Montezuma Castle, AZ — 600 Year Old Dwelling Built Into A Vertical Cliff

Published on February 3rd, 2008

Click pic to view a slide show of photos

Recently, your Uncle Dave took a working trip to Arizona where I got a chance to visit Montezuma Castle near Camp Verde, AZ and take some photos. Although named for the famous Aztec chief by early settlers, he not only never went this far North to see it, it was abandoned for unknown reasons before he was even born.

The amazing 20 room structure was built by the Sinagua people about 600-700 years ago. As you can see, it’s built into the side of a cliff. The only way up is via ladders. Lots of work went into the reconstruction (started by Teddy Roosevelt), prior to which, for many years tourists were allowed to actually climb up and roam around.

16 users responded in " Montezuma Castle, AZ — 600 Year Old Dwelling Built Into A Vertical Cliff "

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# 1 Lou Bix said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 5:10 am

Nice place if you can get parking.

# 2 dthomas said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 6:24 am

My wife has some really cool pictures on her website if you want to take a look.

http://www.cindythomasphotography.com/arizona.html

# 3 pedro said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 6:31 am

Is this part of what the illegals are claiming as part of the things they’re taking back by going north?

# 4 ArianeB said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 am

I live in Arizona, and I’m fascinated by the history here. Montezuma’s castle is one of the better preserved cliff dwellings. Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado has more spectacular ones though.

The history of these settlements is that they get abandoned during periods of drought which last on average 30 years, and pop up every century or so.

This is significant, because Arizona is in a dought cycle right now, 10 years so far and counting. If history is correct we can look forward to 20 more years of drought here.

# 5 Jägermeister said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 7:02 am

Nice place. How much per night?

# 6 SJP said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 8:08 am

Great slide show.

# 7 Angel H. Wong said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 8:33 am

Are you a self hating hispanic or you just dislike mexicans?

# 8 Libertican said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 8:36 am

The Marshall family of Land of the Lost would have loved this place to keep them safe from the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

# 9 Uncle Dave said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 8:43 am

#1: I didn’t have any trouble a week or so ago, but it is a small parking lot for tourist season.

#6: Thanks!

# 10 TheGlobalWarmingNemesis said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 am

There’s cools stuff in Bandolier Natl Mon. in N.M. also. As of 10 years ago at least, you could still climb ladders to get to some of the upper areas.

# 11 GF said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 am

I have been there many times. When I was a child I was fortunate enough to go to many of these cliff dwellings and actually go into them. The native people have built many interesting things here in the southwest. While Montezuma may never have come this far there is evidence of a turquoise trade route and Snaketown(south of Phoenix) has a ball court similar to the Mayans.

# 12 Jeff said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 10:13 am

This would be a really cool place to visit.

# 13 pedro said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 10:16 am

#7 no. I just hate those hispanics who made my country a living hell and those bastards who did nothing to prevent that.

Besides, was Moctezuma Emperor on any other latin american country other than Mexico? This one is quite a good question since this week Kuzco said he was Moctezuma’s descendant.

Is that a good enough answer?

Now, if you’d excuse me, I’ll go back to play Zuma deluxe. (Inca Zuma!). And before you complain, I already know Moctezuma was Aztec, not Incan.

# 14 Don Coyote said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 10:23 am

“Marveling at this enduring legacy of the Sinagua culture reveals a people surprisingly similar to ourselves.”

Odd note from the UNPS site. Similar how? Being on the verge of extinction and forced to migrate? The insatiable desire for a condo with a view? America is probably more similar to the Fall of Rome than a fall from that cliff.

# 15 Glenn E. said, on February 3rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm

Just another fuzzy-headed Defense project gone obsolete. The more modern contemporaries are those “secret” shelters build for the Congress and Senate, that have been declassified and deactivated. The “drought” that had caused their abandonment, was the end of the cold war.

# 16 Ron Larson said, on February 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pm

Dave,
Did you get a chance to go over to the nearby Montezuma Well? It also has cliff dwellings in it. I think it is more fascinating that this place. Besides, it a beautiful area, right in the middle of the Verde Valley.

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