For each room tucked into this rock alcove, nature provided the back wall, floor, and leak-proof ceiling; no excavation was needed. Builders simply laid up unshaped blocks of limestone for side walls, enclosed the front, and opened their doorway to the canyon. Here, only two walls remain.
How to Treat a Wall
Many hands have been at work on these walls: the women who first skillfully plastered them, the vandals who defaced them, and the preservation specialists who now repair them.
All of the dwellings along this trail have been either stabilized (stones reset and mortar patched) or restored (partially rebuilt). Still, original mortars remain in many walls. They are brown, red, gray, and gold-colored, have hairline cracks, and incorporate small pebbles and charcoal.
Help us keep the need for modern treatments to a minimum by keeping hands off and watching where you step.
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