east from Cortez to the entrance of Mesa Verde National Park, a U.S. national park preserving over 4000 archaeological sites - including 600 cliff dwellings - of the Ancestral Pueblo people. Mesa Verde is designated as a World Heritage Site. Cortez to Hovenweep The Colorado section of the byway continues north and west on state highways 145 and 184 from Cortez, passing Dolores, the McPhee Reservoir, and the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum, a museum of the Ancient Pueblo (or Anasazi) and other Native cultures in the Four Corners region. Escalante and Dominguez Pueblos are located on the center's site. The museum is also the location of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument visitor center. The byway briefly follows U.S. 491 through the unincorporated communities of Lewis, Yellow Jacket, and Pleasant View, before entering Canyons of the Ancients National Monument proper, a Bureau of Land Management site comprising over 6000 archaeological ruins over 183,000 acres., on Montezuma County Road CC. Along the byway is Lowry Pueblo, a National Historic Landmark in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, originally excavated in the 1930s and dating to around 1060 AD. The byway continues towards the Utah border along Montezuma County Road 10, crossing the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, a historic trade route connecting Santa Fe with Los Angeles. At the Utah state line, the byway becomes San Juan County Road 213 (Hovenweep Road), passing some of the outlying sites of Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument preserves six sites Ancestral Puebloan settlements in Utah and Colorado. Utah The Utah portion of the byway follows a patchwork of federal (U.S. Route 163, U.S. Route 191), state (Utah State Route 95, Utah State Route 261, Utah State Route 262), and local roads in San Juan County and northern Navajo Nation. Hovenweep to Bluff and Blanding After crossing the state border into Utah and passing the entrance to Hovenweep National Monument, the byway heads west to White Mesa and the junction with U.S. Route 191. South of White Mesa, the byway connects to Bluff and the southwestern sections of the byway; north of White Mesa, the route connects to Blanding and Edge of the Cedars State Park. The park features Ancestral Puebloan ruins, a museum, and artifacts that provide a detailed view of how the Ancestral Puebloan lived and worked. The northernmost spur of the byway extends to Monticello, Utah.