Maze of the Week #26 - Mesa Verde National Park Cliff Palace Maze

June 27, 2022

We return to a landscape maze of sorts this week, featuring the Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park in Cortez, Colorado, also known as the Cliff Palace. This is our 2nd maze from Colorado after the Blue Mustang from Denver Airport. The maze is a draw and cut construction, with the natural shape of the dwellings lending themselves to a maze. I would also mention that this maze is more difficult than many I have made, so if attempt it, good luck ! I made only 1 version of this maze. It is featured this week because it was established as a National Park on June 29, 1906.

Some information about Mesa Verde National Park

It is the largest archeological preserve in the United States and features hundreds of cliff dwellings. In addition to being a National Park it is also a World Heritage Site. You can read about the portion of the park I mazed, Cliff Palace, here. You can find many videos on the park but this is my favorite.

The maze:

In color. The spacing of the pathways in the maze is very narrow. Because it is a landscape I also went with a full page maze where the landscape continues off the page in all directions.

Cliff Dwelling Mesa Verde National Park Maze — Mesa Verde National Park Cliff Palace Maze

I hope you enjoy the maze. Maze download and solution is available on the webpage.

Coming next week:

A special maze to celebrate of Independence Day !

Maze of the Week #2 - Monument Valley Maze

January 10, 2022

This week I am featuring the famous Monument Valley landscape for a maze. You’ve seen it Western movies and tv shows for decades. Today I will also share 3 different versions of the maze (like comic book alternative covers). We have a black and white version, a color version, and a color version with clouds. All are the same maze, made with a free drawn construction. Which do you prefer ?

Some information about Monument Valley

The large sandstone buttes are near the Utah Arizona border on the Navajo Nation Reservation and is part of the Colorado plateau. Wikipedia is my go-to for information. If you want to visit, the admission is very inexpensive as is the nearby campsite and you can even book a tour with a Navajo Guide ! It can best be described as majestic.

You can find many videos about Monument Valley online but this short one from National Geographic is my favorite. The soil color is so vibrant and changes with the movement of the sun during the day.

And before we get to the mazes let’s take a look at what the subject matter looks like with a photo courtesy of Pixabay and pexels.com. This photo shows a larger landscape than what I focused on which is the butte on the left.

Let’s look at the 3 maze options:

My first version of the maze is a simple black white version.

While in this version #2 I add in the vibrant color the region is known for, while adding the landscape to the butte. I was also able to add some darker colors for the places in the shadows. I opted against adding contours to the landscape.

And in our final version we get a more defined sky that includes some clouds. For me, this is the preferred version.

Monument Valley Maze full color version — Monument Valley Maze

I hope you enjoy the mazes.

You can find downloads of the maze on the homepage.

Coming next week:

Stop back on January 17th for our first building maze of the year. A maze of a museum.

Maze of the Week #1 - Horseshoe Bend Maze, Arizona

January 1, 2022

Welcome to our first maze of the year ! We start off with a landscape maze featuring Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona. This is a full color maze (using only 6 colors) and uses a draw and cut maze construction. It is not a typical maze to solve because of the use of the natural shape of the stones which create the walls, but I think you will enjoy it.

Some information about Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe Bend is a large bend in the Colorado River a few miles from the town of Page, Arizona. From a geological standpoint it is an entrenched meander. If you want to learn more about the bend I suggest you check out the Wikipedia page. If you are more interested in visiting the bend, you have options to fly it, hike it and raft it. You also have the opportunity to visit Antelope Canyon which is just 7 miles away ! Seems like a nice vacation.

If you like videos here is one with some great travel information about Horseshoe Bend that I recommend,

Let’s take a look at what exactly I am mazing with an amazing photo of the subject courtesy of Francesco Ungaro, who you can follow on Instagram @ _francesco_ungaro_. And now we can confirm that the bend does indeed look like a horseshoe !