National Monuments · Arizona
Tuzigoot National Monument
National Park Service source material · single source. Source dates and reuse information are available beside each field.
Check the official park website for current access, conditions and visitor information.
Introduction
Background: 1
Water flows under and through this landscape, feeding the growth of people and towns. The Verde Valley is watered by snowmelt, summer monsoons, and springs that well up from the ancient sedimentary rocks. In the heart of the valley, a thousand years ago, people began to build a little hilltop pueblo that would grow into one of the largest villages in the area.
Geography
History and culture
Tuzigoot Human History: 5
"An examination of a map of Arizona will show that one of the pathways or feasible routes of travel ... between the pueblos of the Gila and those of northern Arizona would naturally be along Rio Verde valley. Its tributaries rise at the foot of San Francisco mountains, and the main river empties into the Salt, traversing from north to south a comparatively fertile valley... Here was a natural highway leading from the Gila pueblos, now in ruins, to the former villages in the north."
"The (Verde) river banks were covered with ruins of stone houses and regular fortifications; which ... had not been occupied for centuries. They were built upon the most fertile tracts of the valley, where were signs of acequias and of cultivation. The walls were of solid masonry, of rectangular form, some twenty or thirty paces in length, and yet remaining ten or fifteen feet in height."
Museum Collections: 6
The Tuzigoot visitor center and museum, built in 1935-1936, is one of just a handful of New Deal-era buildings that is still being used for its original purpose. The architecture of the museum is part of the exhibit - the construction techniques used for the building are updated, modern-day versions of traditional Sinagua construction. In its entry on the National Register of Historic Places , the museum is described as having an "irregular plan that was designed and built to reflect the Puebloan masonry style of the nearby Tuzigoot (site)." As you explore the museum, be sure to take a look at the heavy stone walls, the plaster finish, and the viga-and-latilla ceiling, all of which would be familiar to the people who built the Tuzigoot pueblo a thousand years ago.
The Tuzigoot collections consist of archeological artifacts removed from Tuzigoot and nearby archeological sites, plus associated field records. Notable collection items include several very large ollas, scraps of woven baskets and cotton fabric, dozens of obsidian projectile points, and several pieces of jewelry and other decorative pieces.
Tuzigoot's collections are collaboratively managed by the monument and the Western Archeological and Conservation Center , which provides professional archival and conservation services to National Park Service sites in the Intermountain Region.
The Southwest Virtual Museum has an excellent collection of photos showing many of the items in Tuzigoot's collections , as well as historic photographs and other information about the site.
Nature
Birds: 7
Tavasci Marsh has been named an important bird area by the Audubon Society. All the habitats (the riparian areas, marsh, and upland habitats) in the monument are used by a large number of bird species. The number of species observed each month is highest during the breeding season, partly due to a large number of migrating birds, and species richness is high during both the breeding and non-breeding seasons. During the breeding season, black-throated sparrows, Bewick's wrens, and brown-headed cowbirds are among the most common species. Because a variety of habitats are present, even the most predominant species in a given year account for no more than 12% of the species observed. Approximately 75% of the breeding species here are neotropical migrants that leave the Verde Valley during the fall or winter. Because of this there are major season shifts in bird community composition and ecology. A checklist of common species seen at Tuzigoot is available for download.
Plants: 8
We partner with the Southwest Environmental Information Network, or SEINet, for inventories of the botanical resources of Tuzigoot National Monument, including a plant inventory . Check out our brochures, and see if you can find these plants on the trail:
Natural Features & Ecosystems: 9
In order to take care of an ecosystem, land managers need to know how and why natural systems change over time, and what amount of change is normal. To facilitate this monitoring, Tuzigoot is part of the Sonoran Desert Network , through which full time researchers have designed and implemented an integrated inventory and monitoring program. Tuzigoot National Monument has a variety of ecosystems, from the dry hilltop where the pueblo was built to the marshy floodplan below. The landscape shows extensive evidence of human activity, including agriculture, construction, and mining. Evidence of human presence can be seen in the mesquite bosque below the pueblo and the capped mine tailings area adjacent to the entrance road.
Visitor centers and places
Tuzigoot Visitor Center: 10
The visitor center is everyone's first stop to pay the entrance, learn about the park, visit the museum, and purchase items at the gift shop.
Visitor information
Visitation
Sources & field notes
Source records (14)
Select a numbered reference to open a source card. Retrieval dates describe this edition’s source capture, rather than an independent verification or the date of the underlying information.
Background · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Cover · NPS photograph available at https://www.nps.gov/tuzi/learn/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Catalog image date
- 12/16/2015
- Source scope
- Tuzigoot National Monument
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Public domain:Full Granting Rights
- Rights
- Public domain:Full Granting Rights
Designation · National Park System directory. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.
State or territory · National Park System directory. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.
Tuzigoot Human History · Tuzigoot Human History — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- August 17, 2025
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
Museum Collections · Museum Collections — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Source page last updated
- February 21, 2026
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-authored U.S. government material is generally public domain; third-party content may have separate rights.
Birds · Birds — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- September 3, 2026
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS webpage text; U.S. government work generally public domain. Third-party material may have separate rights.
Plants · Plants — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- February 15, 2021
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS webpage text; U.S. government work generally public domain. Third-party material may have separate rights.
Natural Features & Ecosystems · Natural Features & Ecosystems — National Park Service. Open source ↗
- Information date
- May 18, 2021
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS webpage text; U.S. government work generally public domain. Third-party material may have separate rights.
Tuzigoot Visitor Center · National Park Service park structured data. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored U.S. government work is generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Physical Address · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Mailing Address · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Telephone · Official park structured information. Open source ↗
- Information date
- Not supplied by the source
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- NPS-supplied text; NPS-authored government work generally public domain, subject to third-party rights.
Recreation visits · National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics. Open source ↗
- Information date
- 2025
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-30
- Methodology
- NPS reporting unit; annual total is the sum of 12 monthly recreation visit estimates.
- Reporting unit
- Tuzigoot NM
- Evidence
- Single source; not independently corroborated.
- Reuse
- Factual reference data; source attribution retained.