Mesa Top Loop Road & Sun Temple
Mesa Top Loop
A one-way scenic drive of about 10 kilometers linking pit house ruins, a sun-watching overlook and the mysterious D-shaped Sun Temple.
Twelve stops along the loop trace the evolution of architecture from about AD 600 to 1300, moving from pit houses to aboveground villages. From the Sun Point Overlook, you can see more than ten cliff dwellings on the opposite canyon wall at once. Near the end of the loop, the D-shaped Sun Temple, with its double walls, still has an unknown purpose. You can look across the canyon to Cliff Palace from there. The entire loop is free to drive and takes about 1 to 2 hours.
Opening hours
About 08:00 until sunset
Nearby sights
- Square Tower House
- Petroglyph Point Trail
- Cliff Palace
- Spruce Tree House
- Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum
- Balcony House
- Wetherill Mesa (Step House & Long House)
- Far View Sites Complex