{"id":2455,"date":"2013-08-11T18:31:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-11T23:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=2455"},"modified":"2013-08-11T18:31:33","modified_gmt":"2013-08-11T23:31:33","slug":"colorado-discoveries-8-manitou-cliff-dwellings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/08\/colorado-discoveries-8-manitou-cliff-dwellings.html","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Discoveries 8: Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Manitou Springs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings is a part-day attraction you can roll in with other activities in the Manitou Springs\/Ute Pass areas of Colorado.<\/p><\/div>\n

About 3 weeks ago, our family took a day trip to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings<\/a>. A Facebook advertisement featuring wolves from the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center visiting for the day got my attention. The boys were immediately interested.<\/p>\n

There is an admission to visit the Cliff Dwellings. I downloaded a coupon from the website<\/a> and was able to get $1 off per person. You will pay the admission at a little guard shack just after turning off U.S. 24 into the facility.<\/p>\n

The Manitou Cliff Dwellings are a representation of what life was like for the Anasazi tribes<\/a> of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Dave and I were quite disappointed to learn that the structures we toured weren’t actually native to the area<\/a>: the structures were disassembled from a collapsed area near Cortez, Colorado and relocated to Manitou Springs via railroad around 1900.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it’s about 15-20 minutes to fully walk through the “neighborhood” of cliff dwellings, which feature living quarters, cooking areas, garbage disposal areas, and a “kiva<\/a>“, which is a room used for rituals. The kids immediately noticed the sense of community to the area, when they asked about the three-family living quarters and communal cooking areas.<\/p>\n

After the quick turn through the dwellings, the boys wanted to go visit the two wolves who were near the gift shop. The CWWC was holding a fundraiser: for a $5 donation, you could take as many photographs as you liked. There was quite a crowd on hand, so the boys got several minutes with the wolves…but we had to assure them we would visit the CWWC later this year and they could spend more time with them later.<\/p>\n

We then visited the gift shop, which is very big. If it weren’t for the admission you have to pay just to get onto the property, I’d recommend it as a nice place to find a wide variety of Colorado-esque gifts for friends and family.<\/p>\n

Here are some pictures. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

\"DSC_3304\"<\/a>

It’s a well-laid out, well-kept museum.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3310\"<\/a>

There are signs to guide visitors to tour the dwellings in the same direction: right-to-left on the inside, then left-to-right on the outside.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3315\"<\/a>

The openings were about 5 1\/2′ tall, many adults have to duck to get around the interior areas.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3318\"<\/a>

Teachable moment: Dave is teaching the boys about the kiva.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3324\"<\/a>

The pottery within the mud\/clay was interesting to me.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3332\"<\/a>

There is this balcony area that was a popular photography spot. But there’s a limit of two people on the balcony at a time. It was hard to photograph the boys because kids kept popping in and out of the holes behind them.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3333\"<\/a>

It was funny seeing the kids popping in and out of the holes.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3341\"<\/a>

I wish I could remember the names of these wolves. Sorry!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3344\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_3348\"<\/a>

A rare view of me on the other side of the camera.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\"DSC_3349\"<\/a>

These poor wolves were in and out of sleep much of the time.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3354\"<\/a>

The gift shop is larger than the rest of the museum put together. I recommend it as a nice place to get native-Colorado gifts.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3356\"<\/a>

A model of the cliff dwellings inside the gift shop.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3367\"<\/a>

My telephoto lens capturing the wolf from afar.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our family took a day trip to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. A Facebook advertisement featuring wolves from the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center? visiting for the day got my attention. The boys were immediately interested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[100,386,409,395],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-DB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3337,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/08\/colorado-discoveries-40-mesa-verde-np.html","url_meta":{"origin":2455,"position":0},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 40: Mesa Verde National Park","date":"31 August 14","format":false,"excerpt":"This post is about the first of the four national parks we visited on our southwest vacation. We tried to jam this visit in during our drive to the Grand Canyon, and it was admittedly a really tight fit. We spent about 3 hours in the park, but it could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"DSC_2002","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC_2002-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2335,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/07\/colorado-discoveries-7-the-manitou-incline.html","url_meta":{"origin":2455,"position":1},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 7: The “Manitou Incline”","date":"16 July 13","format":false,"excerpt":"Locals in the Colorado Springs area frequent this very unique fitness challenge: The Manitou Springs Incline. Manitou Springs is one of the towns due west of Colorado Springs. It's known as a vacation spot for their natural springs and boasts the home of the Pike's Peak Cog Railway (for another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"barr trail\"","img":{"alt_text":"The Incline itself is the green line, and you ascend from right to left. Then you take the crooked red line down the mountain. One mile up, four miles back. ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/IMG_6932-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2743,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/11\/colorado-discoveries-19-eagle-peak-usafa.html","url_meta":{"origin":2455,"position":2},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 19: Eagle Peak, USAFA","date":"13 November 13","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though it's mid-November, we have had a nice spell of pleasant weather here, and I've been enjoying some hikes in the area. Over Veteran's Day weekend I did two nice hikes along with another trip up the Manitou Incline. One of the hikes was the most challenging I've experienced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"I'll just leave this here. The yellow line on the sign is NOT a trail, it's the area deemed \"off limits\" by the AF Academy superintendent. The north-facing rock walls at the top of the peak.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DSC_2853-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2866,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/01\/colorado-discoveries-24-pikes-peak-highway.html","url_meta":{"origin":2455,"position":3},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 24: Pikes Peak Highway","date":"02 January 14","format":false,"excerpt":"Greetings! I hope everyone had a nice holiday season these past couple months. I've plenty of catching up to do! Last week my in-laws were in town to celebrate Christmas with us. We were grateful for their company and for their taking a chance with the weather to fly out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"That's the road we had just come up. Read on to learn more about the Pikes Peak Highway.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/DSC_0206-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3571,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/01\/colorado-discoveries-44-pikes-peak-hike.html","url_meta":{"origin":2455,"position":4},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 44: Hiking the Pikes Peak Barr Trail","date":"05 January 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Pikes Peak. The inspiration for the poem that eventually became \"America the Beautiful.\"\u00a0(Did you know that?) This 14,110' mountain towers over the city of Colorado Springs and greets us every day on our drives to work. We have a decent view of the mountain from our back deck and from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"barr trail\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/10606388_10152350501163865_9052397384892303312_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2374,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/07\/colorado-discoveries-7-pikes-peak-cog-railway.html","url_meta":{"origin":2455,"position":5},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 7: Pike’s Peak Cog Railway","date":"24 July 13","format":false,"excerpt":"On July 10th my mom brought the boys to Colorado for us. They were staying in West Virginia so they wouldn't have to endure the pain of the four-day westward drive. 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