Spruce Tree House Trail Guide: Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK, COLORADO
10¢

This guide booklet has been prepared to help you enjoy one of the larger cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park. The numbered stations along the front of the dwelling are points of interest which are explained by the numbered paragraphs and illustrations in this booklet.
You are welcome to use this booklet. Please place it in the box at the other end of the ruin as you leave. If you wish to purchase the booklet, please drop 10 cents in the coin box.
Please do not climb or stand on the walls or crawl through any of the doorways.

Spruce Tree House from the south end.
Spruce Tree House is the third largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. It is built in a natural cave 216 feet in length, 89 feet in greatest depth, and 60 feet in greatest height. The complete dwelling contained about 114 rooms. Most of these were living rooms, but there were many storerooms and 8 ceremonial rooms. It is thought that between 200 and 250 people may have lived in this cliff house at one time. It was occupied from about A.D. 1200 to, or shortly before, A.D. 1300.
The First Court
Spruce Tree House is typical of the larger cliff dwellings found in the Mesa Verde. It consists of several groups or blocks of rooms around open courts. Within each court is an underground ceremonial room called a kiva (Key-vah). Originally, there were flat roofs on these kivas. These roofs formed the courtyard floor and provided work space for daily activities. The rooms around the court were used primarily for sleeping and storage and for shelter against the cold of winter.
The rooms are generally small, averaging 6 by 8 feet and 5½ feet high. Floors and roofs of the second and third stories were made of large poles covered with smaller sticks, then bark or grass, and a thick layer of clay. A few of the rooms had fireplaces but most were without interior light or heat. Probably one family occupied a room.