Montezuma Castle National Monument

Montezuma Castle is a prehistoric cliff dwelling in Camp Verde, Arizona built as a five-story structure with twenty rooms. The construction sits in a natural alcove about 90 feet (27 meters) above the Beaver Creek valley floor and was built entirely from local limestone and wood.

The site was built between 1100 and 1425 and then abandoned for reasons still unknown. President Roosevelt made it a protected monument in 1906, turning it into one of the first officially preserved indigenous sites in the United States.

The builders shaped rooms directly into the rock face and used the stone as both back wall and ceiling for their homes. Visitors today can still see how these people applied limestone mortar and fitted wooden beams to create multiple floors.

A paved trail with signs leads from the entrance to several viewing points below the dwelling. Access to the structure itself is not allowed to protect the site, and visitors can only observe the building from below.

The name has no connection to the Aztec ruler because the inhabitants left the site forty years before he was born. Early European settlers gave the place this misleading name because they believed the Aztecs had lived this far north.

Location: Yavapai County

Inception: December 8, 1906

Operator: National Park Service

Opening Hours: Monday-Sunday 08:00-17:00

Website: https://nps.gov/moca

GPS coordinates: 34.61243,-111.84166

Latest update: December 4, 2025 23:03