2.3 miles away
V-Bar-V Heritage Site
The largest known petroglyph site in the Verde Valley, with 1,032 petroglyphs in 13 panels, held by the Coconino National Forest.
Montezuma Well
A limestone sinkhole near Lake Montezuma discharging 1.5 million gallons of spring water a day and holding five endemic species.
- Rank in Arizona
- #62of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 54.5 out of 100medium confidence
- Category
- Natural Landmark
Montezuma Well is a natural limestone sinkhole near the town of Lake Montezuma, Arizona, and a detached unit of Montezuma Castle National Monument, about 11 miles north-east of Montezuma Castle. Some 1,500,000 US gallons of water emerge through it each day from an underground spring. The well measures 386 feet in diameter from rim to rim and holds a near-constant volume of spring water even in times of severe drought; the water is highly carbonated and contains high levels of arsenic. At least five endemic species are found exclusively in Montezuma Well, the most of any spring in the south-western United States: a diatom, the Montezuma Well springsnail, a water scorpion, the Hyalella montezuma amphipod and the Motobdella montezuma leech. Its steady outflow has been used for irrigation since the 8th century; part of a prehistoric irrigation ditch is preserved near the picnic ground, and portions of the ditch's original route are still in use. As with Montezuma Castle, the name is a misnomer, the Aztec emperor Montezuma having had no connection with the site or with the early indigenous peoples who occupied the area.
Where it is
Montezuma Well is a natural landmark near Camp Verde, in Yavapai County. It is one of the natural landmarks in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
No official visitor count is published for Montezuma Well, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.
Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.
Sources
- Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
- Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
More photographs
Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab) 
Roller Coaster Philosophy, CC BY 2.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab)
Nearby attractions
5.5 miles away
The Crack at Wet Beaver Creek
A perennial pool on Wet Beaver Creek where the Bell Trail crosses it, three miles into the Wet Beaver Wilderness.
5.6 miles away
Montezuma Castle National Monument
A five-storey Sinagua cliff dwelling at Camp Verde, built by 1125 AD and viewed from the trail below.
7.5 miles away
Coconino National Forest
A 1.856-million-acre national forest around Flagstaff and Sedona, rising from desert to Humphreys Peak at 12,633 feet.
8.1 miles away
Fort Verde State Historic Park
A small Arizona state park in Camp Verde preserving parts of an Apache Wars-era fort as it stood in the 1880s.8.3 miles away
Verde Valley Archaeology Center
Camp Verde's archaeology museum, founded in 2010, covers Sinagua culture and hosts an annual archaeology fair and film festival.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Natural Landmark
- Destination
- Camp Verde
- County
- Yavapai County
- State
- Arizona
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 54.5 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 50.3
- Significance score
- 58.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Coordinates
- 34.6491, -111.7520
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12