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Hovenweep National Monument |
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Hidden in the no-man's-land that straddles the Utah-Colorado border, the remote Ancestral Puebloan ruins at HOVENWEEP NATIONAL MONUMENT - 25 miles east of US-191 along Hwy-262, which branches off halfway between Bluff and Blanding, and 35 miles west of Cortez, Colorado - offer a haunting sense of timeless isolation. Hovenweep preserves six distinct conglomerations of ruins, sprouting from the rims of shallow desert canyons and dwarfed by the distant mountains, but easy access is restricted to the Square Tower Group , behind the small ranger station (daily 8am-5pm; entrance fee $6; tel 435/719-2100, ). The half-mile Tower Loop Trail , offers good views of the largest ruins, including the grandly named Hovenweep Castle , constructed around 1200 AD. No accommodation, gasoline or food is available at or anywhere near Hovenweep, but (funding permitting) the 31-site campground beside the ranger station remains open all year ($10; no reservations).
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Hovenweep 