FIVE PARKS LIFE
Ancestral Puebloan stone towers against a deep blue sky at Hovenweep National Monument, Utah.
BEEN THERE · UTAH 1 YOGA CLASS FILMED HERE

Hovenweep National Monument

3 NIGHTS, SEPTEMBER 2026
3
NIGHTS
SEP 2026
WHEN WE CAMPED
UTAH
WHERE
NATIONAL MONUMENT
TYPE OF STOP
$10/NIGHT
WHAT WE PAID

FILMED HERE

ABOUT THE PLACE

Hovenweep National Monument, Utah

We spent three nights here in September 2026, on our late-summer 2026 filming trip through southern Colorado and Utah, the last big trip before Erin's surgery. We were in site 4 and paid $10 a night, with the half-price Access Pass discount. Our full field report is still being written, so here is what to know about the place itself.

The short version

Hovenweep National Monument protects six groups of stone villages built by ancestral Pueblo people between about 1200 and 1300 CE. Many are multistory towers perched on canyon rims or balanced on boulders, on the Utah and Colorado border.

A little history

  • President Warren G. Harding proclaimed Hovenweep a national monument on March 2, 1923.
  • The name is a Paiute and Ute word meaning "deserted valley," adopted by pioneer photographer William Henry Jackson in 1874. Native people today regard the canyons as dwelling places of their ancestors.

Trails

  • At the Square Tower Group, a short paved path leads to a canyon overlook, and the 2-mile Square Tower Loop, primitive and steep in places, passes Square Tower, Hovenweep Castle and Hovenweep House.
  • The outlying sites, Cutthroat Castle, Horseshoe and Hackberry, Holly and Cajon, are reached on unimproved dirt roads. The lower Cutthroat Castle trailhead needs high clearance and four-wheel drive.
  • Leashed pets are allowed on trails and in the campground, but not in the visitor center.

Camping

  • One 31-site campground, open year-round, about a quarter mile from the visitor center. Camping is by reservation only.
  • It is designed mainly for tents, with a few sites that fit RVs. There are no hookups.
  • Campground water is seasonal, and there is none at the outlying sites.

Good to know

  • Hovenweep became an International Dark Sky Park in 2014, the first to span two states.
  • There are no restaurants or lodges. The nearest towns, Bluff, Blanding and Monticello in Utah and Cortez in Colorado, are about an hour away.
  • The NPS warns that monsoon season is a hard time to camp. There is an entrance fee.

Facts checked October 2026. Things change, so check the official site before you go.

IN THE JOURNAL

Where we wrote about it

Field report coming soon.

filed under: good memories, write-up pending

Our Brinkley trailer and truck parked among the junipers at the Hovenweep National Monument campground.
Our Campsite at Hovenweep
The Brinkley trailer in early morning light with mountains on the horizon at Hovenweep, Utah.
Morning at the Hovenweep Campground
Erin in a standing yoga pose reflected in a rainwater pothole on the slickrock at Hovenweep.
Yoga Reflected in a Pothole
Erin holding a side plank on the sandstone rim above the canyon at Hovenweep National Monument.
Side Plank on the Slickrock
Matt and Erin smiling at sunset beside the Brinkley trailer at the Hovenweep campground.
Sunset Selfie at Camp
Erin and Rindo relaxing on the outdoor rug at our campsite as the sun sets at Hovenweep.
Erin and Rindo at Golden Hour
Pink and orange sunset clouds over the high desert scrub at Hovenweep National Monument.
Pink Clouds Over the Desert
Mountains lit in warm evening light beyond the juniper scrub near the Hovenweep campground.
Evening Glow on the Mountains
Erin and Rindo walking a slickrock trail in the morning sun at Hovenweep National Monument.
Heading Out on the Trail
Close view of a sandstone block tower with a narrow window opening at Hovenweep, Utah.
Doorway in a Stone Tower
Stone ruins lined up along the canyon rim under wispy clouds at Hovenweep National Monument.
Ruins Along the Canyon Rim
Matt and Erin taking a selfie in front of the stone towers at Hovenweep National Monument.
Matt and Erin at the Ruins
Rindo on her leash on the trail with a stone tower behind her at Hovenweep.
Rindo Takes the Tour
A round stone tower and walls perched over a rocky canyon at Hovenweep National Monument.
Round Tower Above the Canyon
The trail sign for Twin Towers in front of the stone ruins at Hovenweep National Monument.
Twin Towers Trail Sign
Erin in tree pose beneath a weathered dead juniper under a big sky near Hovenweep.
Tree Pose Under an Old Juniper
Two burger patties cooking on a camp griddle with the high desert behind them at Hovenweep National Monument.
Burgers on the Griddle at Hovenweep
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