Least Visited NPS Units: Tonto National Monument

Tonto National Monument combines fine Sonoran Desert scenery with historic relics in the form of two well preserved cliff dwellings, inhabited by the Salado Indians around 1300 AD. One may be seen only on guided tours but the Lower Ruin is accessible without restrictions, and it has an impressive setting, high up the side of a canyon overlooking Theodore Roosevelt Lake, originally the Salt River valley. The monument is somewhat isolated, linked to the nearby Phoenix suburbs only by the unpaved Apache Trail, which presumably accounts for the low number of visitors.

2014 Visitation: 36,360
Tonto - full description