Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Pictures
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument was the first cultural and prehistoric site ever set aside in the United States. As the name suggests, Casa Grande dominates the landscape and is an impressive structure, even by modern standards. 
Casa Grande Ruins is a small park and easy to get around. Be sure to take a walk around the site and learn about the ancient Sonoran peoples that once lived here.
The park has bathrooms, picnic tables, and a small Visitor Center and shop, which makes it nice stop as part of a larger road trip. In just two days, we were able to drive from Saguaro National Park in the south and make short stops at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Montezuma Castle National Monument, Tuzigoot National Monument, and Walnut Canyon National Monument in northern Arizona.
Things to see and do
- Take a walk around the Great House.
- Learn about Casa Grande Ruins with a self-guided tour and informational waysides.
- Enjoy a picnic.
- Get you NPS Passport stamp at the Visitor Center.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Hours
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is generally open from 9-4 every day, except for Sundays and Mondays.
Directions to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is located between Tucson and Phoenix – about an hour in either direction depending on traffic. We decided to take a small detour to visit the Western National Park Association headquarters and store just north of Tucson. The WNPA runs park stores in many popular National Parks like Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Pinnacles, Channel Islands, and Saguaro, and a visit to their flagship store was a fun side trip. We’re happy to support our Parks and are happy to support the WPNA as well for the work that they do.
If you can’t make it to a Park, consider visiting wnpa.org to do a little shopping or to learn more about visiting some of America’s most beloved National Park sites.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Stats
Date created: 1918
Annual Visitors: 44,269 in 2020
Fun Fact: In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison set aside one square mile of Arizona Territory surrounding the Casa Grande Ruins. This designation of land is considered the first prehistoric and cultural reserve established in the United States.
Visitor Centers and Passport Stamps
If you like collecting National Park Passport Stamps like we do, you’ll be happy to know that Casa Grande Ruins has you covered! The WNPA runs a nice park store, and you can get your passport stamped here as well.
Other Nearby Parks
Arizona is rich in National Park sites, and most are an easy driving distance from each other. Grand Canyon National Park in the north is probably the most iconic, but others like Saguaro and Petrified Forest hold their own. Smaller sites that we’ve visited are Walnut Canyon, Organ Pipe Cactus, Montezuma Castle, and Tuzigoot National Monuments, along with Glen Canyon National Recreational Area.
We visited Grand Canyon and Glen Canyon as part of a road trip around Utah where we also visited Utah’s Mighty Five and Nevada’s Great Basin National Park all in one trip. You can read more about that craziness here and here.
If you are staying in Tucson, consider taking a day to drive out to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It’s off the beaten path and in the heart of the Sonoran Desert (we wouldn’t recommend it in the summer), but it’s one of the only places in the United States where you can find the Organ Pipe Cactus, which is pretty unique.
What’s your favorite National Park in Arizona?
You May Also Like
- Saguaro National Park: Best Things to Do in Saguaro National Park
- Petrified Forest National Park: Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert
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- Joshua Tree National Park: 9 Incredible Things to do in Joshua Tree National Park
- West Virginia: Visiting New River Gorge National Park
- Nevada: Things to do in Great Basin National Park
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