Tuzigoot National Monument

A thousand years ago, people began building a small hilltop pueblo above the Verde River, and it grew into one of the largest villages in the area. Tuzigoot has 87 ground-level rooms and 23 upper-story rooms, about 110 in all, on a limestone ridge more than a hundred feet above the floodplain. The National Park Service estimates that about 225 to 250 people lived here at any given time. They farmed the bottomlands, including water-hungry crops such as cotton, and at least three other villages stood within sight.

They were also well connected. Excavators found pottery from across the Southwest, seashells, obsidian and macaw feathers from far to the south, and the residents probably traded out minerals, salt, cotton and textiles. The oldest rooms date from about 1000 CE. People left sometime around the 1300s or 1400s, by different NPS accounts, and why is uncertain: climate change, drought and conflict have all been suggested, while Hopi tradition describes these villages as stops on a longer migration to the Hopi Mesas. Zuni accounts say some stayed behind.

Be aware of what you're looking at. By 1933, when University of Arizona graduate students Louis Caywood and Edward Spicer began excavating, most of the pueblo had collapsed. About 80 percent of what stands today was reconstructed between 1933 and 1935 from stones found on site, and restoration continues, now largely by tribal staff and interns replacing the 1930s concrete. The name comes from the Apache Tú Digiz, usually translated as "crooked water", which an Apache worker named Ben Lewis gave the site in 1934. Say it "TOO-see-goot".

The paved Pueblo Trail is a moderate 0.3-mile loop that takes 30 to 45 minutes, with some steep sections. Stairs lead into a reconstructed room of the citadel and up to its roof, which looks out over the valley. The small museum, built in 1936 in the style of the pueblo, is worth another 20 or 30 minutes for its ceramics, textiles and tools, nearly all found here. Very little shade exists on the trails, so bring water and a hat.

Below the ridge, Tavasci Marsh covers about 96 acres and is, according to the NPS, the largest freshwater marsh in Arizona unconnected to the Colorado River. Over 245 bird species have been recorded in the corridor. Marsh trails are dirt and gravel, require the entrance fee even if you arrive from Dead Horse Ranch State Park, and need at least two hours. Be back by 5 p.m., when the gate is locked. The lake on digital maps next to Tuzigoot Road has partly dried up, and there's no water access in the park.