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Montezuma Castle National Monument
Photo of Montezuma Castle National Monument courtesy NPS

It's not a castle and Montezuma was never here.

Nestled into a limestone recess high above the flood plain of Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley stands one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. The five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling served as a "high-rise apartment building" for prehistoric Sinagua Indians over 600 years ago. Early settlers to the area assumed that the imposing structure was associated with the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but the castle was abandoned almost a century before Montezuma was born.

With heightened concern over vandalism of fragile southwestern prehistoric sites, Montezuma Castle became a major factor in the nation's historic preservation movement with its proclamation as a national monument. The Castle was described in the December 1906 establishment proclamation as "of the greatest ethnological and scientific interest." Acreage: 840.86, federal: 16.83, non-federal.


Facilities available at Montezuma Castle National Monument:



Montezuma Castle National Monument website
Recreation Area Map
Park Email: MOCA_Administration@nps.gov

Phone numbers
Visitor Information 928-567-3322
Headquarters 928-567-5276

Address
2800 Montezuma Castle Road
Camp Verde, AZ 86322