Spruce Tree House Stabilization Plan Identified

Above, Spruce Tree House in September 2020. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Spruce Tree House in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado has been in a precarious state for the past several years. The arch above it has become destabilized due to weather and erosion and has been closed to the public since 2015.

A plan to stabilize the arch has been decided by the National Park Service. All that is needed are funds to implement the plan.

According to National Parks Traveler:

While the National Park Service has identified a plan to allow Spruce Tree House at Mesa Verde National Park to be stabilized and reopened to the public, funding for the work has not yet been identified.

The popular attraction, which houses the third-largest cliff dwelling in the park in western Colorado, with 130 rooms and eight kivas, has been closed to the public since October 2015 because of concerns that layers of sandstone could peel away from the arch at any time and fall on bystanders below. Spruce Tree House may be seen, however, from an overlook near the Chapin Mesa Museum. 

Back in 2016, the Park Service pointed out that "[E]arly stabilization work was performed (on the arch) in the 1940s, with additional stabilization work completed in the 1960s. Natural erosion processes, including the settling of the arch, have been affected by the early stabilization work, so that modern engineering techniques may be necessary to ensure continued stability of the arch."

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