NPS Photo

aerial view of Tonto National Monument

Welcome to the virtual Tonto National Monument!  We hope you’ll look around and enjoy a desktop tour of this slice of America’s heritage.

We hope, too, that you’ll choose to visit the real thing.  As you can see from the links above, we want you to know how to find us and what to expect when you get here.  By National Park Service standards, we are a small park and not very heavily visited.  That means you can enjoy a walk through a 700-year-old cliff dwelling amid lovely desert scenery while avoiding crowds most of the year.  The view of Roosevelt Lake is breathtaking. March is the busiest month and for good reason – the wildflower display can be spectacular.  Even then, however, if you arrive early in the day, you can enjoy solitude.

If you haven’t been to Tonto Basin or it's been a long time since you were here last, you’ll find excellent new roads either from the Beeline Highway or from Globe.  There are several hundred nearly new campsites served by boat ramps and Roosevelt Lake has been higher this year than ever before.  The Basin is ringed by mountains that are themselves dotted by wilderness areas.  If you enjoy outdoor recreation, there are many reasons to visit Tonto Basin.

We are just beginning to rebuild this website.  In the coming months we will add more educational information, a virtual tour of each of the two cliff dwellings, links to related scientific sites, our newsletter, and some of our management documents.  Please come back and check our progress, and we look forward to seeing you in person at Tonto National Monument.

Brad Traver
Superintendent