Soda Canyon Overlook Trail

Soda Canyon Overlook Trail is an easy 1.2-mile out-and-back across the mesa top to three canyon-edge views. The unpaved path stays mostly level, with a short overlook circuit and about 70 feet of elevation change; allow about 40 minutes, plus time to look around. From here, Balcony House and several other cliff dwellings sit across Soda Canyon. This is a distant view, not a walk down to the dwellings or the ranger-guided Balcony House tour.

The trail leaves Cliff Palace Loop Road through pinyon-juniper woodland, then reaches a small loop and short spurs at the canyon rim. Follow them to all three overlooks before returning along the same approach. Parts of the dirt path have steps, but the overall grade is gentle. The cliff dwellings look small from across the canyon, so bring binoculars if you want to pick out details. For a photo, keep some of the canyon wall around Balcony House to show where the rooms sit.

The white deposits below the rim are calcium carbonate left by seeps and springs. Ancestral Pueblo people used those springs, and the deposits gave Soda Canyon its name. The forest along the mesa holds mature pinyon pine and Utah juniper; mule deer and wild turkey are among the animals that live here, while swifts, kestrels and ravens use the canyon rim.