Parking
Use the Sun Temple stop along Mesa Top Loop Road. The broad Cliff Palace view is visible from the vehicle, and the paved path starts nearby.
Overview
About Sun Temple Trail
Why go
- A quick, mostly level route to a distinctive D-shaped ruin.
- The same stop has a broad view toward Cliff Palace.
Heads up
- The walk is very short, and the broad view is visible from the vehicle stop.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Mesa Verde map
Full mapElevation6,808–6,818 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Mesa Verde alerts
- ClosureRoad improvements close Far View and Cedar Tree Tower access roadsRoad improvements have closed the access roads to Far View Sites and Cedar Tree Tower to all traffic. - Road work on the first four miles of Main Park Road may cause delays of up to 15 minutes.Official details
- CautionRockfall area on Knife Edge Trail—keep outDo not enter the rockfall area along the last quarter of Knife Edge Trail; a serious rockfall occurred there. Check current trail information before hiking.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mesa Verde Tour Guide
Your drive to Sun Temple Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Mesa Verde National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Mesa Verde audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Sun Temple0:00 / 0:32
“Sun Temple is coming up, a large D-shaped Ancestral Pueblo building standing out in the open on the mesa top.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Mesa Verde Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Fire Temple and Oak Tree House Overlooks
- Cliff Canyon and House of Many Windows
- Cliff Palace
- Sun Point Pueblo and Sun Point View
- 43 audio storiesacross Mesa Verde’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Mule Deer, Golden Eagle, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 22 trails, 48 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Sun Temple Trail
A quick visit, with a closer look at the wallsSun Temple Trail is a short paved walk from the vehicle stop to the D-shaped ruin and around…
Sun Temple Trail is a short paved walk from the vehicle stop to the D-shaped ruin and around its walls. The National Park Service describes the path to the site as about 200 yards; following it there and back makes a roughly 0.22-mile out-and-back. Some descriptions give about 0.1 mile for the site walk, so check whether their figure includes the parking approach. It is mostly level; allow 15 to 20 minutes. The broad Cliff Palace panorama is visible from the vehicle, so the walk is most worthwhile if you want time beside Sun Temple itself.
What the building tells youSun Temple is unusual for the Pueblo world: its D-shaped plan encloses 24 excavated rooms, with…
Sun Temple is unusual for the Pueblo world: its D-shaped plan encloses 24 excavated rooms, with three circular structures inside and another just southeast of the main complex. The walls are about four feet thick and may once have stood 11 to 14 feet high. No roof beams or household goods were found. The building's purpose is unsettled; it may have served as a communal space for the Cliff Palace community, while ceremonial, astronomical or unfinished interpretations remain possible.
Keep to the pathUse the parking area at Sun Temple along Mesa Top Loop Road.
Use the parking area at Sun Temple along Mesa Top Loop Road. The paved trail is short and mostly level, and leashed pets are allowed on the paved Mesa Top Loop trails. Look closely at the masonry, but do not climb or walk on the fragile walls. This is an exterior stop rather than an interior cliff-dwelling tour.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Mesa Verde
36 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
160 sightingsMule DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
14 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around noonSighting map
54 sightingsWild HorseMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
24 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
37 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Mesa Verde. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
