After spending some time at Montezuma Castle National Monument, we headed on to Montezuma Well – an outlier site of Montezuma Castle which is about 20 minutes away.
Just before getting to the parking lot for the well, there was a sign for a Pit House Ruin off to the left. We parked the car and took the short path to a shelter which protects the ruin.
The Pithouse Ruin was excavated back in 1958. Members of the public – including school children on field trips – were able to participate in the effort. It was quite literally overseen Dr David Breternitz who scaled a ladder which was held in place by guy wires.
There were four pit houses in the area, with this one dating back to 1050. It’s thought most likely that this pit house was used as a community building, although it might have been used as a dwelling place for several families.
The holes around the exterior would’ve been where the wall posts were inserted, with the larger holes in the center of the building housing the main roof support.
One of the information boards provided a rendering of what the pit house looked like back in the day.
After checking out the pit house ruin, we continued up to Montezuma Well. From the parking lot there’s a 1/3 mile paved trail to the well; you can then return via that trail or take a slightly longer loop trail back to the parking lot in order to see a few other features at the site.
You’ll see a sign asking you to stay on the trail due to snakes and we highly recommend following that request! We didn’t see them ourselves, but several rattlesnakes were spotted the day we visited.
It didn’t take long before we reached the Montezuma Well overlook. The well contains 15 million gallons of water and is fed by about 1.6 million gallons of water per day from beneath.
The green water doesn’t contain any fish, although there are thousands of freshwater leaches. These were observed by divers who tried to determine where the well’s water comes from.
Researchers have spent a lot of time trying to determine the well’s source, but they still haven’t been able to come to a definite conclusion. They have a better idea of where the water originates, but research is ongoing.
The well isn’t the only thing to see. Continue along the trail and head down the steps to the left to visit Swallet Ruin.
The trail down gives you a different vantage point of Montezuma Well.
With 1.6 million gallons entering the well each day, that excess water has to go somewhere. It flows out via a swallet which is an opening where a stream disappears underground.
Down by the swallet are ruins that once housed the Sinagua people who lived there from 1100 to 1425.
Montezuma Well and the ruins became a popular place for people to visit in the 1800s. To take advantage of this, a Phoenix-based photographer called George H. Rothrock graffitied the wall to advertise his services.
He wasn’t the only one to do this, with I Hill and Duke Heflin adding their own markings on June 30, 1896. Needless to say, the National Park Service asks modern day visitors not to do the same thing.
The trail ends at the ruins, so we headed back up to the main trail. Along the way we spotted some other ruins in the distance. These weren’t visible from up on the overlook (you can see a couple of people in the top left corner), so it’s definitely worth heading down to the Swallet Ruins so that you can see these additional ruins.
The limestone cliff face was the perfect place for the Sinagua people to build their homes. That’s because the back wall and rock overhang provided much of the necessary shelter, reducing the construction needed for the dwellings. Similar to the Swallet Ruins, these cliff dwellings were used from 1100 to 1400.
Continuing along the trail back to the parking lot, there were some more ruins. These two pueblos date back to 1300 or so, with one building having at least 11 rooms and the other having about 18 rooms.
How Long Does It Take To Visit Montezuma Well?
We spent about half an hour wandering around Montezuma Well, with an hour probably being the most amount of time you’d need to spend there.
Is Montezuma Well Pet-Friendly?
Yes, Montezuma Well is pet-friendly. Be sure to keep your pups on a tight leash though due to the very real danger of rattlesnakes.
How Much Does It Cost To Visit?
Even though it’s part of Montezuma Castle National Monument which charges an admission fee, it’s free to visit Montezuma Well.
Where Is Montezuma Well?
Montezuma Well is in central Arizona, about 20 minutes northeast of Montezuma Castle. It’s about 90 minutes north of Phoenix, 30 minutes south of Sedona and less than an hour south of Flagstaff.
Lina says
The well has a nice population of turtles. And the trail to the river is beautiful. When I was a local, i would eat my lunch in the shade by the river.
stephen says
That sounds like a lovely place to have lunch.