Hovenweep National Monument

The Basics

ADDRESS: along the southeast Utah and southwest Colorado borders

LAST VISIT: 2022

VIDEO: Link to Hovenweep Video on YouTube

Hovenweep encompasses several archeological sites with the remains of structures built by the Ancestral Puebloan people over 700 years ago.
A few structures have walls around the entire base still standing. It makes it much easier to visualize the way they might have looked when they were built than sites where only the footprints of the buildings remain.

The location is about 45 miles from the closest towns. You should have a full tank of fuel and pack some water and snacks when you go. There are no stores or gas stations in the area.

We did not have much time when we went to Hovenweep, so we only walked around the Square Tower Loop Trail, and did not visit any of the sites that are further from the visitor center.

We visited Hovenweep in late afternoon in the fall. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much on a hot summer day; there would not be much shade on the trail.

IF YOU HAVE MOBILITY ISSUES
Right behind the visitor center, there is a 300 yard long paved sidewalk that leads to Canyon Overlook. The overlook would provide a view of several structures, but they would be far enough in the distance that you would want a pair of binoculars to see them well.
The Square Tower Loop trail is 2 miles long. There is not much of an elevation gain/loss for most of the trail, but at the end, it dips down into the canyon, and rises 80 feet to get back to the visitor center. The ascent at the end is a little steep. If you wanted to avoid it, you could choose to turn around at a point in the trail before the end, and backtrack to the beginning. The trail is rocky.

Our Opinion

The Square Tower Loop trail was amazing! There were so many structures in a relatively small area that there was always something interesting to look at. The trail goes very close to several structures so that you can see the detail of the masonry work. (See the photo below.)
We definitely plan to return and explore more of the other sites at Hovenweep!

The trail goes close enough to many of the structures that you can clearly see the chinks in the mortar joints.