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With the National Park Service celebrating its 100th anniversary this summer, there are plenty of adventures on tap at Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park.

One of the finest groupings of both cliff dwellings and mesa-top villages in the same vicinity, Mesa Verde is one of the premier destinations for those interested in Native Americans and their ancient way of living, park spokeswoman Cristy Brown said.

And this is the year to make that visit, she said.

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“We have a lot of special events this year,” Brown said. “This year we’re doing some special tours that we haven’t done since 2006.”

Visitors can take tours to the ruins of Long House, Oak Tree House and Spring Tree House in the same season.

“We’ve alternated them the past 10 years,” she said.

Another highlight tour this season will be a twilight tour of the iconic Cliff Palace.

A favorite of photographers, the twilight tours offer views of the ruins under the most favorable lighting conditions, she said.

“The lighting at that time of day is really nice,” Brown said. “Cliff Palace faces toward the west and the sunlight on the ruin kind of overheats, overexposes the site so you don’t get to see the sandstone as it really looks.”

Likewise, there will be once-a-month sunrise tours of Balcony House to take advantage of lighting on the east-facing site.

And coming later this month, a new feature movie called “Heart of the World, Colorado’s National Parks,” will premier in Cortez (March 23) and Durango (March 24), including an extensive look at Mesa Verde, Brown said. The free events will be attended by the producers, who will host a question and answer period following the viewing.

The Park Service also is encouraging biking and hiking excursions along Wetherill Mesa.

“It’s the quieter side of the park,” Brown said. “It gives people a chance to take a longer walk to see the cliff dwellings or mesa or else bike around the loop.”

When it comes to a less-structured inspection of Native American sites, the Anasazi Heritage Center (blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/ahc.html) and the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (blm.gov/co/st/en/nm/canm.html) offer unhurried looks back in time, said Shannon Borders, Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman.

“The biggest difference between the areas, with the Park Service, it’s very structured and guided,” Borders said. “But with the Canyons of the Ancients, it’s up to you where you want to do and explore.”

The Canyons are a barren rugged area without cell service. It’s imperative to have a map that can be picked up at the Heritage Center, as well as plenty of water and a clear itinerary for others, she said.

“We like to think of it as an outdoor museum,” Borders said. “You can go to the sites, take a picnic lunch. Most of the sites are a fairly close hike to the parking lot so you can really get up close with history.”

Among the most popular are Lowry Kiva and the Tower of the Painted Hand.

The Heritage Center itself is a great place for kids to investigate the past through hands-on displays, she said.

“We have a really neat kids’ area where they can grind corn and have a hands-on experience with the different aspects of ancient history,” Borders said. “And we have about 4 million artifacts, but, of course, not all of it on display. And right now we have an ancient basket display, as well as the standard collections that are always on display year round.

May offers “curator’s tours” in which visitors get a behind-the-scenes look at the basement to see items that are not normally on display.

“We do have some really neat stuff in the basement,” Borders said. “I think the coolest things are the pots. I think it’s really neat that we have some really big pots that we have excavated and to see that history and to know that we have been able to recover this art and are able to begin decoding their story.”

For people who prefer to dig into history with a more hands-on approach the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center (crowcanyon.org) archaeological excursions for families including day tours, student summer camps and family archaeology weeks.

And the Ute Mountain Indian Trading Company and Museum (utemountaintrading.com) has a display of artifacts and art from the Ute Mountain tribe, as well a number of different pieces of modern art created by local artisans.