Guide: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Photos & More
Located right in Coolidge Arizona (about an hour Southeast of Phoenix or an hour north of Tucson) the Casa Grande ruins is a set of mysterious structures left by the Hohokam people in the desert. In this post, I’ll give you everything you need to know about visiting Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Arizona, including lots of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument photos. Let’s begin!
Where is the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument?
This is a fairly convenient national monument to visit, as it’s located only an hour away from two major Arizona cities: Tucson and Phoenix. It’s a short detour off of I-10 and Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is pretty small; it won’t take you long to visit.
When to visit Casa Grande Ruins National Monument?
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is open year-round, 7 days a week, with the exception of the following holidays: Juneteenth, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Summers are very hot here, so for the most pleasant experience, visiting in the late fall – early spring is best.
Visiting Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
You’ll enter Casa Grande Ruins through the visitor center/gift shop. Casa Grande National Monument is free to enter – you don’t need any pass or anything – just walk on in! The visitor center shows an informative movie that will give you a much better understanding of the background of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, but I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to movies, so I didn’t watch it.
The visitor center is very well done and shows artifacts and more history behind the ruins. After going through the visitor center, you can head outside to view the ruins.
Free guided tours are available at select times during the spring and fall. Check the official NPS website for more information.
The largest and most impressive structure here is the Casa Grande (big house or great house) itself. A canopy is placed over the Great House to prevent it from further decay. It was built in the 14th century by the Sonoran Desert People (also referred to as the Hohokam). These people built trade routes, irrigation canals for farming, and made all kinds of pottery.
But at some point in the 14th century, the people abandoned these structures and to this day, no one knows why.
In addition to the Great House, you’ll find a ball court, but beyond that, there wasn’t much left to look at except some foundations from other smaller buildings in the complex.
And that’s pretty much it. It won’t take you long to go through it all because well, there’s not much to see.
So in all honesty, there isn’t much to do here except, well…look at it and say, “That’s cool. Now when’s lunch?”
What else is there to do in the area?
To put it bluntly, nothing. About a half hour away is the Casa Grande Neon Sign Park, but it’s pretty small and honestly, I don’t think it’s worth a half hour detour unless you’re headed that way anyway. If you’re headed in the northeast direction, the Boyce Thompson Arboretum is out that way in Superior, Arizona, but it’s about a 45 minute drive away. It’s an amazing arboretum though – one of the best I’ve been to!
Final Thoughts – Casa Grande National Monument
Don’t get me wrong, the Great House structure is really impressive – but there isn’t much else to do here except, well, look at it. Any other ruins here are just building foundations — that’s it. This definitely isn’t something that I would be chomping at the bit to return to – I came, I saw, I left. And it’s not something I’d say is a must-see in Arizona. Like all National Park Service Units, everything is well-done and well-maintained; this is just simply not that interesting — at least to me.
