We were in Arizona on vacation. As I was trying to find hikes to do, I stumbled upon a hike to the upper cliff dwellings in Tonto National Monument. The location was about an hour and 45 minutes from Phoenix and the pictures looked cool!

Then I read that you needed a permit and had to go on a guided trip. However, they only allowed 15 per trip, 3 trips a week, and only bewtween November-April. They had a number listed in guidebook and I thought, what the heck, I'll give them a call.

I spoke to the ranger and they had just opened up the books for March, so I got my pick of dates. WooHoo - that turned out easy!

We made the drive over from Phoenix needing to be there by 9:45am. We made it, signed in, then joined our group and ranger at the trailhead.

Off we went down the trail. About 1/8th of a mile in, we stopped. I assumed the pace would be slow on this guided trip, but why were we stopping so soon?! The ranger told us about some old well and some plants. The next stop was a riparian area that seemed out of place for the area and is likely what brought the Salado Indians to the area in the first place.

So we would stop and get a history lesson on the Indians or vegetation every 1/2 a mile or so. Eventually we reached the end of the trail and the ruins. What an incredible sight! They built the homes into an existing cave system below a steep canyon wall. We toured the cave and several rooms. We saw tools the Salado had used, old corn stalks, etc... Amazing all of it had been preserved 700+ years!

In addition to the ruins, this was an excellent hike. We had great views of Lake Roosevelt. The flowers were out, the desert green, and we got to learn about dozens of cacti and other desert plants.

After our hike, we headed back toward Phoenix. On the way we drove part way up the Mount Ord road, before parking and hiking a few miles each way to the top. We enjoyed the views from this very prominent peak.

For the Upper Cliff Dwellings, type Tonto National Monument into your GPS to get directions to the building/trailhead.

For Mount Ord, we used the signed Mount Ord exit off of Highway 87. The Mount Ord road is rough and rocky. We took a sedan on it, so it didn't require high clearance. However, I was worried about puncturing a tire constantly due to the sharp rock.

For the Upper Cliff Dwellings, you will be following a ranger on a well maintained trail... no details needed.

For Mount Ord, we simply hiked the Mount Ord Road. We started about 4 miles in on the road, but you can drive to within about 1/2 a mile of the top.