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Tonto National Monument

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Lower Cliff Dwelling, Courtesy of the NPS

Tonto National Monument protects two cliff dwellings that provide the best-preserved architectural evidence related to what archaeologists call the Salado (opens as a PDF) cultural phenomenon.

About 40 to 60 people might have lived among the 20 rooms of the Lower Cliff Dwelling at its height. The Upper Cliff Dwelling contains about 40 rooms—32 at ground level, and 8–10 on a second story. People lived in the Upper Dwelling for more than a century. By 1450, though, people had left the region.

Access to the Upper Cliff Dwelling is seasonal and by guided tour only. Because it is a fragile backcountry site, group size is very limited. Call for information.

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Tonto National Monument

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Type of place:
Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings
Ownership:
National Park Service
Telephone:
(928) 467-2241
Website:
Tonto National Monument
Hours:
Visitor Center: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Christmas Day.
Guided tours:
Tours are offered to the Upper Cliff Dwelling November through April, every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Call (928) 467-2241 for availability and reservations.
Entrance fee:
Yes
Nearby heritage sites:
Besh-Ba-Gowah

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