Last updated: January 12, 2024
Place
Cliff Palace Overlook
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Cliff Palace Loop Road
Amenities
13 listed
Benches/Seating, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Parking - Bus/RV, Picnic Table, Recycling, Restroom, Restroom - Accessible, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Toilet - Vault/Composting, Trash/Litter Receptacles, Water - Bottle-Filling Station, Water - Drinking/Potable
Cliff Palace Overlook and Cliff Palace Loop Road are open 8 am to sunset from late spring to December 1, or until the first significant snowfall.
With at least 150 rooms and 21 kivas, Cliff Palace is an exceptionally large cliff dwelling. It was surrounded by a vibrant, active community. Because of the large kiva to room ratio, some scholars suggest Cliff Palace was an important gathering place, perhaps an administrative center with ceremonial use for many Ancestral Pueblo villages. The people who lived in the area were familiar with dozens of footpaths that led from village to village and to storage structures, farming areas, water sources, and public buildings, such as Cliff Palace.
Recent studies reveal that Cliff Palace contained 150 rooms and 21 kivas and had a population of approximately 100 people. Out of the nearly 600 cliff dwellings concentrated within the boundaries of the park, 75% contain only 1-5 rooms each, and many are single room storage units.
Cliff Palace can also be seen from the Sun Point View and Sun Temple stops along the Mesa Top Loop Road, which is open all year.
With at least 150 rooms and 21 kivas, Cliff Palace is an exceptionally large cliff dwelling. It was surrounded by a vibrant, active community. Because of the large kiva to room ratio, some scholars suggest Cliff Palace was an important gathering place, perhaps an administrative center with ceremonial use for many Ancestral Pueblo villages. The people who lived in the area were familiar with dozens of footpaths that led from village to village and to storage structures, farming areas, water sources, and public buildings, such as Cliff Palace.
Recent studies reveal that Cliff Palace contained 150 rooms and 21 kivas and had a population of approximately 100 people. Out of the nearly 600 cliff dwellings concentrated within the boundaries of the park, 75% contain only 1-5 rooms each, and many are single room storage units.
Cliff Palace can also be seen from the Sun Point View and Sun Temple stops along the Mesa Top Loop Road, which is open all year.