(Park Headquarters)—Junction with Mesa Verde Park Tour 2—Cliff Palace—Balcony House—Junction with Mesa Verde Park Tour 2; Park Road, 6.1 miles.

Motor caravans of private cars from Park Headquarters daily in season; guides.

First trip, 1:30 p.m., returning 4:15 p.m.; second trip (tour of Cliff Palace omitted), 3 p.m. returning 4:30 p.m.

This tour leads to the two major ruins on the eastern tongue of Chapin Mesa, between Cliff Canyon and Soda Canyon.

The route branches east from the junction with Mesa Verde Park Tour 2, 0 miles (see Mesa Verde Park Tour 2), 0.3 miles south of the Contact Station (see Mesa Verde Park Tour 1).

At an EXPERIMENTAL STATION, 1 miles, park naturalists have demonstrated that grain can be grown on the semiarid mesa top without irrigation. Corn was one of the principal crops of the Pueblo peoples.

The highway reaches the CLIFF PALACE PARKING SPACE, 1.8 miles

Right from the parking space by foot trail to a high point, 200 ft., overlooking the ruin; north from here into the canyon and southeast to CLIFF PALACE, 0.2 miles, the largest known cliff dwelling. This great structure, which once had an estimated population of more than 400, lies in a cave 300 feet long and 100 feet high, just under the mesa rim. Built between 1073 and 1273, it was one of the earliest of the Mesa Verde cliff houses. From an architectural standpoint, Cliff Palace is especially interesting. Its builders, faced with an outward sloping cave floor, were forced to use terraces, with the result that there are six distinct floor levels. Building space was limited, and as many as three additional stories were imposed on the original one-story houses. Yet few of the structures were built up to the top of the great cave. The twenty-two kivas were made by walling in the necessary space as the terracing progressed and by filling in around the walls; very little excavation was required. The kivas, for the most part, are of the typical Mesa Verde pattern, but two are square, with rounded corners, and have no banquettes or pilasters. The size of the population made it necessary to have a large number of storage rooms; many are fine examples of masonry. Thin slabs of stone were used to partition off bins, and all chinks were well mortared to keep out the rodents that must have infested the cave.

A feature of the ruin is the round, tapering, stone tower just south of the cave center, its exact purpose unknown. The stones used here, rounded to produce the smooth circular effect of the building, were laid with great care. When it was excavated, a beautiful stone hammer was found. In another four-story tower some of the finest Cliff Dweller paintings have been uncovered, bright red designs on a white background. The white paint was obtained by mixing finely ground gypsum with water; the red, by mixing water and hematite, or red ochre.

South of the ruin the trail continues 200 feet along the canyon wall, then upward by ladders to the rim of the mesa, 0.4 miles.

The highway circles to the eastern side of the mesa, following the rim, to the junction with another trail, 3.8 miles.

Right on this trail into Soda Canyon and south to BALCONY HOUSE, 0.3 miles; the last 25 feet of the climb into the cave is by ladder. From a standpoint of defense against enemies, which must have been an impelling motive in its construction, Balcony House is perhaps better situated than any of the park ruins. The cave is virtually inaccessible; its only approach is by several narrow ledges. At the south entrance, guarded by a narrow cleft, the builders erected a stone wall with a tunnel passable only on hands and knees.

Balcony House takes its name from an unusual architectural feature. At the north end of the ruin, where a supporting wall was built on a lower ledge to brace the building above, the floor beams of the upper rooms project two feet beyond the outer wall. These ends were covered with split poles and clay to form a balcony that permitted communication between the upper rooms. The ruins of twenty rooms and two kivas at Balcony House, believed to have been built between 1190 and 1272, are among the best preserved in the park; several ceilings are still intact.

North of the junction with the trail the highway circles back to join itself, 4.6 miles, 1.5 miles south of the junction with Mesa Verde Park Tour 2 (see above).