Montezuma Well

 Less than an half-hours drive from Montezuma Castle is another dwelling, albeit much less preserved, called Montezuma Well. The well itself is a natural, spring-fed sinkhole surrounded by limestone cliffs. It measures 368 feet across and 55 feet deep and is kept at a constant 74 degrees by warm springs flowing up to the surface. They says that 1.5 MILLION gallons of water flow up every day....no wonder there were so many ducks in the water and this is a MAJOR wildlife habitat! The water flows out through a side cave to a lovely winding irrigation ditch (but its much nicer than a "ditch" constructed almost 1000 years ago by the Sinaguans.

 Although natives had been using this area as a stop-over for (they say) 9000 years, the first permanent dwelling was built around 1200 A.D. and was vacant by mid-1400's as were the other settlements in the Verde Valley.They feel this one was home to perhaps 150-200 Sinaguans.

 The landscape was absolutely breathtaking! Oh, how I longed to spend the better part of a day here with my binoculars hiking, looking for birds and other critters! Unfortunately, we arrived shortly after 4:30 and the NPS ranger made us leave by 5pm....and it was our last day ;(  I will definitely revisit this gem in the future and make sure I have a few hours here!!!

 Here's the backside of the "well" and where the water flows out. Now I'm pretty sure this lovely walkway was improved or constructed by the NPS, but I was terribly disappointed that I only had 5-10 minutes max to explore this area!

Beautiful trees were everywhere, the

 water  was clear, it was warm, and birds were chirping and red-tail hawks flew overhead.....it just doesn't get much better than this!

I though about "hiding" from the ranger in order to stay a little longer....but...the law-abiding part of me said "rules are rules...you can always come back". And that I definitely will!

One last look........