Historic ruins in Colorado

Historic Ruins & Ancient Sites

Explore the architectural legacy of the Ancestral Puebloan people across Colorado’s Mesa Verde National Park and Canyons of the Ancients. This collection features the largest cliff dwellings in North America, including the 150-room Cliff Palace and the defensible Balcony House. Beyond residential sites, the list covers ceremonial structures like the Sun Temple, intricate rock art at Pictograph Point, and early subterranean pithouses. It also includes 19th-century industrial remains, such as the charcoal kilns and the ruins of the Walker Home.

Historic Ruins & Ancient Sites — Map

Ken Lund / CC BY-SA 2.0

A

Cliff Palace

The largest cliff dwelling in North America, containing 150 rooms and 23 kivas. Built between 1190 and 1260 AD, it once housed approximately 100 people.

Scott Catron / CC BY 2.5

B

Anasazi Heritage Center

The Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum located in Dolores, Colorado, is an archaeological museum of Native American pueblo…

Ken Lund / CC BY-SA 2.0

C

Balcony House

A mid-sized cliff dwelling featuring 40 rooms. It is known for its defensive architecture, accessible via a 32-foot ladder and a narrow crawl-through tunnel.

Fitchhollister / Public domain

D

John Brisben Walker

John Brisben Walker was a magazine publisher and automobile entrepreneur in the United States.

E

Long House (ticket required)

Located on Wetherill Mesa, this is the second-largest dwelling in Mesa Verde. It features a large central plaza and was excavated during the 1950s.

F

Sun Temple

A D-shaped masonry structure used for ceremonial purposes. Unlike residential dwellings, it contains no hearths or storage rooms and aligns with astronomical events.

G

Yucca House Great Kiva

A large, mostly unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan site. The Great Kiva served as a communal and ceremonial hub for the surrounding valley population.

H

Coyote Village

An 11th-century pueblo site on Chapin Mesa featuring 30 rooms and five kivas. It represents the architectural transition from pithouses to above-ground masonry.

I

Pictograph Point

Accessible via a 2.4-mile trail, this site features a large panel of Ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs depicting migration stories and clan symbols.

J

Charcoal Likns

Historic stone structures used to produce charcoal for smelting ore during the region's 19th-century mining boom.

K

Goodman Point Pueblo

A large 13th-century village site within Canyons of the Ancients. It was the first archaeological site in the United States to receive federal protection.

L

Sand Canyon Pueblo

One of the largest high-country pueblos, containing over 400 rooms and 90 kivas. It was occupied during the late 13th century before the regional migration.

M

Cannonball Ruins

An Ancestral Puebloan site featuring towers and multi-story masonry units built along the rim and slopes of Sand Canyon.

N

pithouses

Subterranean dwellings from the Basketmaker III period (600 AD). These structures feature central hearths and antechambers used for storage.

O

pithouses

Early Ancestral Puebloan semi-subterranean homes. These sites illustrate the architectural evolution from pit structures to the masonry pueblos seen elsewhere in the park.

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