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Balcony House Parking Area
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Colorado
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Inside Mesa Verde National Park
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Why you'll love it
Balcony House Parking Area
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The Balcony House Parking Area and Cliff Palace Loop Road are open 8 am to sunset from late spring to December 1, or until the first significant snowfall. Soda Canyon is visible from the Balcony House Parking Area, but surprisingly, Balcony House is not. Why? Because it is perched out of sight, in a cliff alcove below. During tour season, ranger-guided tours of Balcony House begin at this location. The overlook features two wayside exhibits: one shows photos of the cliff dwelling and the tour route and another has a tactile display of the structure. Balcony House is almost hidden in the side of a steep cliff. Archeologists count 38 rooms and two kivas in the cliff dwelling. Although the site feels isolated and remote, it is part of a much larger community. Eleven small sites have been counted in the immediate vicinity and many larger ones are within easy walking distance. Hike the Soda Canyon Overlook Trail to get a view of Balcony House tucked into the canyon wall.
House of Many Windows Overlook
~1 min drive
<em>House of Many Windows Overlook and Cliff Palace Loop Road are open 8 am to s</em><em>unset from late spring to December 1, or until the first significant snowfall.</em><br /> <br /> House of Many Windows is a small cliff dwelling perched on a ten-foot-wide ledge in Cliff C…
Cliff Canyon Overlook
~1 min drive
<em>Cliff Canyon Overlook and Cliff Palace Loop Road are open 8 am to sunset from late spring to December 1, or until the first significant snowfall.</em><br /> <br /> The Cliff Canyon Overlook opens up to a stunning view of Cliff Canyon. In the 1200s, Cliff Canyon was a thriv…
Soda Canyon Overlook Trail
~1 min drive
<p><em>Soda Canyon Overlook Trail and Cliff Palace Loop Road are open 8 am to sunset from late spring to December 1, or until the first significant snowfall.</em><br /> <br /> This easy, out-and-back trail meanders through the mesa top pinyon-juniper forest to three overlooks…
Hemenway House Overlook
~1 min drive
<em>Hemenway House Overlook and Cliff Palace Loop Road are open 8 am</em> <em>to s</em><em>unset from late spring to December 1, or until the first significant snowfall.</em><br /> <br /> Perched on a remote cliff in Soda Canyon, Hemenway House looks to fall off the small ledg…
Square Tower House
~3 min drive
Here, you see one of their most spectacular architectural achievements, built six centuries later.<br /> <br /> This cliff dwelling includes the tallest standing architecture in Mesa Verde, a four-story, 27-foot (8 m) tall structure that was part of an even larger building com…
Spruce Canyon Trail
~3 min drive
<p>The Spruce Canyon Trail offers an opportunity to explore the canyon bottoms of Mesa Verde and discover the plants and wildlife that live in this habitat. Parts of this canyon trail offers the shade of Douglas Fir trees and the coolness and humidity of a natural wetland area…
Farming Terrace Trail
~5 min drive
<p>This short, moderate trail winds along a series of farming terraces built by the Ancestral Pueblo people. Constructing check dams in a natural drainage to create farming terraces was a useful dryland farming technique. Soil and moisture collected behind the check dams durin…
Prater Ridge Trail
~16 min drive
<p>The trail traverses Prater Ridge which divides Prater and Morefield Canyons. The South Loop offers views into Prater Canyon, named for an early pioneer family. The North Loop ascends for views into Montezuma Valley and the beautiful San Juan Mountains.</p> <h4>Trail Descrip…
Knife Edge Trail
~17 min drive
<p>Named after the historic Knife Edge Road which was known for it's scenic value, this trail follows the old roadway and leads to a viewpoint that affords excellent views across Montezuma Valley.</p> <p>A traveler in 1892 once described a trail on this ridge as the Crinkly Ed…
Point Lookout Trail
~18 min drive
<p>The Point Lookout Trail climbs up the iconic Point Lookout, the geological formation that towers above the park entrance. The trail offers views of the San Juan and La Plata Mountains, as well as Mancos and Montezuma Valleys.</p> <h4>Trail Description</h4> <p>The 2.2-mile (…
