get to

meet one of the winery’s local farmers, who

WINDOW INTO THE PAST CANYONS OF THE ANCIENTS INCLUDES HOVENWEEP

NATIONAL MONUMENT (BELOW)

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anyons of the Ancients National Monument, in the southwestern corner

of the state, is an amateur archaeologist’s dream: a concentrated pocket of

millennia-old ruins, some 20,000 in all. Of these, more than 6,000 have

been excavated on just 176,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management

land, making Canyons of the Ancients—adjacent to the more famous, and far more

crowded, Mesa Verde National Park—the densest collection of public archaeological

sites America has to offer. If you’re organizing a trip to the Four Corners and want to

plan a stop, these are the highlights to hit. —ANDREW WEAVER

Back in time

STUMBLE UPON RUINS FROM MILLENNIA AGO AT CANYONS

OF THE ANCIENTS, THE COUNTRY’S DENSEST COLLECTION OF

PUBLIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES.