Spruce Tree House - Life in an Alcove

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.

From the overlooks behind the museum, look across the canyon into one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings anywhere. Spruce Tree House holds about 130 rooms and 8 kivas, built between about 1211 and 1278 CE.

Why build under a cliff? Rain and snowmelt soak down through the sandstone until they hit a layer of shale they cannot pass. The water seeps out sideways, and freezing and thawing slowly pry the rock loose, carving a shallow cave. That shelter kept off rain and snow, and many alcoves face south to catch low winter sun.

Families lived in small rooms and did most of their work on the open plazas, which are really the roofs of kivas. Fields were up on the mesa top, reached by handholds pecked into the rock.

Spruce Tree House has been closed to visitors since 2015 because of rockfall from the alcove arch, and the park is working to stabilize it.

Getting here: Walk out the back of the museum to the signed overlooks; no driving needed.

Did you know?: The dwelling is named for a tall tree that once grew in front of it; the tree was actually a Douglas fir, not a spruce.

Photo op: Use the overlook rail to frame the whole alcove; midday light reaches deepest inside.

Nearby: Restrooms and water at the museum area a few steps away.

More on Wikipedia: Cliff dwelling · Kiva · Mesa Verde National Park

Spruce Tree House - Life in an Alcove

Stops on this tour