Tuzigoot National Monument sits on a limestone ridge above Arizona’s Verde Valley, where the remains of a large Sinagua pueblo overlook the Verde River. Built between about 1100 and 1400 CE, the hilltop village once held more than 100 rooms and was home to a closely connected farming community. The pueblo’s layout and artifacts show a culture shaped by wide-ranging trade and interaction with neighboring Hohokam, Mogollon, and Ancestral Pueblo peoples. Life here depended on careful use of land and water, and when conditions changed in the 1400s—through drought, resource pressure, or social shifts—the site was abandoned.

The nearby Verde River supports Fremont cottonwood, Goodding’s willow, velvet mesquite, and seepwillow, with cattails and bulrushes growing in wetter areas, where otters are found. The bird community is especially rich in species and include great blue herons, black phoebes, vermilion flycatchers, Gambel’s quail, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, and numerous migratory songbirds. 

To learn more, visit the monument's website.