Tonto National Monument and Cliff Dwellings

Soooo, why was this national forest and monument named Tonto? I could never figure this one out as none of the literature made any reference to the reason for this name. I had naively thought it was named after Tonto of the masked man fame - but apparently it had nothing to do with the Lone Ranger.

A half hour drive from Globe took us to Tonto National Forest which is also the site of Roosevelt Lake, Roosevelt dam and the cliff dwellings of the Salados.

For ten bucks each, we were able to purchase a "senior lifetime pass" that we can now use at any national park and federal recreational land for either free admission or at a discounted rate. Well, finally some advantage to getting older don't you think?


After watching a 10 minute video on the cliff dwellings we hiked 350 ft up the mountain side to the lower cliff dwellings. The upper cliff dwellings were closed to visitors as they were too delicate to be subjected to tourists stomping around.

The trail is paved and winds back and forth on one side of the mountain. Benches are strategically placed so one could take a quick break.

We are half way up now.

Roosevelt lake is in the background.

Looking at the entrance to the cliff dwellings

For some reason I was totally awed by this experience. To think that these people walked up the rugged mountain side (none of this namby pamby paved trails for them for sure) and constructed these dwellings; going up and down the mountain side everyday to gather food!

A closer look at the entranc

Marilyn, you asked for it and here it is - we finally got a fellow tourist to snap this one. However, I forgot the lipstick!

 View from inside the dwelling - Roosevelt lake in the background

Note the vehicles in the car park down below

The Salados had several such dwellings in the area and we were told that every dwelling was within sight of at least two others. Not sure if each dwelling was occupied by different groups or if they moved between them.

We had hoped to go back via the Apache Trail. Unfortunately this road was closed (reasons unknown) and so we took a different route back to Phoenix.

I was very keen on stopping at the Roosevelt dam. Much to my disappointment, there was no visitor center or exhibits explaining the construction of the dam. So I had to satisfy myself with a couple of photos


 Crossing the bridge going west to Phoenix. The dam is to the left.

Roosevelt Dam