Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Montezuma Well

Montezuma Well is a unit of the Montezuma Castle National Monument.  As explained in DesertUSA:
Montezuma's Well is a sinkhole, a collapsed underground limestone cavern filled with water. More than a million gallons of water a day flow continuously, providing a lush, verdant oasis in the midst of surrounding desert grassland.
As with the Castle, the Well has nothing to do with the Aztec Emperor.  Instead, as also noted by the DesertUSA link above, the area around the Well was occupied by the Hohokam, the Sinagua, and most recently the Apache.  Arizona Leisure also has some information on Montezuma Well.  For more on the Hohokam, go here.

This view of Montezuma Well is from the southwest.

A small cliff house was built into a niche in the Well's outer wall.

This view of the Well is from the southeast.

Just outside the Well is this house.

One trail in the park leads down to the outlet of the Well, from which water flows through a man-made (or perhaps man-modified) channel.


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