On a recent drive between Phoenix and Tucson, I made a snap decision to visit the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The ruins are off the main route between the two cities, but aren’t too far out of the way. Still, in my dozens of trips back and forth between Tucson and Phoenix, this was the first time I took the time to check out the ruins.
The Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
The Casa Grande Ruins sit on nearly 500 acres of land in Coolidge, Arizona (2010 population: 11,825). I suspect most of the town’s visitors are there to see the ruins.
Only a small portion of the National Monument land is accessible to the public, and to the untrained eye the rest looks like nothing but desert. It’s not, though, and signs in the picnic area by the parking lot inform visitors that what look like small hills are actually a man-made ball court and a series of man-made earthen platform mounds that were once covered in buildings and plazas.
Picnic area outside of the National Monument.
What’s left of the ancient ball court at the National Monument.
It just so happened that I visited on a “fee free day” as part of National Park Week, so I didn’t have to pay admission. On a normal day, though, I would have paid just $5 for admission, which includes access to a small (but informative!) museum and the immediate surrounding area of the Casa Grande.
Museum at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument visitor center.
The Casa Grande
The four-story Casa Grande (“Great House”) is by far the largest structure at the site. It dominates the flat desert landscape and is visible as soon as you pull into the parking lot.
The Casa Grande, with additional ruins in the foreground.
It’s even more impressive up close though, and the signs around it give insight into its history, how it was built, and some of its unique features. Like prehistoric monuments around the world, it includes features that suggest its builders had a strong understanding of astronomy (see second pic below).
A closer view of the Casa Grande. The people in the photo give a good idea of its scale.
Sign explaining the building’s astronomical features.
And who were it’s builders, exactly? Well, they were the ancient peoples of the Sonoran Desert, people who had built extensive canals and communities in the seemingly barren desert for over 1000 years. Historians believe the site was abandoned around 1450.
Father Eusebio Kino provided the first written account of the Casa Grande ruins in 1694. Nearly 300 years later, in 1892, President Harrison made the Casa Grande Ruins and the square mile surrounding them the first prehistoric and cultural reserve in the US.
Ruins of some of the complex’s smaller buildings, with the visitor center in the background.
Summing up my visit to Casa Grande National Monument
When I first arrived at the National Monument, I didn’t think I’d stay long, since it didn’t seem like there’d be much to see.
However, there’s much more here than I first realized. The visitor center and museum offer a wealth of information about the site’s history and the people who built it, and there’s more to see than just the Casa Grande, although it is certainly the most impressive structure here.
All in all, I spent about an hour and a half here. If you ever find yourself driving between Tucson and Phoenix and aren’t in a rush, I certainly recommend stopping here and taking it in for yourself.
My Casa Grande National Monument rating: ★★★★☆
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