Manitou Cliff Dwellings

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The Manitou Cliff Dwellings are a group of relocated Anasazi ruined cliff dwellings and a museum located just west of Colorado Springs, Colorado on U.S. Highway 24 in Manitou Springs.

The Anasazi Museum was established and the cliff dwellings built starting in 1904, and were opened to the public in 1907. The museum features displays about the lives of the ancient Anasazi, including exhibits of archaeological artifacts, tools, pottery and weapons. Visitors can also walk through the ancient-style ruins outside.

Video Manitou Cliff Dwellings

History

The Anasazi lived and roamed the Four Corners area of the Southwestern United States from 1200 B.C. to A.D. 1300. The Anasazi did not live in the Manitou Springs area, but lived and built their cliff dwellings in the Four Corners area, several hundred miles southwest of Manitou Springs. The Manitou Cliff Dwellings were built at their present location in the early 1900s, as a museum, preserve, and tourist attraction. The stones were taken from a collapsed Anasazi site near Cortez in southwest Colorado, shipped by railroad to Manitou Springs, and assembled in their present form as Anasazi-style buildings closely resembling those found in the Four Corners. The project was done with the approval and participation of well-known anthropologist Dr. Edgar Lee Hewett, and Virginia McClurg, founder of the Colorado Cliff Dwelling Association.