Montezuma Castle was the last planned stop on our 10-day-pedal-to-the-medal non-stop road-trip between Arizona and Utah back in April of this year. I felt kinda sentimental when we were here because I knew it was the last time we’d see indigenous southwestern archeology for probably a few years.

We got there pretty close to the time the visitor center closed, so we walked through there first to get our National Park map, their coveted National Parks Passport Stamp, and a few additions to our giant pile of stickers, magnets, etc.

The exit of the visitor center’s store spits you out onto the sidewalk where Montezuma Castle is. It’s so awe-inspiring to see it just chilling up there in the alcove of the hillside.

Imagine it teeming with people using it as their home. So cool.

It was built and inhabited by the Sinagua people between 1100 and 1425, around the same time that the people were living at the Wupatki and Tuzigoot National Monuments that we’d visited in the days before. The Castle has five stories and 20 rooms – how’s that for size?

My absolute favorite indigenous structure from this trip was at House on Fire in the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. I’m pretty enamored with dwellings that are nestled inside of the hill/cliffside. Montezuma Castle was a great way to see something like that – and on such a grand scale – without having to get a backcountry permit or do any hiking at all.

We ended up chatting with a Ranger about her experience working at the Monument, and she told us about her adventure of being able to go up inside the structures with her team to have an immersive learning experience. Wouldn’t it be so interesting to have a job that allows you to do such rare things like that?

If you continue on the sidewalk past Montezuma Castle, you’ll come across a section of holey limestone wall that looks like tiny little built-in apartments. We spent a while here hanging out in the shade (it was so hot outside here!) and watching a few squirrels roam along the walls.

The sidewalk loops you back around to a little diorama about what Montezuma Castle looked like on the inside, then quickly and easily back to the main parking area. It was so amazing, you have a view of the Castle from no matter where you are.

From here, we finally took a deep breath knowing that we were on our way to the last hotel-stop of the trip.

We had so much to accomplish in what felt like so little time – pack up the camping gear, pack our bags in general, clean the rental car, feed ourselves… and then fly out of Phoenix around 5am the next morning and back home to Baltimore.

Off we went. 🚗💨

Learn more about Montezuma Castle National Monument:
https://www.nps.gov/moca/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montezuma_Castle_National_Monument

Learn more about the Sinagua people:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinagua
https://www.nps.gov/moca/learn/historyculture/sinagua.htm