Hovenweep Campground

Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. Shallow tributaries run through the wide and deep canyons into the San Juan River. Although the Hovenweep National Monument is largely known for the six village groups of the Ancient Pueblo, or Anasazi, people, there is evidence of hunter-gatherers from 8,000 to 6,000 B.C. until about AD 200. Then a succession of early puebloan cultures settled in the area and remained until the AD 1300s. Hovenweep became a National Monument in 1923 and is administered by the National Park Service. Once home to over 2,500 people, Hovenweep includes six prehistoric villages built between A.D. 1200 and 1300. Visitors can explore a variety of structures, including multistory towers perched on canyon rims and balanced on boulders. The construction and attention to detail will leave you marveling at the skill and motivation of the builders.