hovenweep national monument

hovenweep national monument印象

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  OregonStrider

  This vast archeological site is over 700 years old and was once a thriving community. Today, you can choose to walk the easy path, a paved sidewalk to an overlook or if you want to see the entire canyon and all the buildings, you can take the two mile round trip hike, which is easy as well. The two mile hike does entail a little scrambling, but shouldn't be a problem if time is taken. This place is very cool and one can almost see the ghosts of Pueblo people inhabiting the area and living off the land. Hovenweep is not on a main highway and so, is harder to get to than other more well known like areas, but it is well worth the trip to find and get there. Highly recommended!

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  dsgilber

  If you have any interest at all in Anasazi Ruins then you must eventually see this place. Castles and round towers perched on the lip of a canyon. You can feel the energy of the place. I highly recommend the 2 mile walk around the well marked trail; just be prepared for a bit of climb as the trail takes you down and back up the canyon walls. But the trail is excellent with clear steps to ease you up. As a minimum, take the 1/4 mile walk to Hovensweep Castle and the slightly twisted tower in the bottom of the canyon. Notice the T-shaped doors on the castle which tie these ruins to Anasazi builders from Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. One last note, the Hovensweep Monument covers a fairly large area with multiple "groups" of ruins. The main site is at Hovensweep canyon but there are several more very intersting sets (Holly, Horseshoe and hackberry) accessible via a dirt road off the main road about 30 min drive or so away and the Cutthroat castle group another 15-20 minutes away. These are dirt roads and we made it in Prius but would have been in trouble if we hit mud or snow. And these sites are very remote so bring extra water in case of a breakdown. If you're up for all the main sites then I recommend staying in Cortez and driving out to the main Hovensweep site early in the morning then catch the other groups and Canyon of the Ancient sites (such as Lowry Pueblo) on your way back to Cortez. Then catch the other Canyon of the Ancient sites and Mesa Verde on different days. Don't miss the Anasazi Heritage Museum in Delores just North of Cortez; it has the best displays on the Anasazi I have ever seen.

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  GRS-SJS

  It's well worth the drive. Not far from Cortez if your also going to Mesa Verde. Very nice visitor center with lots of info, picnic areas,nice restrooms and water. The trail around the monuments is an easy walk with lots to see.

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  MurTheExplorer

  Knowing Hovenweep was near our route of travel we decided to stop in and see what was there. The trail is easy and the walk was nice although I think in the summer it could be somewhat oppressive. I did like seeing the 'village', how the people may have thought about the siting of the dwellings and seeing the sophisticated construction that they used to build the structures. The ranger told us the pass was good for 4 days but unless you were camping there I have no idea what would keep you occupied for more than a couple of hours. I wouldn't make the site a destination but if you can see a way to stop by go.

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  Janhuss

  We loved the quantity and quality of the ruins in the park. The loop trail from the visitor center is well maintains and offers lovely views. The park is a little difficult to find on some GPS devices and many maps make it appear that most of the roads are unpaved. The trip through the park is actually a great way to get between Monument Valley/Mexican Hat and Cortez (Mesa Verde) and goes through Canyon of the Ancients and the Anasazi Heritage Center (near Dolores). I do wish that the park had better directional road signage .

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  Mcaltom

  We did this the same day as the natural bridges. I would not travel way out of the way for this, but since we were near, it was a good stop. It was roughly a 2 mile loop hike Ina and out of a canyon. Not hard, but not flat paved either. Structures were cool, but Mesa verde better

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  856christophert

  Beautiful, quiet, haunting. I loved Hovenweep so much I used it in my book. Definitely worth the trip from Bluff where we stayed for two nights. Take the walk around the entire site to appreciate all of the amazing landscape.

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  billp277

  the ruins are in the best shape of all the ruins that we have seen. you can get very close to them to visualize what they originally looked like. it is about a 2 mile easy walk to see all of them. the castle is huge for the time period.

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  janeyd

  It takes a little effort to get here, but it's worth it. We were here in Feb ( a 60 degree day) and were the only ones here. It was easy to get into the feel of what this place must have been like in the 12th century. The buildings are similar to Mesa Verde, but not as many. You are able to get very close. ( without being too close- very fragile) It's a lovely short walk to go around the small canyon that these were built on. Note that these are on the top of the canyon vs inside. Check it out.

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  dyanah2013

  This is an incredible place where the Pueblo Indians built towers and other structures in a small canyon. It is unbelievable how tall and big some of these structures are and that they are still mostly intact after so many hundreds of years! A must see!