Far View Sites - Village Life on the Mesa Top

Photo: Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)

A stop on Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings, a free self-guided tour.

Before anyone built in the cliffs, the mesa top was farm country, and this was one of its busiest neighborhoods. A level three-quarter-mile trail through the woods links several villages: Far View House, a stone pueblo with a kiva at its heart, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Megalithic House, a small tower, and a big stone-lined basin long nicknamed Mummy Lake.

Farmers here grew corn, beans and squash without irrigation canals as you might picture them. They planted where soil was deep, built small check dams across drainages to catch soil and runoff, and stored water when they could. Trailside signs walk you through daily life from about 700 to 1300 CE.

Watch for low wall stubs and shallow round depressions in the ground. Each depression is a kiva, a round underground room used for ceremonies and gatherings.

In the fall of 2026 the Far View access road was closed for construction, so check nps.gov/meve before turning in.

Getting here: Continue about 5 miles south on the main road; just past the Far View area, follow signs left to the Far View Sites parking lot.

Did you know?: For decades people argued over whether Mummy Lake held water or served as a ceremonial plaza; the park now calls it Far View Reservoir.

Photo op: Stand on the trail beside Far View House and frame its kiva with the open mesa beyond.

Nearby: No facilities at the sites. The Far View area nearby has a lodge and seasonal food service; check what is open.

More on Wikipedia: Mesa Verde National Park · Kiva · Ancestral Puebloans

Far View Sites - Village Life on the Mesa Top

Stops on this tour