Cliff Palace Overlook Trail
The Cliff Palace Overlook Trail at Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado is an easy 0.2-mile out-and-back trail that leads to stunning views of the ancient Puebloan cliff dwellings known as the Cliff Palace.Walk
This short walk begins along a paved universally-accessible pathway that leads out toward the edge of Cliff Canyon. Just a couple-hundred feet into the trail from the parking lot sits a staircase that leads down, approximately 20-feet, to reach a viewing platform on the edge of the canyon. To the west, visitors will find views of the western canyon edge with additional cliff dwellings tucked away in an alcove. To the southeast, however, lies the breathtaking multi-story village from ~1200 CE called the Cliff Palace. 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 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. Cliff Palace, below, is a reflective reminder of a people who settled among these cliffs, canyons, and mesa tops for over 700 years. Throughout this time, they passed their skills, traditions, artistry, and knowledge from generation to generation, forming the foundations of modern Pueblo culture. By 1300, they had migrated further south and east to establish new communities. Today, through elaborate oral histories, their descendants trace their ancestry back to the Four Corners region. Many periodically return to honor their past, their ancestors, and their ancestral homeland.
Universal Access
This trail follows a paved and semf-universally-accessible pathway as of June 2024. Note that in order to take-in the best views of the Cliff Palace from the trail, you must descend a staircase to the lower platform. There may be some views of the Cliff Palace from the just before the stairs, however the entire trail is not fully universally-accessible as of June 2024.
Parking
Visitors will find a parking lot at the coordinates provided along Cliff Palace Loop Road in the park. As of June 2024, the lot is large enough to fit more than a dozen vehicles.
Pets
Dogs are not allowed on this trail. Dogs are allowed on paved trails including the Park Point Trail and the Mesa Top Loop Sites including: The Navajo Canyon Overlook, Square Tower House Overlook Trail, Pithouses & Pueblos Loop, Mesa Top Sites Trail, Sun Point Pueblo, Sun Point View, Oak Tree House View, Fire Temple & New Fire House View, and the Sun Temple & Cliff Palace View.
Warning
Steep cliffs: This trail leads out to tall and steep cliffs.
