Pithouse to Pueblo Tour: Mesa Top Loop

The Mesa Top Pithouse to Pueblo Tour at Mesa Verde has 10 stops within about two miles that trace the development of living styles of the Ancestral Pueblo People from AD 600 until the area was abandoned around AD 1300.

This tour is at the south end of the park on Chapin Mesa, about as far from the main entrance as you can get.

1. The first stop is the Pithouse, a site protected by a small structure. This display represents the first change in living style from nomadic hunting to settled farming.
2. Navajo Canyon View site. The deep canyons surrounding the settlements appear to be isolating, but it is felt that the people were able to carve trails up and down the canyon sides and interact with those living on the other sides. There is a ruin site on the opposite side of the canyon from the overlook. This view is looking back toward the Spruce Canyon area.

3. Square Tower Overlook. The alcoves where the cliff dwellings were built later were early on used as campsites and storage areas. After the pithouse and mesa top pueblo era, the alcoves were used again, as seen here. This ruin site features a four story square tower.

4. Pit houses and Early Pueblos. This display shows the development of the pithouse into the Kiva that we see as an important element in all the advanced pueblo villages.
5. First, Second, and Third Villages. This site is an example of how villages were built up and developed over a period of time, new construction covering older, and the gradual development of masonry styles. Inside the protective structure there is display of how the Kiva structure developed over time.
6. Sun Point Pueblo. The Sun Point Pueblo seems to have been occupied for a short time, perhaps only ten years. The absence of walls here suggests that the materials may have been re-used in the cliff dwelling sites.

7. Sun Point View. This is one of the most spectacular view points in Mesa Verde with about a dozen different cliff dwellings visible including the fabulous Cliff Palace.

8. Oak Tree House Overlook. Only a short distance from Sun Point this overlook gives a closer look at this ruin.

9. Fire Temple and New Fire House Overlook. The New Fire House ruin has a two level structure with visible toe holds carved into the rock.

10. Sun Temple. The Sun Temple is one of the best designed and constructed of ruins in Mesa Verde but appears to have never been occupied. There is no evidence of any roof material and it is thought to have been abandoned before it was completed. Walking around the structure, there are no apparent doors or windows.

The short distance between all these sites make the tour walkable, but most will move their vehicles from site to site. It would be about 4.5 miles of walking to do the tour from Pit House to Sun Temple and back. A shorter version from the Square Tower to Sun Point would be about 3.0 miles and is a good walk in the winter season.