The rangers I asked discouraged me from visiting, because the reconstructed wall above and small mounds are all there is to see. But what makes this place special is that it is in the middle of the rich agricultural valley below Mesa Verde, and it wasn’t completely destroyed, vandalized or eroded away. Large pueblos, like this one with hundreds of rooms, used to be scattered across the region, but, as at Hopewell, the ones located in rich farming areas were often plowed under. This is actually one of the largest archaeological sites in southwest Colorado, recognized by researchers in the 1870’s, protected as a monument in 1919 (and by a bequest from the landowner at the request of an archaeologist) and protected unofficially by another landowner who donated an access route in 2002. Also unlike other sites, the archaeologists have mainly used less-invasive techniques in their research, saving the site for future generations.