Headed to Sedona or Flagstaff? Have some extra time and want to check out another one of our national monuments? Make sure you make a pit stop in Casa Verde and go to Montezuma Castle National Monument.
Montezuma Castle is one of the best-preserved ancient dwellings in Northern Arizona. It was the third National Monuments in our nation declared by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906.
Montezuma Castle is a five-story cliff dwelling built by the Sinagua Indians around the 14th century. It consists of 20 rooms about 70 feet above the ground. It’s nestled in a towering limestone cliff close to Beaver Creek.
To read about the history of this amazing site, read this article.
When you’re done looking at Montezuma Castle, you can either turn around and head back. Or, you can continue on the loop to see a couple more spots and learn about how the Sinagua survived in this area.
If you put in Montezuma Castle National Monument on your GPS, it will take you right to it! It’s only about 15-20 minutes from the highway with a direct road to it once you turn at the light.
The road will take you to the parking lot and entrance to the site. And when it’s time to leave, you follow the loop right back to the street that got you there. Easy peasy!
Once you’ve parked, you’ll see buildings that house the bathrooms and gift shop. Montezuma Castle is located behind the gift shop. When we went, there was a park ranger collecting payment and checking passes right outside of the gift shop.
The fee to get into Montezuma Castle is $10 per adult, children under the age of 15 are FREE. If you have a National Park Pass, it will cover up to 4 adults. Want more information on National Park Passes? Check out this blog post!
From there you walk right around the buildings to Montezuma Castle. Note: you cannot actually get into Montezuma Castle. They used to let people up there through the use of ladders, but due to extensive damages that was being caused to the site as well as it becoming a safety hazard, we only get to admire from below now.
You can easily see the entire site in thirty minutes to an hour, depending on what kind of person you are. Getting to the actual site takes about 5 minutes from the parking lot and only 1/3 of a mile long to get to the site.
If you like to take pictures and read up on the information they have about it, then you’ll probably spend about an hour there.
As always, please check the website for closure and any additional information that you may need.
Almost 30 years after Montezuma Castle was declared a National Monument, a second site was discovered. This site became known as Castle A and is just a few feet away from Montezuma Castle.
Castle A is a 45-50 room pueblo ruin that is located feet from Beaver Creek. The artifacts that were discovered here helped researchers understand the Sinagua people better. Many of the artifacts at Montezuma Castle had been looted previously.
Castle A was twice the size of Montezuma Castle but was destroyed by a fire. The fire caused the dwelling to peel from the cliff face and collapse upon itself. Researchers are still trying to figure out if the dwelling was inhabited when this disaster occurred and if the fire was an accident or intentional.
To read more about Castle A, check out this article.
Absolutely! You know that is one of the main reason why I had to go! Just head to the visitor center gift shop and find the stamp station. The visitor center is open daily from 8am – 5pm.
Once you leave Montezuma Castle, you’ll stop at a light before you turn to get back on the highway. If you see a stand out there, make sure you stop and try the fried bread. Trust me on this, you want to try this bread! They make it fresh and to-order right in from of you. You select what flavor/toppings you like from their menu. We tried the cinnamon with honey and now with powdered sugar. I still crave it to this day! One is enough to share, but I wouldn’t blame you if you ordered an additional one!
Have some extra time? Check out Montezuma Well which is only 11 miles away! Entrance is free and is a very short walk to the site. I haven’t gone yet, but I’ll update this post when I do with a direct link to the post about it!
To all my stamp collectors, did you go get your Montezuma Castle stamp yet? Making plans to go get it soon? Let me know in the comments below!
XO,
Mayra
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