May 6-11, 2026
It was only a two hour drive from Moab, UT to Mancos, CO. Mancos is considered the gateway to Mesa Verde National Park. I set up camp at Mesa Verde RV Resort, visited the town of Mancos (very small) and relaxed at the campground.
Mesa Verde National Park
I stopped at the visitor center for suggested hikes and things to do. There are two Mesas in the park with a scenic drive and cliff dwellings. Unfortunately one of the Mesas stays closed until May 22. So I was restricted to the Chapin Mesa. The Chapin Mesa has two cliff dwellings that offer ranger guided tours, a museum, lunch cafe, several hikes, and two driving loops. One driving loop is Mesa Top loop and the other is Cliff Palace loop.
It is a 20+ mile drive from the park entrance to museum and loop drives. I set off for the museum and then had about 2 hours before lunch so I hiked the Petroglyph Point Trail. One of the first things you see is Spruce House – my first cliff dwelling. This dwelling is closed but there are signs that tours were at one time offered.
Spruce House
Petroglyph Point Trail
This is 2.4 mile loop that was not really strenuous but had challenging spots.
There was also the remains of a cliff dwelling along the way.
And then you reach the Petroglyph Point.
Cliff Palace Loop
I’m presenting these pictures in the order that I saw them but as I learned through the drives the indigenous people that lived hear started building “homes” in 500-600 AD. Side comment – most, but not all, of the signage in the park uses CE instead of AD. CE stands for Common Era and is considered more inclusive. But the first homes, called Pit Houses were built on top of the Mesas and the move to the cliff dwelling started around 1200 CE. The Pit Houses are on the Mesa Loop drive; I guess I should have driven that one first.
The picture below was taken on the Cliff Palace Loop but it is not the Cliff Palace.
Cliff Palace Overlook
The Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. I will be touring it the next day.
Hemenway House
Square Tower House
Balcony House
The last cliff house along the loop is Balcony House but the overlook requires a ~ 1 mile hike and the trail head parking was full. I will be touring the Balcony House after the Cliff Palace.
Mesa Top Loop
This is the Mesa that has the “Pit Houses”. These are not nearly as dramatic as the cliff dwellings, most of the structures are no longer there, so I didn’t take as many pictures.
The best part of this picture is the timeline on the bottom –
550 CE Semi Nomadic
550 CE Pit Houses
750 CE Single-story villages
1100 CE Multi-story villages
1200 CE Cliff dwellings and large mesa top villages
1300 CE Migration
Cliff Palace Guided Tour
I was able to book a ranger guided tour of Cliff Palace. The tour had about 50 people and cost $8.00 – the website suggests that during the busy season the tours fill up very quickly and you need to book as early as possible. I was able to book the day before.
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America with over 100 rooms and 7 Kivas. The rooms are believed to have been for storage (most like grains and water) while the Kivas were the living spaces. The Kivas are the round pits (similar to pit houses) and would have had a roof when in use.
Here you see the tour group before mine leaving.
Here is one of the Kivas.
The hole in the center was the fire pit. Behind the fire pit is a deflector and behind the deflector is the “chimney”. Imagine this pit with a roof and a hole in the middle of the roof. The hole would have a ladder for entry. As the fire heated the room and deflector cold outside air was drawn down the chimney and hit the deflector creating a kind of vortex that would move the smoke out the hole int the roof.
Entering the palace tour was via a stair case; exiting was via this ladder.
Soda Canyon Overlook
The Balcony House can only be seen from the opposite side of the soda canyon. I booked a ranger guided tour of Balcony House for the next day but I wanted to see the cliff dwelling from the mesa top. This trail allows you to do that.
That’s the dwelling I’ll see tomorrow – no idea how the group is going to get there.
Park Point
No dwellings here just a nice view.
Balcony House Guided Tour
The second ranger led guided tour I too was Balcony House. These are the only two guided tours available in early May. After May 22 a second Mesa opens and there are several more cliff dwelling with guided tours available on that Mesa.
T get to Balcony house first you go down a standard metal staircase and then up this ladder.
And then through some rather tight passages.
And then you’re in the dwelling. This is kind of cool because at Cliff Palace you never felt like you were “in” the dwelling.
Balcony House is much smaller that Cliff Palace with only 38 rooms and 2 Kivas.
Getting out was interesting too. First some narrow passeges.
And a tunnel.
And then a chain reminiscent of Angel’s Landing.
And you’re out.
Spruce Canyon Trail
It was still early so I hiked the Spruce Canyon Trail. No dwellings just a hike into and out off the canyon.
Canyons of the Ancients
My last day in the area I hiked the Sand Canyon loop in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. It’s a 3+ mile hike that takes you past a few cliff dwellings. These dwellings are about 20 miles from the dwellings in the National Park
The first dwelling was marked on the trail as the “Castle Rock Pueblo”.
Interesting formations along the trail.
The next dwelling was marked as the “Saddlehorn Pueblo”.
More scenery.
And then several dwellings with no information along the trail, no name structures.
The next day I moved on.