Balcony House

Balcony House is a mid-sized Ancestral Pueblo village built into a northeast-facing alcove below the rim of Chapin Mesa. A ranger-guided tour takes you through its rooms, plazas and passageways, so this is the cliff dwelling to choose when you want to experience the architecture at close range. It is also one of Mesa Verde’s most adventurous dwelling tours: the route involves exposure, ladders and a tight tunnel. Entry is by reserved tour. If heights, enclosed spaces or strenuous climbing are a hard no, take the distant view from Soda Canyon instead.

The tour starts with a 130-step stairway, then climbs a 32-foot ladder into the alcove. From there you negotiate smaller ladders and uneven stone steps before crawling through a 12-foot tunnel about 18 inches wide. The exit climbs back up the cliff using stone steps and ladders. The whole route is only about a quarter-mile, but that short distance is deceptive: it is strenuous at roughly 7,000 feet, and every participant has to manage the obstacles independently. The park does not recommend it for people with heart or respiratory problems.

Archaeologists count 38 rooms and two kivas here, with plazas and passageways linking shared spaces to the rooms. The village likely housed up to 30 people. Two seep springs are nearby, one inside the alcove and another just below it. The northeast-facing shelter gets little winter sun, so dependable water may have mattered more to its residents than warmth.

Balcony House was built by ancestors of today’s Pueblo peoples; its rooms and gathering spaces are part of a living cultural heritage. A coal-prospecting party led by S. E. Osborn entered the site in 1884 while looking for seams near Mancos Canyon. Archaeologist Jesse Nusbaum excavated and stabilized the dwelling in 1910. It still needs monitoring as rain, rockfall and living organisms wear on the alcove and its masonry.

You cannot see Balcony House from its parking area. For the only view without entering on a ranger tour, take the separate Soda Canyon Overlook Trail about a mile farther along Cliff Palace Loop Road. It is a 1.2-mile round trip to three overlooks; a telephoto lens helps pick out the dwelling across the canyon.

Check in at the Balcony House Parking Area on Cliff Palace Loop Road, not at the hidden dwelling itself. The area has interpretive displays, a tactile model, designated accessible parking and accessible restrooms, but no view of the ruin and no water. Bring water before starting the tour. Balcony House faces east: the alcove gets full sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. On the tour, keep your camera on a strap so both hands are free for the ladders.