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Balcony House Parking Area
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Colorado
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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…
Millset (Snow)
~35 min drive
6.7 mi · Hard
Dolph Kuss
~35 min drive
3.1 mi · Moderate
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…
Cliff Palace View
~1 min drive
<p>Cliff Palace is North America’s largest cliff dwelling, with 150 rooms and 21 kivas. Cliff Palace was an important community center. It may have been an administrative site, an important place of business and cultural exchange, or simply a large village. It stands now as a…
Mcphee Overlook
~38 min drive
17 mi · Hard
Dolph Kuss Loop (Snow)
~36 min drive
3.1 mi · Moderate
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…
Far View Community Sites
~10 min drive
<p>The Far View area was once an extensive farming community and one of the most densely populated regions of the Mesa Verde. This mesa top community includes Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir (currently dry), Megalithic House, and Far View…
