Manitou Cliff Dwellings

10 Cliff Rd, Manitou Springs, CO 80829, USA

Address:	10 Cliff Rd, Manitou Springs, CO 80829, USA
Phone:	+1 719-685-5242
Site:	cliffdwellingsmuseum.com
Rating:	3.7
Working:	9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM 9AM–6PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 9

Julie Hedgepeth Williams

Not good for the handicapped. While you dont expect a thousands-year-old pueblo to be done for the handicapped, you would expect the modern gift shop and museums and bathroom to be handicapped-accessible, but they are not. You walk down MANY stairs and MANY staircases. When you get to the bathrooms at the end, NONE are equipped with a grab bar. I had to skip the restroom and rush home to our hotel room. Im UTTERLY SHOCKED at the lack of handicapped access in the otherwise beautiful gift shop/museum/bathroom complex. There IS an elevator between the ground floor and floor three -- its hidden and you have to ask for it. That got me up to floor three, but then there are probably 20 more steps, if not more, to get to the top. And I had taken many steps inside the gift shop. Also, watch your feet AND your head... I was so careful watching where I put my cane inside the pueblo that I didnt look up and whacked my head on a beam and fell down. Gratefully, a substantial-sized man was able to pick me up. The dwellings themselves are amazing and interesting, but the negative experience with the gift shop, museum, and restroom put a bad taste in my mouth.

Anthony Alvior

The Cliff Dwellings were pretty cool and there is a lot of Native American history behind the dwellings. You can walk through the dwellings and follow along with the free audio tour if you have access to data through your mobile devices. Otherwise, you can also just read the descriptions from point to point. On the way through the museum itself are other artifacts and more historical information associated with the items. I did think it was weird that as you make your way through the museum, you end up in a souvenir shop, then another part of the museum, then shop, then museum. Perhaps this is a way to entice the visitors to make purchases while going through the museums. At the exit of the museum at the top of the incline is a replica of a Tepee that was used by the natives. Outside of that is a small cafe and t-shirt stand. A visit to the museum is relatively inexpensive, but definitely worth the visit when youre in the area.

Julie C. Maestas

Born, raised and grew up in Denver always going down to Colorado Springs to see the different attractions but I had never even seen these Cliff dwelings from the highway!! Took my fiance who is from Texas down to the Springs to show him some of our beautiful scenery and let him choose what attractions he wanted to go & see and he picked the Manitou Cliff Dwellings!! Very interesting to see and walk through these magnificent reminants from the past!! To see how they survived and made these wonderful structures that have lasted through years and years of Colorado weather which changes when the wind blows sometimes!! Never been into history but found myself wanting to learn more about the settlers who built these awesome homes and gathering places in the side of the mountains in rock no less!! Only wished we had given ourselves more time to spend here so we could have learned a lil more about the dwellings!!!

Michael Carmack

Terrific experience for children, but otherwise quite expensive ($10 ea.) for as small as the actual exhibit disappointingly is. The museum is much more extensive by comparison to the actual place in the cliff. Its maintained quite well and clean with nice native exhibits representing the way locals used to innovatively live with what was available. Extremely touristy and can be crowded. Dont expect much of an authentic feel, as the majority of exhibits are recreations with suspected liberties taken. Without young children, its sadly just not very appealing at all. Most discouraging is the serious lack of native Indians, particularly since this whole experience capitalizes on what their ancestors established before the capitalizing entrepreneurs took liberties to compile a smart tourist attraction over a century ago.

Carolyn Stalls

I loved this place! Sooo much history here! Only downfall was the price, we go there a little late and they were only open for 2 hours so we asked if we could get a discount since we wouldnt have a whole lot of time and the guy at the gate seemed a little annoyed and said no. They do have a military discount which was nice. Still a little overpriced. We got in and realized you just kind of walked around and did a self-guided tour. I did like that to a point but I realized that we had more questions then answers. There were 2 museums by the gift shop which were super informational. If we had a full day to spend there, I think it wouldve much more worth the money. But the cafe wasnt open so we had to leave to go get something to eat. I dont see myself going back. Its kind of a one and done place.

Jeremy Roberson

Its an alright place. I wish they hadnt moved them from there original location though. Preserving it in its natural place woulda been better. Then the 10$ fee wouldve been understandable for every person in the car. Its quite small and only took maybe 20-30 minutes to see everything and read everything. The museum is the weirdest thing to me because in actuality its just a gift shop with a few maybe correct historical photos. To the left of this photo is another stand of gifts and a food market. Clearly though since the beginning its been a money making spot for whoever bought it and moved it there. A lot of questions I found myself asking afterwards instead of feeling like I went somewhere historical.

Claudia Ruhl

We were there many years ago on a 2 week long trip -- we did go to Mesa Verde later, but we enjoyed these dwellings at Manitou Springs because my mother was quite crippled with rheumatoid arthritis and she could walk into these. At Mesa Verde, you can see many cliff dwellings from a distance, but it would have been impossible for her to walk even to the ones which were accessible. There was a lndian dance performance and small museum. I dont remember what we paid, but we didnt feel ripped off. I remember it was very convenient, easy access, not too far off the main road. And the town itself (Manitou Springs) was charming.

Aimee Smith

Beware. This is all a hoax. There never were real cliff dwellers here. We didnt realize until after our visit. Very disappointing. During our self guided tour, we questioned what was going on when none of the informational material flowed. Why did these people choose this sight? Why did they build there dwellings far from water? Who were their enemies? We left with so many unanswered questions. Come to find out, the founders of this tourist trap had actually moved rocks from an true Anasazi sight hundreds of miles away to recreate this site. It is appalling actually and we feel disrespectful to the Native Americans.

Jo Povall

Nice place to visit to learn about native tribes for children, but if you want greater information then this may not be the place to go. Shame about not displaying human remains in a respectful manner. A few skulls in display cases trying to highlight changes in skulls is very old fashioned beliefs. Over priced for what it is. Felt like certain artefacts could have been better explained and maybe provide information more clearly how the site was relocated and reconstructed. There is a lot of stereotypes on display in this museum. As an archaeologist myself I am not happy about how the human remains were displayed.