Tonto National Monument

Protected area in Gila County, Arizona

Tonto National Monument

Lower Cliff Dwelling

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Location| Gila County, Arizona, USA
Nearest city| Globe, Arizona
Coordinates| 33°39′25″N 111°5′40″W﻿ / ﻿33.65694°N 111.09444°W﻿ / 33.65694; -111.09444
Area| 1,120 acres (4.5 km2)[1]
Created| December 19, 1907 (1907-December-19)
Visitors| 31,504 (in 2022)[2]
Governing body| National Park Service
Website| Tonto National Monument
Salado Polychrome pottery from Tonto National Monument

Tonto National Monument is a National Monument in the Superstition Mountains, in Gila County of central Arizona. The area lies on the northeastern edge of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion, an arid habitat with annual rainfall of about 16 inches (400 mm).[3] The Salt River runs through this area, providing a rare, year-round source of water.

## Cliff dwellings

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Well-preserved cliff dwellings were occupied by the Salado culture during the 13th, 14th, and early 15th centuries. The people farmed in the Salt River Valley, and supplemented their diet by hunting and gathering native plants. The Salado were fine craftspeople, producing some of the most flamboyant polychrome pottery and intricately woven textiles to be found in the Southwest. Some of the artifacts excavated nearby are on display in the visitor center museum.

The Tonto National Monument Archeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.[4] The Lower Ruin and Upper Ruin are archeological sites that were NRHP-listed in 1989.[4][a]

## Natural history

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The National Monument is surrounded by the Tonto National Forest, which includes low plains, desert scrubland, and alpine pine forests.

The Upper Sonoran ecosystem is known for its characteristic saguaro cacti. Other common plants include: cholla, prickly pear, hedgehog, and barrel cactus (flowering from April to June); yucca, sotol, and agave; creosote bush and ocotillo; palo verde and mesquite trees; an amazing variety of colorful wild flowers in good years (February to March); and a lush riparian area which supports large Arizona Walnut, Arizona Sycamore, and hackberry trees.

It also serves as a home for native animals such as whitetail and mule deer, mountain lion, bobcat, three rattlesnake species and many more.

### Wilderness areas

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The area around Tonto National Monument also includes several designated wilderness area, including Four Peaks, Superstition, and Salome Wilderness Areas.

Lower cliff dwelling looking south Tonto National Monument looking southwest

## Photo gallery

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View of Tonto National Monument looking southwest View of Tonto National Monument View of Tonto National Monument looking toward Roosevelt Lake

* Landsat 7 image of Tonto National Monument (right center), and the surrounding area

* Tonto National Monument, AZ, Room detail

* Tonto National Monument, AZ, room detail

* Tonto National Monument, AZ, room detail

* Tonto National Monument, AZ, Room detail

* Tonto National Monument, AZ, hand prints on wall

* Tonto National Monument, AZ, looking west

* Tonto National Monument, AZ, looking along west face

* Tonto National Monument, looking east

## See also

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* List of national monuments of the United States

## Notes

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1. ^ All three NRHP-listed areas are included within the National Monument, but the National Monument itself is not NRHP-listed

### References

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1. ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved May 14, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
2. ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
3. ^ Roosevelt 1 WNW, Arizona – Climate Summary. Western Regional Climate Center.
4. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

* "Tonto National Monument, Arizona". NASA Earth Observatory. Archived from the original on September 5, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2006.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tonto National Monument.

* Apache Trail website: Ancient Cliff Dwellings Info
* NPS: official Tonto National Monument website
* Tonto National Monument: Saving a National Treasure
* American Southwest, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
* Tonto National Monument: a traveller's diary

* v
* t
* e

Protected areas of Arizona

Federal|

| National Parks|

* Grand Canyon
* Petrified Forest
* Saguaro

|

National Historical Parks,
Historic Sites and Memorials|

* Tumacácori NHP
* Fort Bowie NHS
* Hubbell Trading Post NHS
* Coronado NMem

National Monuments|

National Park Service
Canyon de Chelly
Casa Grande Ruins
Chiricahua
Hohokam Pima
Montezuma Castle
Navajo
Organ Pipe Cactus
Pipe Spring
Sunset Crater
Tonto
Tuzigoot
Walnut Canyon
Wupatki

Bureau of Land Management
Agua Fria
Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon–Parashant
Ironwood Forest
Sonoran Desert
Vermilion Cliffs

National Conservation Areas|

* Gila Box Riparian
* Las Cienegas
* San Pedro Riparian

National Recreation Areas|

* Glen Canyon
* Lake Mead

National Trails|

* Arizona National Scenic Trail
* Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail
* Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
* Old Spanish National Historic Trail

National Forests|

* Apache–Sitgreaves
* Coconino
* Elden Pueblo
* Honanki Heritage Site
* Palatki Heritage Site
* V Bar V Heritage Site
* Coronado
* Kaibab
* Prescott
* Tonto

National Wildlife Refuges|

* Bill Williams River
* Buenos Aires
* Cabeza Prieta
* Cibola
* Havasu
* Imperial
* Kofa
* Leslie Canyon
* San Bernardino

Wilderness Areas|

See List of Arizona Wilderness Areas

Wild and Scenic Rivers|

* Fossil Creek
* Verde River

State|

| State Parks|

* Alamo Lake
* Boyce Thompson Arboretum
* Buckskin Mountain
* Catalina
* Cattail Cove
* Dankworth Pond
* Dead Horse Ranch
* Fool Hollow Lake
* Fort Verde
* Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial
* Homolovi
* Jerome
* Kartchner Caverns
* Lake Havasu
* Lost Dutchman
* Lyman Lake
* McFarland
* Oracle
* Patagonia Lake
* Picacho Peak
* Red Rock
* Riordan Mansion
* River Island
* Roper Lake
* San Rafael
* Slide Rock
* Sonoita Creek
* Tombstone Courthouse
* Tonto Natural Bridge
* Tubac Presidio
* Verde River Greenway
* Yuma Quartermaster Depot
* Yuma Territorial Prison

|

Wildlife areas|

* Becker Lake
* Cluff Ranch
* Luna Lake
* Mittry Lake
* Powers Butte
* Santa Rita
* White Mountain Grasslands
* Willcox Playa

Municipal|

| Nature parks|

* Papago Park
* Phoenix Mountains Preserve
* South Mountain Park

|

Other|

| National Natural Landmarks|

See List of National Natural Landmarks in Arizona

|

National Historic Landmarks|

See List of National Historic Landmarks in Arizona

Historic Places|

See National Register of Historic Places listings in Arizona

* Arizona State Parks

* v
* t
* e

National monuments of the United States

National Park Service|

* African Burial Ground
* Agate Fossil Beds
* Alibates Flint Quarries
* Aniakchak
* Aztec Ruins
* Bandelier
* Belmont-Paul Women's Equality
* Birmingham Civil Rights
* Booker T. Washington
* Buck Island Reef
* Cabrillo
* Camp Nelson
* Canyon de Chelly
* Cape Krusenstern
* Capulin Volcano
* Casa Grande Ruins
* Castillo de San Marcos
* Castle Clinton
* Castle Mountains
* Cedar Breaks
* César E. Chávez
* Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers
* Chiricahua
* Colorado
* Craters of the Moon
* Devils Postpile
* Devils Tower
* Dinosaur
* Effigy Mounds
* El Malpais
* El Morro
* Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley
* Florissant Fossil Beds
* Fort Frederica
* Fort Matanzas
* Fort McHenry
* Fort Monroe
* Fort Pulaski
* Fort Stanwix
* Fort Union
* Fossil Butte
* Freedom Riders
* George Washington Birthplace
* George Washington Carver
* Gila Cliff Dwellings
* Governors Island
* Grand Canyon–Parashant
* Grand Portage
* Hagerman Fossil Beds
* Hohokam Pima
* Hovenweep
* Jewel Cave
* John Day Fossil Beds
* Katahdin Woods and Waters
* Lava Beds
* Little Bighorn Battlefield
* Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home
* Mill Springs Battlefield
* Montezuma Castle
* Muir Woods
* Natural Bridges
* Navajo
* Oregon Caves
* Organ Pipe Cactus
* Petroglyph
* Pipe Spring
* Pipestone
* Poverty Point
* Rainbow Bridge
* Russell Cave
* Salinas Pueblo Missions
* Scotts Bluff
* Springfield 1908 Race Riot
* Statue of Liberty
* Stonewall
* Sunset Crater Volcano
* Timpanogos Cave
* Tonto
* Tule Lake
* Tule Springs Fossil Beds
* Tuzigoot
* Virgin Islands Coral Reef
* Waco Mammoth
* Walnut Canyon
* Wupatki
* Yucca House

US Forest Service|

* Admiralty Island
* Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon
* Bears Ears
* Berryessa Snow Mountain
* Browns Canyon
* Camp Hale – Continental Divide
* Chimney Rock
* Giant Sequoia
* Gila Cliff Dwellings
* Misty Fjords
* Mount St. Helens
* Newberry
* Saint Francis Dam Disaster
* San Gabriel Mountains
* Sand to Snow
* Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains

Bureau of
Land Management|

* Agua Fria
* Avi Kwa Ame
* Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon
* Basin and Range
* Bears Ears
* Berryessa Snow Mountain
* Browns Canyon
* California Coastal
* Canyons of the Ancients
* Carrizo Plain
* Cascade–Siskiyou
* Craters of the Moon
* Fort Ord
* Gold Butte
* Grand Canyon–Parashant
* Grand Staircase–Escalante
* Ironwood Forest
* Jurassic
* Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks
* Mojave Trails
* Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks
* Pompeys Pillar
* Prehistoric Trackways
* Río Grande del Norte
* San Juan Islands
* Sand to Snow
* Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains
* Sonoran Desert
* Upper Missouri River Breaks
* Vermilion Cliffs

Other (FWS, DOE,
AFRH, NOAA, USAF, Army)|

* Aleutian Islands World War II
* Castner Range
* Hanford Reach
* Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad
* Marianas Trench Marine
* Military Working Dog Teams
* Northeast Canyons and Seamounts
* Pacific Remote Islands Marine
* Papahānaumokuākea Marine
* President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home
* Rose Atoll Marine
* Tule Lake

Full Detailed List

* v
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* e

Cliff dwellings

Ancestral Puebloan|

| United States|

* Arizona
* Colorado
* Nevada
* New Mexico
* Texas
* Utah

|

Mexico|

* Chihuahua
* Sonora

Others|

| Afro-Eurasia|

* Bandiagara Escarpment
* Ellora Caves
* Guyaju Caves
* Petra

|

Americas|

* Cuarenta Casas
* Huápoca

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States
* Israel

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