This park is unique amongst the other parks in that it is a celebration of human history. It is one of the few in the NPS that is primarily set aside for the preservation of active archeological sites. Of the 4,700 archeological sites found at Mesa Verde (Green Table) about 600 are cliff dwellings. These structures range from one-room houses to massive 150-room villages, like Cliff Palace.

About 1,400 years ago Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the region that has become Mesa Verde NP, farming and hunting on the mesa tops. Over time they moved from small communities of pit-houses on top the mesa to cliff dwellings in alcoves beneath its rim. Much can be inferred from the tools, basketry, pottery, and ruins left behind by this ancient culture, but little is certain about why they built such large structures in the canyon walls or why they abandoned them in the late 1200s.

The largest is Cliff Palace – thought to be a community center where people in surround homes gathered here for celebration & ceremony.

Spruce Tree House was closed due to reconstruction & renovation efforts –

Balcony House – this one was our favorite, although not for the faint of heart, since you have to climb a 30 ft ladder.

We finished our day enjoying a few short hikes –