Mesa Verde - Square Tower House

Date Added: 18th Jul 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: This is a cliff dwelling from the Ancestral Pueblo 3 period featuring the tallest tower structure still standing in the park. There are two ways to see the cliff dwelling. Remotely, from an overlook at the canyon rim. Or much closer, via periodically scheduled ranger-led hikes into the cliff dwelling complex itself. I opted for the overlook view, as they were just starting the guided tours (around the end of the first week in May in 2025).

Parking at the trailhead is available about 1/2 mile south of the Pithouse stop on the Mesa Top Loop road. The paved trail to the overlook is about 600 ft long and provides a nice view of the complex.

Mesa Verde - Pithouse

Date Added: 18th Jul 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is the first stop on the Mesa Top Loop, a one-way driving loop featuring actual excavated sites with interpretation that cover Basketmaker 3 through Pueblo 3 cultural periods.

The Pithouse stop is about a mile south of Chapin Museum and Spruce Tree House overlook. The actual pithouse is less than 100 ft south of the parking pulloff under a shelter, accessible via a paved foot path.

Mesa Verde - Cedar Tree Tower

Date Added: 14th Jul 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This site is at the end of a paved side road heading east from the main park road. The side road is approximately 5 miles south of the Far View Community site and a 1/2 mile north of the Spruce Tree House overlook and Chapin Mesa Museum.

The side road leads in about 1/2 mile to a dead end loop with on-street parking. The tower and kiva are located right next to the parking loop.

Mesa Verde - Spruce Tree House

Date Added: 13th Jul 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Visited in May 2025. Unfortunately, this cliff dwelling from the Pueblo 3 period, probably the best preserved of all the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, has been closed to visitation since 2015. A portion of the alcove overhang collapsed, creating a serious safety issue, and forcing the closure ever since. There have been ongoing efforts to determine how to best stabilize the site for future visitation.

Meanwhile an overlook behind the Chapin Museum provides excellent views and interpretation of the cliff dwelling. The area is still well worth a visit. The short 100-200 yd path to the overlook is paved and I believe is wheel chair accessible.

Mesa Verde - Far View Tower

Date Added: 13th Jul 2025
Site Type: Ancient Temple Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is likely another small Ancestral Pueblo village site in the Far View Community consisting of multiple room blocks and kivas. After the initial construction and occupation, a tower was later built over one of the original kivas.

Access is via a 100-200 yd flat foot path that heads north from the loop road near Far View House. On-street parking is available on the Far View loop road.

Mesa Verde - Megalithic House

Date Added: 12th Jul 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: This site is sbout 100-200 meters north of Far View Reservoir via a flat walking trail. It is a partially restored classic unit pueblo, probably occupied by a small family or clan, and consisting of 8 or 9 rooms plus a well-preserved kiva cut into bedrock.

The site is sheltered under a metal roof and includes interpretation.

Mesa Verde - Mummy Lake

Date Added: 12th Jul 2025
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: This site is part of the Far View community of Ancestral Pueblo sites in Mesa Verde National Park. The structure, a large depression with earthen embankments reinforced by stone revetments in some parts, was originally thought to be a manmade water collection and reservoir area, likely built in the Pueblo 2 period. There is a ditch leading out the south side of the structure. It is in fact now called Far View Reservoir, rather than its original name of Mummy Lake.

However, this interpretation has been called into question and the purpose of the structure remains controversial.

It is accessible via a 1/4 to 1/2 mile flat walking trail north about midway down the access road to Far View House. Parking is available on the side of the road or at the dead end near Far View House.

Mesa Verde - Coyote Village

Date Added: 24th Jun 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: My favorite of the Far View community sites, as public access is allowed in the interior of the village site, so the kivas and room blocks can be examined at very close range (in contrast to Far View House, at least in May 2025). It's in good to excellent condition and was excavated in the late 1960's - much more recently than many of the structures in Far View.

Access is via an easy 800-1000 ft trail that departs SW from the parking loop rd near Far View House.

Mesa Verde - Pipe Shrine House

Date Added: 22nd Jun 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Pipe Shrine House is an Ancestral Pueblo village built just 100 yds south of the Far View great house and consists of approximately 20 room blocks, a large interior kiva, and what appears to be a circular room next to the kiva that may have been a tower. The village was built and modified between 900 and 1300 CE, so it spans the Pueblo 2 and 3 periods. There is some debate as to whether this site was purely ceremonial or served as a homestead for villagers farming the mesa top. (or both!). More in Comments section.

To get there, see the visit log for Far View House as the directions are the same. Pipe Shrine House is but a 100 yd walk south from the great house. The interior of the room block site is off limits to visitation; however, the surrounding area is at enough of an elevation that you can get a good sense of the overall architecture. The kiva however is difficult to see well given the access restrictions in May of 2025.

Mesa Verde - Far View House

Date Added: 22nd Jun 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This is a Chacoan style great house from the Pueblo 2 period (950 -1150 CE). Like most great houses, it served as a community center for ritual and social activities. It also possibly was used as a central storage point for harvested produce.

The people lived in room blocks in small villages dispersed around the great house. There were at least 50 villages in Far View, of which a handful have been excavated and restored and can be visited today.

To visit the Far View great house and village structures, drive approximately 2 miles south of Far View Terrace Cafe on the main park road and turn left onto a side road. Oddly for such a major site it is not well marked. The side road ends in a loop. Parking is limited to wherever you can pull off the road in various pullouts. There's no real parking lot !

The great house is steps away from the dead end loop.

Unfortunately, when I was there, the great house had a number of tarps strewn over parts of it and it looked like they were doing some restoration or maintenance. Most of the inside was roped off and closed to visitation. I don't know if this is always the case. But it was difficult to take any photos other than of the outside walls. A raised observation platform would have been helpful.

Spirit Cave Ruins

Date Added: 19th Jun 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 2

Log Text: As is the case with Five Kiva Ruin nearby, you can either view the site from an overlook or take a roundabout "trail" around the lip of the top of the canyon and scramble down some ledges to the canyon floor. The ruins are a short walk from and at the same level as the canyon floor.

To get to the parking area from Blanding, head south on US-191 for 4 miles and turn west onto UT-95 toward Natural Bridges National Monument. From the US-191/UT-95 intersection, aka Shirttail Junction, measure 1.7 miles and turn right onto unpaved San Juan County Road 288 aka Warren Allen Rd. This road may not be marked with a sign!

Continue on CR 288 for 0.4 miles and turn right at the first road junction. From here the road gets a little rougher. Careful drivers in passenger vehicles might have little or no trouble but if in doubt there is a parking pulloff to the left at this intersection. Drive (or walk) another 0.3 mile to a large cleared area on the right. Park here. The coordinates for this spot are 37.58524, -109.51625.

Walk down the hill east to a big semicircular ledge. The alcove containing the ruins is under this bench. To view it remotely, simply walk to the right along the lip of the canyon about 100-200 yds and the ruins will come into view down inside the alcove on the left.

I chose to hike to the canyon floor and access the alcove and ruins at close range. There is no official trail to the canyon floor but a network of social paths that I would call easy to moderate. Walk to the left about 200-300 yds and follow the canyon lip around to the east. Take the easiest way down that you can find. There may be a small amount of scrambling needed around rocks but it is a very short descent to the bottom. At the canyon bottom, turn right and head west about 200 yds towards the alcove and the ruins.

Five Kiva Pueblo Ruins

Date Added: 19th Jun 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 2

Log Text: The site can be viewed remotely with binoculars or photo zoom from an overlook on the mesa top via a short path from the trail head. A number of web sites say that you can also hike an "easy" trail from this point down into the canyon floor and west up the other side to the alcove to get very close to the ruins. However if there was a single trail, it wasn't obvious to me. It was more of a steep scramble network of paths around boulders and ledges that I would rate as moderately difficult except maybe for a youngster ! In any case I didn't have the time and opted to stay at the overlook.

To get to the trail head from Blanding, take Route 191 from its junction with E 500 St south and take a right onto Ruins Rd. Follow Ruins Rd 1.7 miles to its unpaved dead end. There is a metal sign for the trailhead on the right with some rock steps and a pipe railing. The overlook is approximately 100 ft down the ledge.

Edge of the Cedars State Park and Museum

Date Added: 10th Jun 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This site is a combination museum and partially excavated Ancestral Pueblo Great House. It has been designated Edge of the Cedars State Park. The museum and grounds have outstanding displays describing the prehistory of not only southeastern Utah but the surrounding regions. Excavated artifacts, especially pottery and ceramics, are a standout feature of the facility.

I believe the museum has access for disabled visitors. The excavated great house is in the rear of the building. The major structures are connected by paved pathways and excellent interpretation. It also features a small kiva that you can climb into and that has been restored to nearly original condition.

The site is in Blanding UT. To get there from Route 191 which goes through the city center, drive west on West Center St for about 0.5 mile. Turn right onto N 600 W St. In 0.4 mile, turn left onto W 400 N St. In 200 ft, turn right. The museum is another 200 ft on the left.

Shay Canyon Rock Art

Date Added: 8th Jun 2025
Site Type: Rock Art Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 2

Log Text: This and Sego Canyon were probably my favorite rock art sites on this trip, offering the best combination of variety and close access to petroglyphs, once you hike to the site itself.

To get there, drive south for 40 miles from Moab or north 14 miles from Monticello on Route 191 and then head west on Route 211. Newspaper Rock is at the 12 mile mark where there are restrooms. From there, continue on Route 211 for another 1.9 miles to a small pulloff on the left. Park there.

The trail starts at the south end of the parking area and descends steeply to Indian Creek. The creek is quite small, but there is no bridge so you may have to walk upriver or down slightly to find a narrow enough point to get across via stepping stones.

Once across head down the dry wash area towards the canyon. In 200 ft there are trails off the the right that lead somewhat steeple to the cliff base where it comes to a point. The panels start there. Most of them are to the left and extend about 0.25 miles. There are one or two to the right.

The entire trail including the scramble along the cliff base is about 1 mile round trip. I say scramble because the path along the panels although mostly flat is quite rocky in places and requires good balance on the slight up and down sections.

Roadside Ruin

Date Added: 6th Jun 2025
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a rather remote Pueblo 3 site but the road is paved all the way to the trailhead. To get there, drive south from Moab about 40 miles on Route 191 or north 14 miles from Monticello. Then turn west on Route 211 for another 35 miles to the Canyonlands National Park Needles District visitor center. The trailhead is less than a mile past the visitor center on the left. The trail is an easy flat loop to the granary. About 200-300 yds one way.

One plus of driving Route 211 to the site is access to the many petroglyph sites along Indian Creek plus Newspaper Rock. Not to mention beautiful scenery.

Sego Canyon Rock Art

Date Added: 5th Jun 2025
Site Type: Rock Art Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: A major prehistoric pictograph and petroglyph site with rock art ranging from Archaic to modern periods. The site is located in Thomspon Springs UT about 45 miles north of Moab UT. The route is 100% paved roads.

To get there, take Route 191 north from Moab for about 30-35 miles to Interstate Route I-70. Drive on I-70 east and take the first exit north to Thompson Springs. Continue on Thompson Canyon Rd for about 6 miles. There will be a parking lot on the left with signage and a restroom. There is a short trail from parking to the first set of panels.

Moab Golf Course Rock Art Site

Date Added: 5th Jun 2025
Site Type: Rock Art Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: This is a small Ancestral Pueblo/Fremont rock art panel on a cliff face across the street from a golf course in suburban Moab UT. Its main virtue is nearly drive-up access - the panels are just steps away from the dirt parking area behind a wooden fence.

To get there, take Route 191 south from Moab city center for about 3 miles. Take a left onto East Spanish Trail Rd and drive a mile or so to a traffic circle (roundabout). Continue around the traffic circle straight onto Westwater Rd. Continue on Westwater for about 0.75 miles. The site is at a sandstone cliff wall on the left with parking available next to the fence.

Courthouse Wash Rock Art

Date Added: 5th Jun 2025
Site Type: Rock Art Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 2

Log Text: An Archaic period pictograph rock art site with other more recent petroglyphs nearby. The biggest challenge is finding the site, as it is way up on a cliff face that overlooks the confluence of Courthouse Wash and the Colorado River and the "trail" to it is rather indistinct once you get up on the slope. The entire hike is 1.2 miles round trip from the parking lot. I recommend you bring binoculars (see below).

The paved parking area is right off of Route 191 about 0.6 miles north of the Colorado River bridge just north of Moab. This provides access to a paved bike and walking path. Follow this path east and cross the bridge over Courthouse Wash. Immediately after the bridge, take the dirt path north for about 200 yds downhill until you see an easy-to-miss sign for the Courthouse Panel. Take a right onto this fork and follow it uphill to the east for a few hundred yards. Eventually you will see a tilted NPS signboard on a stand. Stop here, face north and uphill towards the cliff base, and scan the vertical face with binoculars. You should eventually spot the pictograph panel, but be advised that it is very faded and small.

That is your destination, assuming you decide to go farther. There is no trail per se to reach it other than some random paint splotches on the ledges, so you'll pretty much have to find your own route. There are some boulders to scramble around and sloped ledges to climb for about 200 to 300 yds before reaching the panel. A very rough coordinate for the panel itself is 38.6072, -109.58124.

Moonflower Petroglyphs

Date Added: 3rd Jun 2025
Site Type: Rock Art Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: This is one of the most easily accessible rock art sites in Moab. The unpaved parking lot serves both a campground and a day use area right next to the rock art panel. You can likely view the panel from inside a vehicle and disabled access shouldn't be a problem. The panel is literally right next to parking and a very short walk.

Unfortunately easy access usually means significant vandalism and graffiti and this site is no exception, as some seem to feel the need to add their tagline to the panel. The least abused of the panels is right next to a huge crack in the canyon wall that kids often climb up. As you go to the right, the damage increases exponentially.

To get there, take Kane Creek Blvd west from the McDonalds on Rte 191 approximately 3 miles to the site on the left. It is signposted.

False Kiva Rock Art

Date Added: 2nd Jun 2025
Site Type: Rock Art Country: United States (The Southwest)
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2025. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 2

Log Text: This site is a 1/4 mile one way hike up a rocky slope to the base of a cliff, with no more than 100 ft vertical gain.

The trail to False Kiva starts across the street from a large dirt parking lot variously known as the Amasa Back Trailhead, Hymasa Trailhead, or Capt Ahab area. The trailhead is unmarked and the trail often indistinct as it winds up the slope. See the Street View in comments for a photo of the route. Frankly it was easier just to pick my way around the rocks on the way up rather than try to find the specific trail. Your objective is the spot where the tallest cliff juts out to a point on the right. That is the location of False Kiva and petroglyphs.

To get to the Amasa Back Trailhead lot, follow Kane Creek/Kane Springs Blvd west out of Moab Center west and then southwest for about 5 miles total. For much of the way, you will be on the south side of the Colorado River, but eventually the road will turn to dirt and deviate southeast away from the river and then veer sharply southwest again. Amasa Back Trail lot is a large dirt parking area shortly after the southwest turn. The lot coordinates are 38.52829, -109.59634.