Main Pueblo Loop Trail Stop 12

inside of a stone room with wooden beams in the ceiling
Talus House is a reconstruction to provide an idea of what homes along the cliffs would have looked like.

Photo by Sally King

This is Talus House, reconstructed in 1920 to show the structures that would have been found in front of many of the cavates when the Ancestral Pueblo people were still occupying the canyon. For many years park staff believed the reconstruction was inaccurate due to what appears to be doorways in the front of each room block. However, in recent years, when Talus House received some much-needed TLC to its eroding roof, we discovered that the original rebuilds did indeed include doorways in the roofs that at some point were covered over during past maintenance. Having an opening or doorway in the roof undoubtedly added to the difficulty of keeping the structure intact and reminds us of the constant maintenance that would have been done regularly when these building were inhabited. What appeared to be doorways in the front were actually included to allow visitors a view inside the structures.

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Last updated: May 7, 2022

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Los Alamos, NM 87544

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