Cliff Palace Loop Road
in Colorado
The Cliff Palace Loop Road is open 8 am to sunset from late spring to December 1, or until the first significant snowfall. Cliff Palace Loop Road is a 6-mile (10-km) drive with overlooks of various cliff dwellings, access to the ranger-guided tours of Cliff Palace and Balcony House, and the trailhead for the Soda Canyon Overlook Trail. Stops along this road include: Cliff Palace Overlook Cliff Canyon Overlook House of Many Windows Overlook Hemenway House Overlook Balcony House Parking Area Soda Canyon Overlook Trail
- States
- Colorado
- Trail type
- National Park trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Albuquerque, NM · 176 mi · ~5 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 37.1674°, -108.4725°
About Mesa Verde National Park
This trail is inside Mesa Verde National Park, a national park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $30 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/cliff-palace-loop-road.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Cliff Palace Loop Road and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Soda Canyon Overlook Trail
0 miles from this trail's centroid
Mesa Top Loop (Introduction)
1 miles from this trail's centroid
Mesa Top Loop Road
1 miles from this trail's centroid
Spruce Canyon Trail
1 miles from this trail's centroid
Petroglyph Point Trail
1 miles from this trail's centroid
Farming Terrace Trail
2 miles from this trail's centroid
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.