Cortez, CO – Yucca House National Monument is a United States National Monument located in Montezuma County, Colorado between the towns of Towaoc (headquarters of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe) and Cortez, Colorado. Yucca House is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site that sits at the foot of Sleeping Ute Mountain, called “mountain with lots of yucca growing on it” by the Ute people, and inspiration for the name of the national monument. Yucca House is managed by the National Park Service and specifically the staff of nearby Mesa Verde National Park.
Yucca House National Monument features un-excavated ruins mostly covered by vegetation
This was our only disappointing trip to a US National Monument. Currently, there are no true interpretive features, facilities, or fees at Yucca House. On the monument’s website: “Experience a sense of discovery by visiting a site that has remained largely untouched for the past 800 years!” I thought we would enjoy visiting this untouched site, so I found the directions on line:
- From the entrance of Mesa Verde National Park, take Hwy. 160 West through Cortez, to Hwy. 491 South.
- Continue driving south approximately 8 miles from the intersection of Hwy. 160 and Hwy. 491.
- Take a right on MC County Road B (green sign), which is a dirt road one mile south of MC Road C.
- Drive 0.8 miles, crossing a paved road (MC Road 21).
- Take the next dirt road on the right before the farmhouse on the left. (As you make this turn, you will cross a yellow cattle guard and pass a Box Bar Ranch, No Trespassing sign. The “no trespassing” sign does not apply to the county road.)
- Follow this road north and west for 1.4 miles, and head towards the white ranch house with the red roof on the west horizon.
- Once at the ranch house, Yucca House National Monument is on the left side of the driveway.
Parking space is limited and roads may be difficult immediately following rain. We arrived on a dry day and parked outside of the final gate to avoid parking at the private residence and because it was unclear where we were supposed to park. We walked up the private driveway toward the house and found the boardwalk walkway on the opposite side of the drive that leads into the monument. There are two small signs that indicate you are entering the monument. The monument is indeed untouched. You can make out small parts of a wall here and there and see piles of stones, but the vegetation covers the majority of the ruins and it is difficult to understand what you are seeing. A few interpretive signs would be helpful. Another word of caution: While a number of dirt trails travel among the ruins, you probably want to wear long pants because you will be walking through brush.
We walked a couple hundred yards on a private driveway to reach the entrance (car is parked around corner in mid-photo)
The boardwalk across the private residence’s yard with the first sign for access Yucca House
The second and final sign and gate to access Yucca House
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the site a National Monument on December 19, 1919, after the donation of 9.5 acres of land on July 2, 1919 by a private landowner. An additional 24 acres was donated by Hallie Ismay in the late 1990s. It was one of many research national monuments designated during that era to preserve the ruins, plants, and animals in the Yucca House area. Hallie Ismay, benefactor of the additional land in the 1990s, was an unofficial steward of the Yucca House site for 62 years.
Based on information I found online, the Yucca House site is one of many Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) village sites located in the Montezuma Valley occupied between AD 1100 and 1300 by 13,000 people.
There are two unexcavated settlement areas covered in vegetation that include:
- Western Complex: a large pueblo of up to 600 rooms, 100 kivas and a giant, perhaps community, kiva. A spring runs through the complex. A large building about 80 × 100 feet, Upper House, was made of adobe. The ruins are about 12 to 15 feet high, but may have been twice that height.
- Lower House: an L-shaped pueblo 200 feet by 180 inches with a plaza, 8 small rooms 7 × 2 feet and a large kiva
An example of a visible section of wall at Yucca House
Nearby were the ancient pueblo village of Mud Springs at the head of McElmo Canyon and Navajo Springs, which was the original site of the Ute Mountain Indian Agency south of Sleeping Ute Mountain in the early 1900s. Like other nearby Ancient Pueblo peoples, the Yucca House pueblo dwellers abandoned their homes, but because a major excavation has not been completed it is not known when, or if there is a relationship between these people and those of nearby pueblo settlements.
Sleeping Ute Mountain and Yucca House
If you have plenty of time and enjoy visiting archeological ruins immensely, this is a unique national monument in that the ruins are untouched. If you have less time or like to have more information about what you are viewing, the nearby Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument, or Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, or the Anasazi Heritage Center are probably a better way to spend your time. We visited here while we were staying at the Sundance RV Park in Cortez, Colorado.
