Mesa Verde - Upper Cliff House Sandstone

This view highlights the massive and uniform appearance of the Upper Cliff House Sandstone that forms the cap rock of the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park. Today, the upland surface of the mesa is covered with pinyon pine, juniper, and scrub oak woodlands. At the peak of the Mesa Verde's' Classic Period in the 12th and 13th centuries, the mesa top was probably stripped of much of its forest so the land could be used for farming and water control (catchment and irrigation) (Herold, 1961).