Balcony House Water Supply

The Balcony House Trail is one of the most popular sites for visitors to Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. The 32 foot ladder climb entrance and 12 foot hands and knees tunnel exit make this the most adventurous of the alcove cliff dweller sites. It is also a site where the scarcity of water for the residents comes into focus.

As visitors arrive at the double ladder to climb into the north side of Balcony House, they brace themselves, eyes turned upwards, for the climb. Perhaps little noticed is the damp spot just to the right of the ladder. Mesa Verde is inclined to the south at about a seven degree angle. This slight slope is important in the formation of the alcoves that shelter the spectacular ruins sites like Balcony House.

Alcove formation is helped along by water that is absorbed into the porous sandstone and flows downwards until it reaches an impervious shale layer that forces the flow sideways. The cementing calcium carbonate dissolves and allows the sand grains to be washed or blown away. Seep springs are sometimes found in the back or near the alcoves and provide a convenient water source for the residents.

Though it doesn’t look like much, with the vegetation cleared away and with the use of pottery dippers and mugs, the use of this small spring would be preferable to walking a long distance and hauling a heavy load. Water weighst 8.34 pounds per gallon and in this dry climate 40 residents would need at least 400 pounds of water per day, maybe twice that amount.

When passing from the north parapet courtyard to the south courtyard with the two kivas, there is a glimpse of another seep spring at the back of the alcove. This spring is 30 feet or so above the spring that is visible at the ladder and appears to be contained in a small brick lined pool. There is also a view of this small water source just before the tunnel exit. The easily missed Geologic Overlook Trail, between Park Point and the Far View Visitor Center has a good view of the geologic layers at Mesa Verde and there is an interpretive sign there that discusses the formation and importance of seep springs.

The Mummy Lake constructed reservoir on the Far View Trail is an example of what had to be done if there were no springs nearby. The Mug House Trail tour includes a discussion of a constructed cistern to catch runoff to provide water for that large site. During the summer of 2010 Mesa Verde is installing new water pipes along the main park road. The water supply for the park is pumped up from the Jackson Lake north of Mancos, CO, after arriving at Jackson Lake through constructed canals that catch and control the snowmelt from the LaPlata Mountains. Throughout the ages, we go to great lengths to manage our water resources.

(There are other posts that show the details of Balcony House. Use the Balcony House Trail label to find.)

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.

Inside Balcony House

The one hour tours at Balcony House at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado begin in late April, about three weeks after they begin at the famous Cliff Palace. Balcony House is a medium sized 27 room cliff dwelling and is very popular as the tour visit involves the adventure of climbing several ladders and crawling through a short tunnel.

Another difference about the Balcony House tour is that the visitor goes deep inside the sandstone alcove, rather than just along the front. The tour has five stops. There is an introduction at the beginning, a pause and view before descending a metal stair case and another pause before climbing the 32 foot double ladder. The fourth stop is in the plaza area where the well preserved balcony is visible.

After the discussion in the plaza, the route to the other side of the site involves a short climb and maneuvering around behind the structures to the back of the alcove, something that the other large alcove sites don’t allow.

The back of the alcove has a seep spring that provided water for the site. The Balcony House is a little unusual in that it faces mostly east rather than south, and doesn’t catch much sun in the cold winter months. The back of the alcove is thought to have been a refuse disposal area.

The fifth and last stop is in the area where the two site Kivas are side by side. These Kivas seem to be particularly deep and perhaps the extra insulation made up for the lack of solar heating here. Near the exit, there is a display of grinding stones that would have been used to grind corn.

Some of the ranger discussion talked of how these people suffered from decayed teeth. Sand from the corn grinding would end up in their food and wear their teeth down. The other observation was the prevalence of arthritis, from the kneeling and probable carrying of materials in a difficult location. There has been little observation of signs of violence.

The highlight exit is to crawl on hands and knees through the 12 foot tunnel. This was the entrance and exit that the people who lived here used. The entrance the tour uses was engineered by the Park Service.

Looking down on the tunnel from above, it appears that it was originally just a narrow crack in the sandstone. It looks like a ceiling was added to the crack and the gap filled with masonry. Some effort was made to make the site secure from unwanted visitors and this is one of the mysteries of the cliff dwellings.

Some sites show signs that security was a concern, but others do not. After visiting Balcony House, the nearby Soda Canyon Trail offers a 1.2 mile hike through the Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper forest to three canyon overlooks. From the first two overlooks, there are somewhat distant views of Balcony House.

Balcony House Trail

Balcony House is one of the three cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado where you have to buy a $3 dollar ticket for a ranger led one hour tour. The trail head is on the Cliff Palace Loop in the Chapin Mesa area.

The other two guided hikes are the famous Cliff Palace and the nearly equally large Long House. Balcony House is one of the most popular sites for visitors to Mesa Verde.

Everyone says that Balcony House is the Indiana Jones adventure tour. To get into the ruin you have to walk down 130 steps to get to a point below the ruin, perched high on a steep canyon wall. There was not an original entrance to the Balcony House site from this side. It was installed by the Park Service to make the visit easy. Then you have to climb a 32 foot ladder to arrive at a narrow entry, slither along a sandstone wall, then ducking through a low opening, to arrive in a small plaza. This village is thought to have been home to about 40 people 700 years ago, then mysteriously abandoned.

I had thought it had the name Balcony House because it was perched like a balcony with a low wall, hanging over a deep canyon. The low wall is called a parapet wall and is a unique feature, probably important for keeping children from falling into the canyon below.

But actually, it has this name because one of the second floor rooms has a small ledge outside the window, a feature not often preserved as well as here, but seen in other large sites.

There are two large circular ceremonial kivas on the south side of the site. This medium sized site appears to have about 28 rooms besides the two kivas. The south side may have been the business side of the site and children were kept more to the north side plaza with the protective parapet wall. The back of the site has two springs. This was a fortunate site to have water so handy.

The ruin is small compared to some of the other ones, but the adventure continues. To get out of the site you have to crawl on hands and knees through 12 feet of tunnel, then climb another ladder, and scramble up some primitive steps carved into stone, while clinging to a chain hand hold. The only place to view Balcony House besides the tour is from the Soda Canyon Trail where there is an across the canyon overlook.

Soda Canyon Trail

The Soda Canyon Trail at Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado is a 1.2 mile round trip to three overlooks of Soda Canyon. The trailhead is on the Cliff Palace Loop a short distance past Balcony House.
 The name of Soda Canyon comes from the white mineral deposits left by seep springs near the canyon rim. This is a good trail to hike immediately following a tour of Balcony House.

The first two overlooks are the only places where Balcony House can be viewed without actually being inside the ruin site. The terrain here is mostly level and passes through a Pinon Pine and Juniper forest. It takes about 0:40 minutes to hike this trail.