Puma Castle is a collection of 7-8 small-medium arches and one of the best, and easiest to find, destinations of the 'Aztec Arches', near Aztec, New Mexico. This particular destination was a minor discovery of mine from the winter of 2011/12, following up on the cataloging work of 'Arch Larry' - whose photo, and link, is above.
A SW Conservation Corps crew was doing habitat restoration work in the area while I was there and checked out the location on my suggestion - they liked it - and reported seeing cougar tracks on the routes through the two adjacent small canyon alcoves. They had seen the cougar itself while working, and so dubbing the area 'Puma Castle' seemed appropriate.
The area is (relatively) easy to find from NM 173, the State Highway between Aztec and the San Juan River/Navajo Lake. At Milepost 15 turn north on County Road 4600 into Pump Canyon. CR 4600 veers east up a side canyon, the arches are 7 miles up Pump, the main canyon, and are best accessed just after you cross the wash via a pipeline right of way.
There is a good parking spot at the small gravel pit used to construct the levee across the wash, but it is, at this time, a bit brushy. The largest of the Arches is visible from the main road. It is less than half a mile south (downstream) to the area. I cairned two separate routes into the two separate 'wings' of the 'Castle' from the pipeline.
The most famous of the other Aztec Arches is the Cox Canyon Arch, near Hwy 550 between Durango and Aztec. The best index of the entire area can be found here: http://www.fourcornersgeotourism.com/content_detail.php?uid=fca06D8F6C6D2A2E344A
