Getting Around

Both Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well provide short trails. Drive to the Visitor Center or Contact Station and walk from there!

 

Visitors on the trail at Montezuma Castle.

NPS

Montezuma Castle

An easy, 0.3 mile trail takes you through a glade of Arizona sycamores to the base of one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America. Take your time as you stroll the paved sidewalk past the 900 year old legacy of the Sinagua people. The towering trees provide welcome shade during the hot summer months as well as valuable habitat for hundreds of native plants and animals. Rock squirrels, songbirds, and lizards are easily spotted along the trails, even during the hottest parts of the day. The trail around Montezuma Castle is fully wheelchair accessible.

 

Montezuma Well

Exploring Montezuma Well along a 0.3 mile trail is an experience you aren't soon to forget. This unique geological feature is home to creatures found nowhere else on the planet. However, the presence of so much warm, fresh water provides an oasis for a wide variety of wildlife, including mammals (muskrats, ringtails, rock squirrels, white-tail deer), over 100 species of birds, snakes, lizards, and a tremendous assortment of invertebrates. If a ranger is available at the contact station, stop by to see amphipod and water scorpion specimens, some of the invertebrates found only in the Well. The trail around the Well is paved, but steep grades, stairs, and large rocks prevent wheelchair accessibility.

Montezuma Well also boasts a pithouse. Stop to see this early dwelling on your drive to the Well parking lot.

Finally, drive a half-mile back to visit the lush picnic area. Tall cottonwood and sycamore trees provide shade while you eat your lunch and view the prehistoric irrigation canal. The picnic area also features a new trail around the old pasture area, at the back of the site. Take a stroll through nature and learn about how we are revegetating this area with native species.