U.S. Southwest:

Hovenweep

National Monument,

Utah

August 23 2019

(Elevation: 5,200 ft.)

National Park Service

Our next site was Hovenweep National Monument, which preserves as series of 13th century pueblo standing towers and villages at canyon headwalls, constructed by ancestral Puebloans, who lived here from about A.D. 500 to A.D. 1300.

Most of the structures at Hovenweep were built between A.D. 1200 and A.D. 1300, and are the best-preserved and most visually striking and accessible examples of 13th century pueblo architecture and community locations within the San Juan River basin.

Hovenweep National Monument was established in 1923 and covers 784 acres. It is located about 50 miles north of the Four Corners, in the red rock country of Utah, very near the border with Colorado. Located at 5,200 feet above sea level, our hike around the monument afforded us spectacular views of the surrounding region, including a far off view of Sleeping Ute Mountain in southwest Colorado.

Source: National Park Service

Little Ruin Trail

The two mile Little Ruin Trail follows along a mostly flat path along the rim of Little Ruin Canyon. Located in the center of a 500-square-mile raised block of land called Cajon Mesa, the trail provides close contact with members of the Square Tower Group, a collection of building ruins, constructed from A.D. 1230 and 1275.