How to visit and what to see in Montezuma Castle

Today we begin a long journey from our motel in Phoenix but also Kayenta, near to Monument ValleyIn our Coast to coast trip through the United States.

It is just over 600 kilometers, which will take us about seven hours, so we left the hotel quite early. Of course, after a good breakfast.

During the journey through these lands of Arizona, the first point where we detour to make a stop and rest is at the national monument Montezuma Castle.

Located Green River Valley, this monument includes the grounds of the best preserved homes of the native Indians of this area.

Although named after the last ruler of the Aztecs, Montezuma Castle It has no direct relationship with said historical figure or with the Aztec people.

the so-called castle It is a five-story high adobe brick structure with 20 rooms, dating from the year 1100, accessed by stairs through openings in the roof.

Built on a cliff almost 24 meters above the valley, to the northeast is the Montezuma well, which is a large sinkhole bordered by communal housing.

Rediscovered in the late 8th century, it became the third national monument established in the United States, which occurred on December 1906, XNUMX.

In the end we did not visit the monument, partly to save on the entrance fee and, above all, to not delay arriving at the monument too much. Monument Valley, since we wanted to visit it that same afternoon and also the next day.

We took advantage of the stop to have a coffee and visit, yes, the surroundings of the area and the store/museum at the entrance.

The truth is that we thought it was a very interesting place, we rethought the plan and, finally, we decided not to visit it and continue our initial plan.

We continued our journey, first to the hotel, which was in Kayenta, 50 kilometers to the south, before reaching Monument Valley, and we went to eat at a recommended restaurant near the hotel, called The Blue Coffee Shop where both the property and the clientele mainly belong to the Navajo people, and where they gave us good food, abundant and at a very reasonable price.

It is important to note that this Monument Valley Park is located within the call Navajo nation and is not part of the national park structure of the United States.

In other words, passes for the country's national parks that allow entry to all of them at a very reasonable price do not work for Monument Valley.

On the other hand, while in general the entrance to any national park in the United States costs about 20 dollars per vehicle, access to the Monument Valley costs half.

Another characteristic of the area is that there are very few hotels and they are very expensive.

There is one inside the park, the Hotel View, very, very expensive.

We stayed in the Holiday Inn, priced at $230 a night for a double room with breakfast (in other words four times more than the motels we normally use – even though the hotel is supposed to be better).

Is there any other hotel in Kayenta…and that's it.

It is recommended to reserve some time in advance to secure a room. The other solution is to look for a hotel north of the Monument Valley, en Mexican Hat.

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