NPS Website; Local Website
WHAT IS IT?Secluded 13th, 14th and 15th Century Salado Indian cliff dwellings perched high in the rugged Upper Sonoran Desert mountains and overlooking the Tonto Valley.
BEAUTY (8/10)
A beautiful blue sky, towering Saguaro cacti, organ pipe cacti, a cool high altitude setting, rocky mountainsides and vibrant wildflowers give the Tonto NM cliff dwellings a stunning setting. The tucked-away ancient homes are an added bonus to the lovely Arizona environ.
HISTORICAL INTEREST (6/10)
The Tonto Basin has supported people for the last 7,000 years. Nomadic tribes are thought to have used the basin as hunting and camping grounds. Archeologists date the first permanent settlement here to 100 to 600 C.E. (Common Era, apparently the new way to say B.C.).
Hohokam lived in pit house villages in the Basin for a few hundred years before leaving the area. The culture, which then emerged and built the dwellings preserved at the Site, is known as the Salado, named after the nearby Salt River.
Archeologists believe the Salado were farmers and chose the Tonto Basin as their home because of the fertile soil in the river valley. The cliffs offered protection from the elements and perhaps other people. Like many other people of the Southwest, the Salado abandoned their cliff dwellings and moved away around 1400. There are several theories but no real explanation offered for their departure.
Today the Tonto NM overlooks Theodore Roosevelt Lake, Arizona’s oldest man-made reservoir.
CROWDS (8/10)
It was a busy day at the Site. The parking lot was full and families were everywhere. Is it spring break? The number of visitors did not negatively affect our visit. The trail was long enough to accommodate everyone. Children would inevitably reach the top first and yell down to the elders in their group to hurry. It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement of their discovery.
The park video was on a continuous loop in a small room at the start of the trail. Visitors would slip in, find a seat and watch what remained of the video. The video would end, someone would get up and restart the tape and people would stay up until the point at which they entered. New people would slip in and the cycle continued.It must be spring break; all of the visitors were in incredibly good moods. One young woman even came up to Gab and complimented her on a photo she had taken of a bird we were trying to identify. Happiness is so infectious.
EASE OF USE/ACCESS (1/5)
Tonto NM is not close to Phoenix, despite its apparent proximity on the road atlas. We have to start remembering how big the states are out west. The Park is 120 miles from Phoenix via paved road. You can cut some distance by taking unpaved Route 88 from Apache Springs, but you won’t save much time.
To get to the Site, take U.S. Route 60 east from Phoenix for about 90 miles until you reach the sprawl of the Miami-Claypool copper mining facility. Turn left (northwest) onto Arizona Route 88. Tonto NM’s VC is 30 miles ahead and on your left.
Once you get to the Visitor Center, you need to hike up the hillside to get to the Lower Cliff Dwellings. The distance is about a ½ mile, the change in altitude is about 350 feet. Hikes to the Upper Cliff Dwellings must be done with a Ranger. A few tours leave every week from November to April but are limited to 15 people. Make your plans ahead of time, spots fill quickly.
CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (4/5)
Looking for places to hike in Arizona? An explanation of the geography of Arizona? Instructions on how to cook like an Arizonan? You have come to the right place.
COSTS (3/5)Entry is $3 per person, free with the National Parks pass.
RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (4/5)
One Ranger welcomed visitors and collected entrance fees at the Visitor Center. One Student Conservation Association worker was stationed at the top of the trail at the entrance of the lower cliff dwelling. We would have preferred a Ranger closer to the actual site but the SCA staff was trying hard to answer as many questions as she could. When we returned to the VC, another Ranger was in the greeting position.
TOURS/CLASSES (7/10)
The video is new and a very helpful introduction and explanation of the Salado people. There is a lot of stop action photography, a technique we have gotten used to in southwestern Park Site videos.
FUN (8/10)
The hike up the mountain was great. Little placards identify much of the plant life but you are on your own with the birds. Every step up provided a different more dramatic vista of the valley below and the cliff dwellings above. Most importantly, you get to walk through the cliff dwellings. No DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER sign stops you from closely examining the 750-year old rooms and masonry. We had a great time.
WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (6/10)There are a lot of cliff dwellings in the Arizona/New Mexico area of the Southwest. You should see at least one. Most of the cliff dwelling National Park Sites are in the wide expanses of the four corners region. A trip there requires a vacation onto itself.
If you are vacationing in the Phoenix area, you have two choices, Tonto NM and Montezuma Castle NM. Here are the major differences.
Tonto NM is a longer drive, a scenic 120 miles from Phoenix on a winding highway. Montezuma Castle NM is a 90-mile straight shot up Interstate 17.
You must hike uphill for a ½ mile to get to Tonto NM. Montezuma Castle NM is located a few feet from the parking lot.
You can hike into the Tonto NM lower cliff dwelling and pass through all of its tiny rooms. You can only stare at the Montezuma Castle.
The scenery around Tonto NM is breathtaking high desert forest. Saguaro cacti line the steep, jagged mountain cliffs and birds fly all around. You are in the middle of nowhere, Arizona copper country.
Montezuma Castle NM’s scenery is unremarkable. However, the Site is near the massive red rocks and upscale shopping of Sedona, Arizona. Everybody loves Sedona.
We preferred Tonto NM to Montezuma Castle NM. Your decision might not be the same.
TOTAL 55/80
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