Square Tower House - The Tallest Walls

Photo: KimonBerlin, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)

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

Follow the short paved trail to the overlook and look down into Navajo Canyon. Square Tower House holds the tallest standing structure in the park: a four-story tower that once reached all the way to the alcove ceiling.

The tower was not a lookout standing alone. It was part of a tightly packed village of dozens of rooms and several kivas, built in the 1200s and stacked to fit the curve of the cave. Many upper rooms were probably for storing corn and beans, kept dry and away from rodents.

Scan the cliff face around it. Shallow handholds and toeholds pecked into the sandstone were the daily route between the alcove and the fields on the mesa top, often with a load of food or water.

The park sometimes offers small, ticketed ranger tours into Square Tower House with two 16-foot ladders. From here, a good pair of binoculars shows a remarkable amount of detail for free.

Getting here: Continue a short way on the Mesa Top Loop to the Square Tower House parking area on the right.

Did you know?: Archaeologists use the growth rings in roof beams to date many Mesa Verde rooms to the exact year a tree was cut.

Photo op: From the overlook, frame the tower against the dark alcove with a zoom lens.

Nearby: None; keep children close at the railing.

More on Wikipedia: Mesa Verde National Park · Cliff dwelling

Square Tower House - The Tallest Walls

Stops on this tour