dwelling in cliffs

We’re so grateful that Kristine (and her dh Robert!) recommended the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. It was an excellent place to stop after spending most of the day at the Garden of the gods.

The history of these structures is astonishing:

Our cliff dwellings are authentic Anasazi cliff dwellings dating 800 to 1000 years old. They were originally located in Mc Elmo Canyon, which is in the southwest corner of Colorado near Mesa Verde. The process of relocating these cliff dwellings began in 1904 and was completed in 1907 when the preserve was open to the public…. Over a several year period, the ruins from Mc Elmo Canyon were slowly dismantled stone by stone, packaged, and finally moved by oxen out of Mc Elmo Canyon to Dolores, Colorado. There, they were loaded and shipped by railroad to Colorado Springs, and finally brought to Cliff Canyon by horse and wagon.

We spent $32.50 for our entire family. It’s so odd to pay “adult” admission prices for Christian now that he’s 13. We were able to save $3.50 with a coupon from the Manitou Cliff Dwellings website. I had forgotten to print it out, but I accessed the coupon on my iPhone and showed it to the kind woman in the ticket booth. She honored the discount anyway. Hurray!

We spent approximately 90 minutes exploring the cliff dwellings. On this Sunday afternoon, we encountered only a few other tourists.

Tomorrow I’ll share a few more cliff pics:)

3.6.11