Photos

This is a portion of Balcony House in Mesa Verde National Park. Balcony House is so named because of the unique ledges, or balconies, on each level of several of the structures. It is accessible by a short, steeply declining trail, several flights of stairs, and a 32-foot ladder. A cool experience overall.

Mesa Verde National Park contains ruins of over 600 cliff dwellings and over 4,000 mesa-top dwellings, all built by the people known as Ancestral Puebloans or Anasazi. The cliff dwellings, the most famous portions of the park, were built largely in the 13th century A.D., and accomodated anywhere from a handful of people to over 150. Most Ancestral Puebloans lived on the mesa top, where they farmed the land. The Ancestral Puebloan people left abruptly shortly before the 14th century A.D., possibly because of overpopulation, prolonged drought, and a decline in farmland yields. Their descendants include the Pueblo and Hopi peoples of New Mexico and Arizona.

I thought this was an interesting view of one of the houses, with the three windows all together. I would highly recommend Mesa Verde to anyone. Several of the cliff dwellings are very accessible, with very informative ranger-guided tours. Definitely a must if you are in southwestern Colorado.