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The largest cliff dwelling in North America is the Cliff Palace of the Ancestral Pueblo (which is protected in the Mesa Verde National Park). Venture over to Albuquerque in New Mexico, and one can find over 24,000 ancient Ancestral Pueblo carvings in the Petroglyph National Monument. These and other sites offer a peak into the deep history of the land long before it was the United States. But the ruins can sometimes be difficult to explore as they are protected and remote. One might not be able to explore all that much while there (e.g., access inside the ruins might be restricted).
The Manitou Cliff Dwellings are a private museum made up of replicas of Ancestral Pueblo dwellings. It is conveniently located just out of Colorado Springs in Manitou Springs. Manitou Springs is a great town to visit, and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings should be on anyone's bucket list while there. Native American histories are a very important part of the history and heritage of the United States. Explore the stunning Navajo Nation while in the area (the Navajo were the ancient rivals of the Ancestral Pueblo).
Who The Ancestral Pueblo Were
The Ancestral Pueblo (also known as the Anasazi) were an ancient Native American culture that lived in the Four Corners region of what is today the United States. Their ruins can be found in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Ancestral Pueblo lived in that area from around 1200 BC to around AD 1300.
They left behind some of the most eye-catching pre-Columbian structures, and three of their archeological sites are UNESCO World Heritage-listed today. Some of the most famous Pueblo ruins are found in Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, and Taos Pueblo.
The Ancestral Pueblo lived in structures ranging from small family pit houses, to house clans, to grand pueblos, to cliff-side dwellings where defense was easier. A key part of their sites was the kiva (a congregational space used largely for ceremonies). The Ancestral Pueblo are regarded as the forerunners of the modern Pueblo peoples.
The Manitou Cliff Dwellings Are Made Partly Of Reassembled Pueblo Ruins
The Manitou Cliff Dwellings is a recreation of Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings and offers interpretive exhibits of the ancient culture. The replica is now one of the oldest attractions in the region, having been built starting in 1904 and opened to the public in 1907. The original purpose of the museum was to enable people to visit a more accessible version of the Pueblo dwellings. Another motivation was to protect the Ancestral Pueblo architecture from looters (the Federal Government did not protect the sites before 1906).
Some of the building materials for the museum were taken from a collapsed Ancestral Pueblo site in southwest Colorado. The materials were shipped by train and oxen and then reassembled to look like the Ancestral Pueblo buildings that are found in the Four Corners. It was mostly the project of Virginia McClurg (the founder of the Colorado Cliff Dwelling Association), and the McClurg family continues to operate the site today.
The museum provides displaces about the Ancestral Pueblo, exhibiting a number of archeological artifacts, pottery, tools, and more. Some are genuine artifacts, while others are replicas.
While it is unlikely that it would be permitted to pack up and ship off an ancient archeological site today, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum was a product of its times. A time when some people wished to protect the ruins of ancient sites in their own way before there was federal protection.
Planning A Visit To The Manitou Cliff Dwellings
Visitors are free to walk around and touch the reassembled/replica of Ancestral Pueblo ruins and touch them. Here people can enjoy more freedom of movement than at the real historic sites.
- Opening Hours: Very Seasonally (9.00 pm to 5.00 pm In Summer Months)
- Adults: $12 (Plus Tax)
- Children: $7.50 (Plus Tax)
While at the site, visit their Ancestral Puebloan Museum. There, visitors can learn about the Ancestral Pueblo with dioramas depicting their daily life, tools, weapons, and pottery, as well as multimedia such as informative videos that offer glimpses of the ancient people.
Another great museum to learn about the history of other Native Americans is the Museum of the Plains Indian near Glacier National Park in Montana.