569,000 visitors in 2010. Compare this to the visitations for the Top Ten Least Visited Sites in the National Park system, and Montezuma receives more than all ten sites combined. It is not a shrinking violet in the NPS annals, and the proximity from the oft-traveled Hwy 17 between Flagstaff and Phoenix, AZ is without question the reasoning behind the tourist numbers.
Truth be told, this was our second visit to Montezuma Castle in two years. It was this very site where the passport stamp first came to our attention. So, since this obsession has all but taken over our lives, it seemed apropos to return to the initial scene of the crime. Full disclosure, however - the pictures on this entry are combinations from both trips. We had blue skies in 2009 and partly cloudy skies this time, so your eyes do not deceive you.....
We traveled to Montezuma Castle after our harrowing Tonto National Monument adventure. The temperature dropped to an unseasonable 66 degrees, and our patience was at its limit. Curse the random driver deciding to hold us up after our 2 1/2 hour trek on an unpaved dirt road. We were ready to rock....A drive through beautiful Payson, AZ led us to a side highway that easily brought us to Montezuma Castle.
The large parking lot was completely full. A smattering of families dragging their unwilling children jaunted towards the visitor center, along with the senior citizen crowd, comprised the majority of the visitors this day. The queue to pay the $3 per person fee was running out the door (!), and equipped with our America the Beautiful National Parks Pass, allowing us free access, we skipped it altogether, shortchanging the 2011 visitation numbers by two.
Native American ruins, while ubiquitous, can also be difficult to access for the casual traveler. Ardous hikes along gravel and unpaved roads can make these spots tricky to see. Montezuma Castle is thankfully NOT one of those cases. All comers are able to view the monument at the same pace as the most fit and hearty. A flat, short trail brings you to the only view of the Castle. Tours up until the 1950s allowed visitors to climb up unsteady ladders and explore the monument, but erosion stopped the practice.
The castle itself is a five-story, twenty-room structure dating from the 1100s. Standing 100 feet from the small valley, it surely must have been a convenient site to spot incoming enemies, but a difficult climb to make several times per day. The fertile valley below offered an ideal location to plant the squash, beans, and corn that fed the Sinagua.
Besides a short walk around the perimeter of the valley, the visit to Montezuma Castle is brief. However, the site of the Sinagua's irrigation water, Montezuma Well, is approximately eight miles up Highway 17 and is a separate site of the NPS system (complete with another passport stamp - more on that later).
A short, steep staircase leads to the "well", which is the result of a collapsed limestone cavern. The water is heavily inundated with carbon dioxide, making it uninhabitable for life (except the most hearty bacteria and adapted fish), but perfect for the crop irrigation the vegetables needed.
An online blog spoke of the small ranger station at the bottom of the hill. A warning of it being sporadically manned was given. We watched the ranger walk away with a photographer as we pulled in. Hoping it would be a brief absence, we pressed our noses against the glass, gazing at the stamp that eluded us. We waited in the car, hoping the ranger would return, but to no avail. We closed our passport book, and headed to Tuzigoot.
Montezuma Castle should be stopped at if you are traveling between Phoenix and Flagstaff. It is an easy drive, walk, and experience to stand in the shadows of a castle much unlike Cinderella's, but no less grand.
FINAL RATING
6/10
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