Explore Ancient Ruins At Hovenweep National Monument

There are affiliate links in here.  I get a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you.

Hovenweep National Monument is a small monument on the Colorado/Utah border, not too far from Cortez (Colorado) and Bluff (Utah,) but not particularly close to anything else other than the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. 

After passing the sign for it a few times with no real idea of how far it was from Bluff or Cortez, we decided to make a pit stop here on our way back to Bullfrog from Cortez.

Humans started living in this area over 10,000 years ago (that’s crazy!) and became the year round home of about 2,500 people int he late 1200s.  However by the 13th century, the area was abandoned most likely from a combination of factors: drought, depletion of resources, warfare, and factionalism and they began moving south.  Here is the more in depth history.

The drive from Cortez to Hovenweep is one hour, fairly uneventful, and not particularly scenic, but it’s not all that long for out west.  It’s a small monument with ancient peubloan ruins around the rim of a small canyon with a hiking trail connecting all (or most) of them.  A bonus for making the drive out here is that there is no entrance fee!

Once you get to the park you’ll see the visitor center right away.  They have limited hours, so check those before going if you really want to watch the movie or get something.  From the visitor center, continue away from the parking lot to get to the ruins.  First you’ll come up to a view point and the rim trail will leave from here.

Just at this view point you can see ruins across the canyon and some remains around you.  We started following the trail to the right from this spot.  I’m not sure if it goes to the left.  I’m sure it connects there somewhere, but it’s very obvious on the right, so we followed it.

This direction first brought us to some smaller ruins along the rim on our side.  You can see ruins across the canyon the whole walk, which is pretty flat most of the way.  Eventually we got to the Hovenweep Castle, which was the biggest, most intact, ruin that we made it to. 

We went just a little farther before turning around because it was SO HOT and we didn’t have water because we weren’t expecting to walk that far.  It was probably close to 110 degrees and we were there around 5 PM.  Don’t forget to bring water.

We went back the way we came stopping for a few more pictures along the way before heading home.  While this may not be the most exciting, most impressive, or most convenient ruin site, it’s worth a stop if the topic interests you and you’re in the area. 

Over the summer I’ve enjoyed learning more about the archaeology and history of the Four Corners area.  I’m still no expert, not even close, but I do enjoy it.  I’ll always stop for ruins and petroglyphs now.

It’s no Mesa Verde, but it’s still cool to see.  If you only have time to visit one ruin site, I’d definitely go with Mesa Verde.  It’s a lot more impressive.  The structures are way bigger and there are literally thousands of them. 

The scenery itself isn’t much better than what you see here, but that’s not what the park is about.  It’s about the history and the culture, which I think I would appreciate more after knowing more about the area.  I didn’t love it when I went, but I’d love to go back still, especially to do one of the tours into Cliff Palace.

National Park Pass + Other National Park Deals

• If you’re planning on visiting multiple parks (3 or more) on this trip or within the year, I would highly recommend getting a national park pass. It’s $80 but will pay for itself in about three trips to parks. It’s so worth it and I buy one every year! They’re also great for gifts for the park lovers in your life.
• To help plan the best national park trip ever, this Ultimate National Park Planning Bundle is perfect! You get two ebooks and a planner, saving 50% by getting them as a bundle! If you want all the details, this is the bundle for you. Buy the Ultimate bundle here.
• This National Park Planner (one of the ebooks from the bundle above) is perfect if you just want some guidance in your planning. Buy the planner here.
• Get yourself a little National Park notebook to write all about your adventures while you’re on the road. These from Field Notes are all very cute! If you want one for all of the NPS sites (400+!) then this one is for you!
• Before your trip, get some national park apparel for your trip! Homage is donating 5% of sales from the national park collection to the National Parks Conservation Association this year. Buy national park shirts here.
• Consider reading some of these books set in national parks before your big trip, on your adventure, or once you get home to take you back to the parks until next time.
• Planning a big national park trip? Check out these other posts: National Park bucket list, Make the most of a National Park trip, National Park camping packing list, My favorite National Park hikes, More National Park hikes I love, Underrated National Parks.

Things to keep in mind when visiting rock art & ruins:

• Do not touch the rock art (pictographs or petroglyphs) because the oils on our fingers can degrade them.
• If you find artifacts, do not take them.  Leave them where they are and just take pictures.
• If there are structures (rooms, kivas, anything like that) don’t enter them unless it is stated that you can.  Most places you can’t but national and state parks will have restored structures you can enter.  Mesa Verde, Edge of the Cedars, and Anasazi Museum all have ruins you can enter.
• And finally, don’t carve in or write or paint or draw on the rocks!  I don’t want to have to say this, but I need to for real.

Where is Hovenweep National Monument?

Hovenweep National Monument is right on the Utah/Colorado border sort of between Cortez, Colorado and Bluff, Utah. It’s pretty out of the way of everything so chances aren’t likely you’ll accidentally pass by here. It’s about 50 minutes from Cortez, Bluff, and the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center.

How long is the hike to see ruins at Hovenweep?

The Hovenweep Ruin Trail takes you around the gully the ruins are situated above and the whole this is 1.6 miles round-trip and has just 141 feet of elevation gain. It’s an easy hike but one I would avoid on really hot days. Or at least bring plenty of water.

Is visiting Hovenweep worth it?

Yes, if you have the time. If you’re on a time crunch, I would skip it, but if you’re flexible, it’s worth the stop. You don’t need tons of time here, the most time consuming part of visiting Hovenweep is probably getting there since it’s in the middle of nowhere.

Books to read before visiting the Four Corners area:

• The Bears Ears
• In Search of the Old Ones
• The Lost World of the Old Ones
• House of Rain
• Finders Keepers
• Monkey Wrench Gang
• Hayduke Lives
• Desert Solitaire

Utah posts you may also like:

Have you been to Hovenweep?  Do you want to go?  What are your favorite ruins?