Far View House and Nearby Sites in Mesa Verde National Park

Far View consists of nearly 50 villages within a half square mile area, including Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir, Megalithic House, and Far View Tower.

The Far View area was home to hundreds of Ancient Pueblo people between AD 900 and AD 1300. These sites were occupied more than 200 years before the cliff dwellings of the area were built, and continued to be occupied after the cliffs were occupied. In the winter, the road to Far View is closed but the trail can be hiked.

Far View House – It is a Chaco-era Great House that was started in the early 1000s. It has a large kiva surrounded by 30 to 40 rooms as well as three smaller kivas that were added after the initial kiva.

Coyote Village – A grouping of five kivas and thirty ground floor rooms in a single structure. There are reportedly tunnels between three of the kivas, a tower and a nearby room.

Pipe Shrine House – A smaller structure built in the eleventh century and expanded in the thirteenth century.

Far View Reservoir – Originally called Mummy Lake and thought to be a reservoir holding water as far back as 1917, it was designated a Historical Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2004. However, recent research and analysis suggests instead it was a ceremonial gathering place and the supposed ditches were actually roads leading into the structure.