Spruce Tree House in Winter

During the winter months at Mesa Verde, the popular ranger guided tours to Cliff Palace, Long House, and Balcony House close for the season. The Spruce Tree House schedule changes from a self guided trail to three guided tours per day.

The paved trail is cleared of snow and the groups are usually small compared to the crowds that visit during the warm months of the year. The ranger guided tour emphasizes that the people that lived here had adequate food, water, shelter, warmth, useful daily activities, entertainment, in short everything that we view as necessary for a full life. The architecture of the site is examined, including the eight circular kivas that served multiple functions in the community.

The Kivas are often described as having religious significance, based on their use by Pueblo People living today. Under the winter conditions that occur in mid January, with nearly two feet of snow on the mesa tops, the kivas are obviously a warm sheltered area to use during the most difficult weather conditions.

One of the Spruce Tree House Kivas has been reconstructed so that visitors can climb down the ladder and get the feel for the inside. Mostly, we view the kivas from the rim without the roof. During the off season, the usual long line to climb down into the kiva disappears. This was my chance.

The Spruce Tree House reconstructed kiva seems to lack the fire pit and the small symbolic Sipapu but has the pilasters and a nicely constructed roof. It seems small once inside, but was probably cozy and warm and could accommodate a dozen people if it had to. Then bench like banquette is too high to use as a bench in this kiva, while at other kivas it looks like a good seat.

Other reconstructed Kivas in the region include Edge of the Cedars State Park in Blanding, Utah, Three Kiva Pueblo in the Montezuma Canyon in Utah. There is a side view from the bottom of a Kiva at the Lowry Pueblo site near Pleasant View, CO. The most elaborate reconstructed Kiva is the Great Kiva at the Aztec Ruins in Aztec, NM.

Pipe Shrine House and Mysterious Spirals

One of the most common petroglyphs on the ruins trails in the Four Corners region is the spiral. Some of these are thought to be associated with observations of the skies, or they could represent a journey.

The panel on the popular Petroglyph Trail at Mesa Verde has several spirals. This panel is somewhat unusual in that there is some interpretation offered in the trail guide based on the comments of Hopi visitors in 1942. The spirals here said to represent the place of emergence and the end of the journey.

The Anasazi Heritage Center Museum near Dolores, CO has a good display of pottery and artifacts in a small museum. One of the unnoticed artifacts is a building stone with a spiral etched into it. The stone is described as being from the Escalante Pueblo, a modest sized hilltop site that is located on the same grounds as the Heritage Center. There are no other comments on what a spiral on a building stone might mean.

On the south side of Pipe Shrine House a similar spiral inscribed stone sits along the top row in the center of the wall. Pipe Shrine House is one of the six Far View Sites, an open air complex of pueblo and related structures. The Far View Sites are mostly overlooked at Mesa Verde, the large cliff dweller alcove sites attracting most of the attention.

During the winter season, the short road to Far View is closed but the trail can still be hiked. The snow was more than one foot deep in mid January. Previous hikers and at least one cross country skier had packed down a path. The walking wasn’t easy and snow shoes would have made the going easier.

Mesa Verde-The Five Large Alcoves

The large alcove cliff dwellings are the most compelling attractions of Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. There are 2000 archaeology sites in the park and 600 cliff structures, but there are five large and spectacular sites that are essential.

Two of the large alcoves that can be entered are on the Wetherill Mesa side of the park and can only be visited during the summer months between the Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays. The Step House site trail head is near the parking area and tram loading area that provides transportation to the other Wetherill sites. Step House is a self-guiding trail with a ranger stationed near the site to answer questions.

A highlight of the Step House site is the side by side display of the pit house style of living with the later masonry pueblo style. Most pit house dwellings are on the mesa tops, but apparently some were also using the alcove sites. One of the mysteries of Mesa Verde is why was there a burst of alcove building in the era just before the entire area was abandoned.

One of the hidden sites of Mesa Verde and Wetherill Mesa is Mug House. There are no viewpoints for Mug House. Some special hikes were offered in 2006 for the 100 year anniversary of the park, but otherwise it rests unvisited (until 2010 when it was re-opened.).

Long House is the second largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde with 150 rooms, 19 kivas and a large central plaza. The Long House ranger led tour takes 1.5 hours and requires a $3 ticket from the Far View Visitor Center. After purchasing a ticket and driving to the parking area, there is a short tram ride to the trailhead. The final comments of the tour I took described a scene where large dances or ceremonies took place here with plenty of room for spectators along the canyon rim.

The other site in Mesa Verde that seems similar is the Fire Temple site visible from the Sun Point overlook along the self guiding Mesa Top Tour in the Chapin Mesa area. One of the other trails in the Wetherill Mesa area is the Long House Overlook Trail, where a wide view of the site is available.

The Spruce Tree House is the easiest of the large alcoves to visit and is really the center of Mesa Verde. In addition to being the third largest cliff dwelling with about 114 rooms and 8 kivas, the Chapin Mesa Museum is located at the trail head and there is a snack bar, book store and gift shop as part of the visitor facilities.

The paved trail leading to Spruce Tree House is open as a self guiding route during the mild parts of the year and is the only guided and free tour available during the winter months. The plants along the trail are identified with comments on their possible use to the people who lived here. Two 2.4 mile hiking trails, the Petroglyph Trail and the Spruce Canyon Trail also begin at the same trail head. If you only have time for a short visit to Mesa Verde, the Spruce Tree House area is the place to go.

Along with Cliff Palace and Long House, the Balcony House is one of three cliff dwellings that require a $3 ranger led tour to visit. Balcony House is often a highlight as it involves climbing ladders and crawling through a short tunnel. Balcony House is located along a loop road that includes Cliff Palace and the series of lookout points I call the House of Many Windows Trail or the Cliff Canyon Overlooks..

Balcony House is not a unique in its size but seems to be a possible special use site. It faces east rather than south and has more difficult access than most sites. The rarely visited Inaccessible House in the nearby Ute Mountain Park is another example of a possible special use site. Balcony House is open for tours from late April to mid October, a slightly shorter season than Cliff Palace. During the off season, the loop road is closed to vehicles but can be hiked.

Cliff Palace is the largest and most famous of the cliff dwellings ruins sites at Mesa Verde and in North America. The visitor season for ranger led tours of Cliff Palace is early April to early November with the road closing in winter but the overlook still open to hikers. If you visit Cliff Palace only, it appears to be an isolated site, but when viewed from Sun Point, across the canyon, it is seen as part of a very busy area. There are about 12 different sites visible from Sun Point, one of the stops on the Mesa Top Pithouse to Pueblo self guiding tour.