I've long been impressed with the performance of the Metate Room Restaurant at Mesa Verde National Park, and now the American Culinary Federation Colorado Chefs Association has weighed in by honoring Executive Chef Brian Puett as one of six winners of the association's inaugural "Award of Culinary Excellence."

Regular guests of national park lodges have undoubtedly noticed persistent increases in room rates. Although we no longer have the receipt, it seems that we paid $225 per night during our 1996 stay in Yosemite National Park’s Ahwahnee for a room that now goes for approximately $500 per night. It probably doesn’t surprise you to learn that during the past decade lodging rates in national parks have risen faster than the Consumer Price Index.

Fall and winter months often are best spent researching road trips, and to help you plan a trek through the Southwest with stops at such places as Mesa Verde National Park and Hovenweep National Monument there's a great new website that takes you down the "Trail of the Ancients."

Whether you can thank the hoopla around National Parks: America's Best Idea, or attribute it to the weak economy, there are a number of lodging deals available to be had around the National Park System.