Montezuma Well National Monument

Montezuma Well is located off I-17 north of Camp Verde, AZ.  This limestone sinkhole filled with water in the middle of the desert is a place like no other.  The Well is located in an area that receives barely 13 inches of rain per year, yet has maintained a constant supply of water for centuries. Coming from deep underground, water even overflows and exits the Well through a natural cave-like outlet, creating a free running stream. Ruins of homes that ancient cliff dwellers created around the well indicate it's importance to desert survival thousands of years ago.  The Hohokam may have moved here from the Salt River Valley. People of the Sinagua culture may have built small cliff dwellings here in the 1100's.
    Water from the Well contains arsenic, high levels of carbon dioxide, and little oxygen, making it uninhabitable for fish.   Unique species of water creatures...amphipods (tiny shrimp-like crustaceans), leeches and water scorpions...have evolved to survive there.  The water likely could not have been used for drinking, but may have helped irrigate crops. Today it remains a place of wonder and mystery, this large Well in the desert.