Cliff Palace Trail

Cliff Palace is the largest and most famous of the Mesa Verde National Park cliff dweller ruins in southwest Colorado. The trail head is on the Cliff Palace Loop Road in the Chapin Mesa area of the Park. The Cliff Palace opens for the season in early April. It is one of the three major sites that require a $3 ticket for a ranger guided  tour.

The ranger lead tour takes about 1 hour. After an introduction at the overlook there are two stops, one to the left at the ruin level and one along the front of the site at a kiva. The trail down has a lot of rough steps and slides through some narrow openings and has ladders to climb up and down. If you have bad knees or hips, stay on top, the ranger advises.

One of the questions about the 600 or more cliff dwellings that are found in the canyons of Mesa Verde is why did they build here. The Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here are thought to have arrived as hunters and gatherers around 500 AD and lived on the mesa tops for several hundred years, until a burst alcove building that began around 1200 AD.

The ranger offered a possible explanation. In this period, resources began to become scarce. The cliff structures provided more security. They were difficult to enter and more easily defended. But in the end, this strategy didn’t work.  There is some evidence that the amount of domesticated turkey consumed declined in this era. There wasn’t enough corn anymore to feed the turkeys.

Another possible explanation is that they used the cliff dwellings more for storage than to live in, mostly still living on the mesa tops. Sheltered under the stone roof, the cliff dwellings were cooler in summer and warmer in winter if they faced the south.

The Cliff Palace contains 217 rooms and 23 circular kivas and is thought to have supported a population of about 200. As large as it is, this site was used for only 75-100 years. The whole Four Corners area was abandoned by 1300 AD and these sites lay vacant for centuries.

Looking closely at the stone work, a variety of styles of masonry are seen. It looks like there was no central direction to the work here, each family adding and remodeling in their own style. This contrasts with the more uniform building styles in the large structures in Chaco Canyon, in northwest New Mexico.

Looking back up toward the trail head area, the forest resources here are Pinon Pines and Utah Juniper trees. The canyons where the cliff dwellings occur are porous sandstone. Water seeping down through the rock loosens the grains and the cave like alcoves form. Only a few alcoves are large enough for a very large structure like Cliff Palace.

On the second stop on the tour, the group gathers around one of the kivas. The traditional interpretation of these circular underground rooms is that they are used for ceremonies. The Kivas seem to usually have a ventilation shaft, unlike most of the rectangular rooms. Around the circle, the columns supported the roof structure which included the entryway. Most kivas seem to have been entered from the top but a few have side entrances. We usually see the kivas without the roofs.

My thought has been that they would be more practical as shelters from the hard winters in this high elevation area. Winters are cold, there can be several feet of snow, and the earth contact insulation would moderate the cold. There are often tunnels connecting the fire warmed and well ventilated rooms with the storage rooms. Most of the alcoves used as living space face the south, taking advantage of the winter sun. There was an experiment going on in one of the kivas. Samples of the mud that could have been used as mortar were being tested.

At the far end of the Cliff Palace, the second level structures are visible. The fine stone work that was used here is also visible. Some of the structures at this end were reconstructed and stabilized by the Park Service.

The four story tower at the far end of the site has some artwork visible on the inside. At the very end of the tour there is an opportunity to lean in the small doorway and glance up. The interior and exterior walls of these structures were often covered with plaster which could be decorated. At most sites, the plaster is the first feature to wear away and we don’t see any decorative work. The climb back to the canyon rim includes two convenient ladders to climb. To the right on the way up are the seemingly treacherous toe and hand holds that the residents used.

Cliff Palace Kivas

Cliff Palace is the largest and most popular of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. From April to November, Cliff Palace can be visited on $3, one hour ranger guided tours.

The guided tours begin at an overlook point. From above, many of the visible rooms are the circular kivas. The current trail guide says that Cliff Palace has 21 large circular, partially underground rooms and 2 kiva-like structures. The usual tour has 3 stops. At the overlook there is an introduction to the site and some safety precautions.

The group then descends to the left side and discusses how the alcove structures fit in with the overall way of life in the region, and the theories of why the alcove structures were built and why they were eventually abandoned. At the final stop, the group gathers around a kiva on the right side and views the interior details. During the busy summers, the tours begin every 30 minutes and the groups are forced to keep moving.

Many of the Cliff Palace kivas are toward the back of the site or are surrounded by square walls and aren’t visible to visitors walking along the front of the site.

The trail guide describes one of the kivas as being at the center of Cliff Palace at the point where walls without doorways divides the site into two parts. This kiva or the partition hasn’t been pointed out on any of the tours I have attended; perhaps it isn’t easy to see at ground level.

Most of the Mesa Verde Kivas show a similar design. There are usually six pillars, or pilasters, to support the roof material. A deflector wall directs the incoming fresh air from the ventilation shaft around the room and away from the fire pit.

About half of the kivas have a small symbolic hole in the floor called the Sipapu. Some kivas have passage ways to other rooms. The usual entrance is through the roof. None of the Cliff Palace kivas has a roof but there are three reconstructed kiva roofs at Spruce Tree House.

Some kivas have a recess on one side giving a keyhole shape. The keyhole shaped kivas at the large Chaco Canyon structures in northwest New Mexico are pointed out as examples of Mesa Verde influence. Kivas are most often interpreted as of ceremonial purpose because current day Pueblo people use them that way. The explanation I like is that they were necessary for winter survival.

We mostly visit these sites in the warm part of the year, not when there are several feet of snow on the ground and temperatures are freezing. The underground arrangement provides insulation and conserves heat. The kivas are the only structures we see with ventilation systems. The recess areas could be for storage of food and fuel during a storm. The passage ways provide a way to get out without exposure to the elements.

Cliff Palace Foundations

The Cliff Palace Trail is one of three ranger guided tours to large ruins sites at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. In 2010, both Cliff Palace and Balcony House opened for the season on April 11. The Cliff Palace Tour lasts for one hour.

The $3 tickets for tours are purchased at the Far View Visitor Center. Cliff Palace is the largest and most famous of the alcove Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites in the United States. The main topics of the tour focus on how why the alcoves were chosen as building sites after centuries of living on the mesa tops, and why they chose to leave after only about 100 years of inhabiting the alcoves.

When you visit these sites several times some of the finer details come into focus. While gathering for the first of three stops on the tour, on the left side of Cliff Palace, a large boulder appears to be built into the complex arrangement of rooms and towers. The ranger points out that the original surface of the alcove was uneven and the floor was leveled with rubble. The floor also seems to include a few of these very large boulders.

Looking closer, the individual stone bricks are fitted very carefully. In 1934, the Park Service was concerned about the stability of this boulder and installed 70 tons of steel and concrete to stabilize the rock. Seventy tons would be about 34 cubic yards or about 4 modern loads of concrete in the large mixer trucks. The current trail down from the canyon rim is narrow and has many twists and steps.

The task of getting that much material to the site seems difficult, but then it is small compared to what was accomplished 800 years ago when the site was originally under construction. When the park service started work, they found that some ancient masonry was already installed under the unstable boulder, indicating that the Ancestral Pueblo engineers were aware of the danger.

There are several advantages of alcove living including better shelter, conservation of fuel, and security of food supplies. One of the disadvantages is that rock slabs will fall from the ceiling. At Cliff Palace and the other main Mesa Verde sites, the fallen rubble has been cleaned up.

At nearby Ute Mountain Tribal Park and the many wild sites in the region, large slabs of sandstone are part of the scene. The Ranger mentioned that among the artifacts found at the Mesa Verde sites are prayer sticks, inserted in the developing cracks. One might think that the prayer sticks were inserted as an appeal to the spirits to secure the cracks, but the Ranger made it sound like they were also a warning device. While enjoying the day on the plaza, if a prayer stick suddenly hit the floor, don’t look up, dive for cover.

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.