MONTEZUMA CASTLE NATIONAL MONUMENT

"NO MATTER HOW many times I have walked down the trail at Montezuma Castle, I am always stunned at the view and in awe of the ingenuity of the people who lived there," says Anne Worthington, a park guide. In 1896, soldiers from Fort Verde discovered the ancient cliff dwellings near Beaver Creek. Assuming Aztecs built them, the soldiers named the ruins for the ancient ruler. Today, we know the ancient culture that archaeologists call the Sinagua built the 20-room "castle," one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America and one of the nation's first national monuments. The site includes a detached section called Montezuma Well, added to the monument in 1947. It's named for a large sinkhole fed by underwater springs, with a pit house,rock shelters, pueblo ruins and a lush, shaded trail. Worthington watched two otters emerge from behind a large sycamore one day at the trail to the well's outlet. They headed down the trail just like any other visitor, then dived into the irrigation ditch and floated away.