Montezuma Castle

It is not Montezuma Castle, really. According to the website thingstodo.com Montezuma died about 100 years before this place was built. But it is a coll place to visit - it is a 5-story, 20-room high-rise apartment built right into a limestone cliff by the Sinagua Indian people. They lived there about 1.000 years ago - according to the national park website.

So, yes, this is the famous Cliff-dwellings by husband had nagged me to find.

BTW, Sinagua - Spanish for "without water"(sin agua).

NATIONAL PARK PASS
This is a national park. So check if it is worth purchasing the National park pass. How do you check if it is worth it? Well, check how many national parks are you planning with a high degree of certainty to visit for a year of the date of purchase. If the fees total are higher than the cost of the pass, buy the pass.

http://www.nps.gov/moca/index.htm

HOW LONG TO PLAN?
  It is open from 8 to 5 and it costs only $5.00 a person. As usual, they don't tell you how long to plan for your visit.

I looked up some ratings at Yelp.com and someone said they were in and out in less than 30 minutes.  It is a 1/3mile loop walk there.

Other person mentioned a museum. The website says - in the things to do section - to set aside an hour to explore the museum and roam the trails through a sycamore grove to the base of the cliff-dwelling.


PICNIC AREA?
There is a Well about 11 miles north. The park website mentions a picnic area, but does not say where it is. Some reviewers at yelp.com say it is along the trail there, but Thingstodo.com says it is at the well. My husband, who has never been to the well, but has been to the castle, says they do have one at the Castle. Well, so maybe they have it in both places???? Or maybe thignstodo.com is wrong. Because by now it is three against one.



WHAT IS THE MONTEZUMA WELL?

So what is the well? The well is a naturally formed sink - thanks to the collapse of a limestone cavern, it served as a type of oasis and irrigation source for the ancient Indian people.