Spruce Tree House

Spruce Tree House is the one cliff dwelling that people can see on a self-guided tour; the others are seen only by a ranger-led tour.









Spruce Tree House. It is the third largest cliff dwelling in the U.S.








Note the T-shaped doorways as well as the rectangular doorways. The posts sticking out of the wall formed the floor (now missing) of a balcony. The vertical logs were used to climb down into kivas.









Looking down into a kiva; the roof is missing. The large hole in the floor is for the fire. A channel leading to the door-like opening near the fire provides fresh air. The stone between the fresh air opening and the fire pit deflects the air so it circulates around the kiva. The small hole on the other side of the fire pit is called the sipapu; it provides the connection to the "other world" - the Puebloan equivalent to heaven.







Climbing down into a kiva with a restored roof.









Once down inside, there wasn't much to look at. For safety's sake, the Park Service had filled in the fire pit, blocked off the fresh air opening and removed the air deflector.