Yucca House National Monument ⓘ

Yucca House is one of the largest archeological sites in southwest Colorado, and acted as an important community center for the Ancestral Puebloan people from AD 1150-1300. On July 2, 1919, Henry Van Kleeck deeded 9.6 acres of land, including most of Yucca House, to the federal government. Due to its significance as an excellent example of a valley pueblo, Woodrow Wilson made Yucca House a National Monument by Presidential Proclamation on December 19, 1919.

Yucca House National Monument is one of our earliest examples of public/private stewardship of our cultural resources and will remain protected well into the future. The long-term preservation of Yucca House ensures that archeologists will be able to continue studying Ancestral Puebloan society and what caused them to migrate from this region in the late 1200s.

For more information on Yucca House or advice on how to visit, see the Yucca House Visitor Guide below:

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Yucca House National Monument is 34 acres in size and is located on the edge of an extensive farming and ranching area, much of which is irrigated. The biotic community of Yucca House is characterized as belonging to the Colorado Plateau Semi-Desert Province. It and its neighboring lands contain a variety of habitat types with some surface water available year-round.

The water resources at Yucca House consist of three highly mineralized, perennial springs and the small pockets of wetlands associated with it. The three springs are in close proximity, but may or may not be issuing from the same underground source. The middle spring, known as Aztec Spring, is the largest of the three and is the only dependable natural source of surface flow. The presence of perennial surface water supports a greater variety of plants than what otherwise might occur, and it attracts animals from the surrounding lands.

Habitats within the monument are dominated by desert shrubs, such as four-wing saltbush, (Atriplex canescens), greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus), and wolfberry (Lycium pallidum). To the south and west of the main archeological site, hill tops and slopes support Utah juniper (Juniperus utahensis), big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), and a few pinyon pine (Pinus edulis). Nearby habitats include pinyon-juniper woodlands; sagebrush and other scattered shrubland; and riparian-type areas (locations with perennial water in the form of springs, seeps, ponds, or irrigation canals). None of the monument's plants are listed as threatened or endangered. However, two species of concern grow in the monument -- Great Basin centaury (Centaurium exaltatum) and pink flower hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus fendleri).

The variety of habitats supports a relatively diverse bird community of migrants, breeding birds, and wintering species. The riparian-type habitat has the greatest species diversity and abundance, although its area is relatively limited. The collapsed, multi-storied masonry structures provide important cover and hibernation areas for many reptiles, especially snakes. Although no threatened or endangered animal species breed in the monument, bald eagles are seen in winter and peregrine falcons nest in the neighboring cliffs and crags and hunt over the whole valley. Current records indicate that 6 amphibian, 125 bird, 69 mammal, and 19 reptile species have been reported from in and around Yucca House, but new species are still found from time to time.