Welcome to Travel Tuesday! We’re still at Mesa Verde National Park this week, but will be exploring a different cliff dwelling — Cliff Palace!
Cliff Palace Tour in Mesa Verde National Park
Address/Location: Cliff Palace, Cliff Palace Loop, Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330
Admission: $7
Cliff Palace is one of 3 cliff dwellings that can only be explored by a ranger-led tour (the other two being Balcony House + Long House). Tickets can be purchased at the Mesa Verde National Park Visitor + Research Center. You can view the schedule here and purchase tickets here!
The tour itself is one hour long and starts off at the Cliff Palace Overlook (~1 hour drive from the Visitor + Research Center, so plan accordingly!).
With 150 rooms and 23 kivas, it’s the largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde, and is constructed mostly out of sandstone, mortar, and wooden beams (can you imagine carving that out off the edge of a cliff?!). They estimate that the population living here was ~100.
During the tour, our guide told us about the history of the cliff dwellings and the Ancestral Puebloans who used to live there. They still don’t have a definitive answer for why everyone left one day, but it’s amazing how well-preserved the structures are! They estimate that it was constructed somewhere in the timespan of 1190-1260 CE, but it was abandoned by 1300.
The total distance covered/walked is only about 0.25 miles (round trip), but it does involve some climbing (8-10 foot ladders).
Cliff Palace and Balcony House were the only tours we managed to go on since our time here was limited to a day, but there are other guided tours that you can check out over here!
- Have you ever explored a cave dwelling?
- Do you like learning about history?
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These photos look absolutely amazing! I would love to visit!
Thank you! It was really fun to explore! :]
Oh such a cool place! I’ve never been to a cave dwelling
They’re awesome to explore! :] + especially great if you’re interested in history!
wow the details of these structures are amazing!
Right?! I was in awe! :O
This is so neat! I had no idea it was so affordable at only $7 either. Thanks for sharing!
I loved that it was so affordable too! :]
So cool! I had no idea this place was out there!
I didn’t either until I was researching places to visit for my road trip! :P
So cool! It’s incredible to think about how old that is. Amazing that it still exists. I wish we could know the full story about the people who lived there and left. One of life’s mysteries I guess!
I’d love to visit. Thank you for sharing!
Agreed! I guess we’ll never know for sure but it’s interesting to think about and I love that we can still visit! :] THanks for stopping by! <3
My husband and I visited Mesa Verde National Park in September 1981. I don’t remember which cliff dwellings we toured – it’s been a few years. ;-) It’s so hard to pick a favorite National Park, but MV is definitely one of my favorites. Other favorites are Yosemite, Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Arches, and Zion. We’re hoping to visit Acadia in the fall and I’d love to see Glacier one day.
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haha, totally understandable! I went just last summer and still had to check just to make sure I remembered the names correctly!
Yellowstone/Glacier/Acadia are all on my travel bucket list!! *-*