Tonto National Monument

Two cliff dwellings look out over the Tonto Basin here, occupied from about 1300 to 1450 CE. They reflect a culture of local and immigrant groups that archaeologists call Salado, and descendants of the cliff dwellers still call Arizona home. The monument sits among saguaros in the northern Sonoran Desert, at 26260 N. AZ Highway 188 near Roosevelt.

Most visitors walk to the Lower Cliff Dwelling. The trail is 1 mile round trip and usually takes about an hour, with no reservation needed. From October 4 to May 3 you must start before 3 p.m., and from May 4 to October 3 you must start before noon. Excessive heat, lightning, bee activity or flooding can close it, so check conditions first. Weekends are busiest, so go in the morning or on a weekday if you can.

The Upper Cliff Dwelling has about 40 rooms in a cave roughly 70 feet wide, 80 feet high and 60 feet deep, and you can visit only on a ranger-led tour. Tours run on Saturdays and Sundays from November to April, from 10 a.m. to about 2 p.m., and cover 3 miles round trip with 600 feet of climbing on loose, rocky ground. Check-in is by 9:45 a.m., groups are limited to six, and the tour isn't recommended for children under 8. Reservations open October 1 by phone at (928) 467-2241 and fill quickly, so call two to three months ahead.

The fee is $10 per person aged 16 and over, or a valid America the Beautiful pass, charged at the visitor center. Payment is cashless. The visitor center, museum, park store and picnic area are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. all year and are accessible. It is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day, and closes early on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

From the Phoenix area, allow two hours. The National Park Service recommends US 60 east through Globe, then State Route 188 north-west for 25 miles, or State Route 87 and then SR 188 south-east for 39 miles from the Scottsdale side. Don't plan on the Apache Trail (SR 88) as a through route. Inside the dwellings, don't touch surfaces or lean on walls, and keep to the trail.