Phone: (970) 562-4282 x5. I’m not sure, but I remember a lot of dust-blown miles. 6. Bluff Great House might be further, but it’s not 100% clear its “Great Kiva” is big … Most likely it was not just one factor but a combination of many which caused the ancestral Puebloans to decide to leave their elaborate homes. Hovenweep National Monument is reached from the south by several paved roads, starting from either US 191, Aneth on UT 262 or US 160 near Cortez in Colorado - this latter (Montezuma County Road G) is the longest, a bendy route through cultivated land along McElmo Creek and past some entrances to Colorado's … 2055 County Road 204 There is one campground. All the main access roads are paved, meaning your Honda sedan will do just fine. The road to Pleasant View from Square Tower leads to Hovenweep… 7. All roads into the outlying units are dirt and gravel and are not maintained; high-clearance vehicles are recommended for visiting these sites. Snow is usually light to moderate. Structures at other locations in the region, even the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, rarely exhibit such careful construction and attention to architectural detail. Multiple sites and trails. Location: - The road to Square Tower is paved from Cortez, Colorado, on County Road G (the McElmo Canyon Road), and is also paved on Highway 262 from White Mesa (south of Blanding). Hours: Open All Year 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except December 25. Outlying units include Holly, Horseshoe, Hackberry, Cutthroat Castle and Cajon. To reach Hovenweep from Cortez, Colorado, take US 491 North for 19 miles to Road BB in Pleasant View, CO. Wall stones are thick blocks taken from sandstone containing calcium carbonate. A moderately strenuous trail follows the canyon rim and offers excellent views of every structure. Good walking shoes, plenty of water and protection from the sun are very important. APPENDIX ... Paved Road Pages 5 - 1 6 - 1 5. Apparently it’s been paved since that edition. Great, easy hike with stunningly preserved ruins. Land surrounding Hovenweep belongs to the Navajo Nation, Bureau of Land Management, State of Utah, and private landowners. Was the road paved all the way? Four miles into Utah, take a right (sign for Hovenweep). This Site All NPS. GPS units may lead you astray. FAQ; Site Index; Español; Search . Preparation: Summer highs may exceed 100 Degrees Fahrenheit, with lows in the 60's. The ancestral Puebloan's masonry is as beautiful as it is complex, and many of the structures are precariously built atop rock outcroppings, still standing after almost 700 years. Hovenweep National Monument includes five prehistoric, Puebloan-era villages located on the Cajon mesa along the Utah-Colorado border. Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep is located approximately 20 miles north of Aneth Utah and straddles Southeast Utah and Southwest Colorado. ... paved walkways to see the three bridges. Others say a combination of overpopulation, overuse of the land, and a 20-year drought beginning in the year 1276 made the area uninhabitable. Most people spend one to two hours exploring the area. This road will take you past the entrance to the Square Towers Unit of the National Monument, where the Visitor's Center is located; all this is still in Utah. The name alone—Hovenweep— sounded intriguing. By about 900 A.D. these people started to settle here year-round, planting and harvesting crops in the rich soil on the mesa's top. Most ruins are on the canyon rims and are generally not well preserved, but their appeal is augmented by the desolate surroundings, All year, though snow is present in winter, Coronavirus update (September 10th): Roads, trails and the campground at Hovenweep National Monument are open; only the visitor center remains closed. It’s well worth the three hours needed for this side trip and overlook tour. In a wild, remote and somewhat forgotten part of the Southwest, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, 20 least visited national monuments in the West, All Contents © Copyright The American Southwest. . Two pages, legal-sized. There are numerous paved and dirt roads intersecting each other in this remote corner of Utah. ... you can drive almost all the way up to the site. The road to the visitor center and Square Tower Group is paved from Cortez, Colorado, on County Road G (the McElmo Canyon Road), and from White Mesa (south of Blanding) on Highway 262. There are trails to access ruins from the visitor center. Durango, Colorado 81301 A Paved Path to the Overlook We started out on a paved path, about a half mile long, surrounded by pinion trees, with sweeping vistas dominated by the Sleeping Ute Mountain in the distance. INTRODUCTION 1 - 1 2. The famous towers could have been used as celestial observatories, defensive structures, storage facilities, civil buildings, homes, or any combination of these. Winter temperatures range from highs in the 40's and 50's to lows well below freezing. The least complicated way to reach Hovenweep is to drive 20 miles north from Cortez on U.S. 491 to Pleasant View, turn west on County Road BB, and five miles later turn southeast on County Road 10. The road from Highway 666 (near Pleasant View) is dirt and may be impassable after storms. The Square Tower Unit is the monument's primary contact facility with ranger-led tours, a visitor center and campground. Hovenweep may be reached via paved roads through either McElmo Canyon or by way of Pleasant View. The south trailhead for this is along a paved road, McElmo Canyon Rd, west of Cortez. The inhabitants of the Hovenweep area during the late 1200's, referred to as the ancestral Pueblo (formerly Anasazi), excelled in architectural and craft skills as well as farming. One flat rectangular side forms the visible wall face, while the other stones within the walls are irregular. The road is paved from Aneth while it is a combination of a dirt and gravel road coming from Colorado. Spalls were used to support stones in place. We checked what little brochure information we had. Only about two-tenths of a mile is unpaved, making the drive to Hovenweep an easy one. Many theories have been offered as to the use of the buildings at Hovenweep. Most of the roads in the Canyons of the Ancients are not paved. I remember the long road through arid landscape of sage and juniper. Around the towers are piles of rubble that indicate that there were many more structures in existence than are seen today, leaving archeologists to ponder over the actual function of these towers. With its “Hovenweep Road” moniker, that gravel route is only ten miles long, but takes thirty-eight minutes. 3 - 1 4. Located near the visitor center and campground, Square Tower Group is the only unit of Hovenweep accessible by a paved road. Contact Us. 1. Albatrossity. Take this road 4 miles to another right turn. Just north of Blanding, S.R.262, Hovenweep Road heads east to the unique collection of ancestral pueblo ruins—including the mushroom house built into a spire—at Hovenweep National Monument. ROAD MILEPOST INFORMATION Road Milepost Information and Logs 7 - 1 8. It is maintained for year-round travel. Home » About the Area » Regional Archaeology » Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument. July 14, 2020 at 7:09 am ... Lowry Pueblo (ironically up the dirt road a looong ways east from Hovenweep in Colorado) is the northernmost and (likely) furthest Chacoan Outlier. In another five miles at a T intersection, turn right again. Last updated: February 11, 2019. Now there’s no problem with reaching Hovenweep. An introduction to the features of Hovenweep. Spalls were also used to fill in spaces between stones after the walls were constructed. The road was practically paved with them. These people continued to use the mesa for centuries, following the seasonal weather patterns. The road is paved most of the way, but becomes gravel near the monument. This road accesses most of the … Hovenweep was designated as a national monument in 1923. So, after about an hour here, we drove about 20 minutes, on paved and non-paved roads to the Painted Hand Ruins. The majority of the standing prehistoric structures at the monument were constructed in the early to mid-1200's. The road is paved. Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument. The road to Pleasant View from Square Tower leads to Hovenweep's outlying units in Colorado; however, it is dirt and gravel, and may be impassable following rain or snow. The paved route to the south is longer, but takes only twenty-nine minutes. You can also hike the Sand Canyon trail complex as well. They terraced their land into farmable plots, formed catch basins to hold water run-off, and built check dams to retain the soil that would normally wash off the cliff edges by erosion. S DeCourcy … Fall and spring temperatures are milder, with highs in the 70's and 80's. Some say hostile neighbors forced them out. By evidence of masonry and architecture, as well as the predominance of Mesa Verde pottery at all of the Hovenweep villages, it is apparent that the people who built these structures were part of the Montezuma Valley/Mesa Verde culture. Hovenweep National Monument: Easy paved path to part of the ruins - See 671 traveler reviews, 475 candid photos, and great deals for Cortez, CO, at Tripadvisor. Ruins of 13th century villages, in remote country of mesas and shallow ravines, either side of the Colorado border. Gorgeous trail, amazing ruins. Several theories have developed as to the reasons for the ancestral Puebloans departure. On a whim, we drove down a very sketchy, often un paved, google maps directed road, and happily ended up here. The structures here are numerous and varied. Easy hike, beautiful morning, low eighties with a strong breeze. Do not use GPS to find your way. All main access roads to the park are paved. Hovenweep National Monument Visitor Center. National Park Service U.S. Department … There is a paved walkway to a viewpoint, and a well-maintained trail connects many of the ruins. As mentioned the road to Hovenweep is paved. Some believe that stored crops would be plentiful enough to last through anticipated dry years as well. General Information: In brief, the tower walls have the following characteristics: Departure Utahtea Reply. Hovenweep is most generally associated with the Pueblo II/Pueblo III transition (A.D. 900-1300). At its prime in the late 1200's, the Hovenweep area was home to over 2,500 people. Soon after, turn left onto 268A to reach the Hovenweep … Location: - The road to Square Tower is paved from Cortez, Colorado, on County Road G (the McElmo Canyon Road), and is also paved on Highway 262 from White Mesa (south of Blanding). The standing architecture typical of the area was built about 800 years ago by ancestors of today's Puebloan people. On its website, Hovenweep says not to use GPS to get there -- instead, it recommends good-old fashioned maps. My 4th edition (rev.) From Utah, follow U.S. 191, southeastern Utah's major north-south route, to Utah 262, between the towns of Blanding and Bluff. From Cortez to the monument it is about 44 miles, via Road 10. By the end of the thirteenth century the people of Hovenweep and the surrounding region (such as Mesa Verde and Kayenta) packed up and left the area, presumably moving southward and joining with the people of the Hopi and Zuni. . 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