Early Settlers thought for sure this elaborate maze of rooms and apartments HAD to be built by Montezuma, the Aztec Emperor, but these ruins were abandoned almost a century before he was born! The Sinaguas were primarily corn farmers who had benefited from the eruption in 1064 of Sunset Crater (or the mountain it used to be-east of Flagstaff) which dumped a nice layer of fertile ash on this area.
This is a truly intriguing spot with a small fee to get in, a quaint visitors center and some well groomed trails that take you to some spectacular views of Montezuma's Castle, and another ruin nearby. This virtual is wheelchair accessible! Our only problem was finding adequate parking, and this was on a non-summer weekday! There are no petroglyphs at this site that we know of, but after some research, we later read that their artwork can be seen at Toozigoot in Clarkdale, AZ and at Palatki, west of Sedona, Az. That would definitely be worth a visit. Guess we need to plan the return visit!
We saw this feature on a map when we were planning our trip to Arizona and beyond, and it did NOT disappoint us. Being as it is a National Monument, we could not place a physical cache here. However, we feel it is a wonderful little walk and venture into American pre-history that people of all ages will love! Don't forget your camera!
To log this cache you will need to go to the listed coordinates, to an interpretive sign. You will have to read the sign to find the answer. If you can answer the following questions you will get credit for the find. DO NOT *under any circumstances* post your answers to this page, and even though we WELCOME photos of the dwellings, please do not post a photo of the actual interpretive sign (for obvious reasons). Email us and we won't delete your log.
1. How many rooms in this particular cliff dwelling?
2. How many people are estimated to have lived in this particular cliff dwelling?
