Imagine standing on a 40-million-year-old geological work of art surrounded on all sides by dwelling places of the “sacred ones.” Listen to the silence in an enchanting landscape filled with mesas, buttes and flying pinnacles. Crouch down to crawl through a small opening that suddenly expands into hundreds of stone recesses where thousands of ancients built their homes more than 500 years before Columbus set foot in the new world. Imagine these dwelling places amidst a stupendous array of geological wonders formed by millions of years wind and water. Welcome to the Trail of the Ancients. More than 1600 years ago, the Ancestral Puebloans or Anasazi left their landmark cliff dwellings on the landscape of Southwestern Colorado in a culture that lasted 600 A.D. to 1300 A.D. The newest structures, which date from 1130 A.D. are sophisticated buildings. It is the only place in the United States completely immersed in the ancient civilization of the Southwest. A selection of these treasures are World Heritage Sites and often termed the “Stonehenge of the Southwest.” Today, more than 700 years of history resides in the sheltered alcoves and elaborate stone villages. To bring this civilization to life, we’ve designed a trip to take you into this fascinating world of the past.