Hovenweep National Monument Travel Guide

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Access into the Canyon and Hovenweep can be reached with any vehicle or motorhome. The Little Ruin Canyon is by the Hovenweep Visitor Center, and there is plenty of room for trailers and motor homes. The Lowry Pueblo has a small parking area, I would not suggest bringing your motor home back there, but any vehicle can reach this site.

If you plan to visit the Painted Hand Pueblo, the road back to the small parking area can be accessed with four wheel drive vehicle. The road can be rough and rutty depending on the current weather. The first year, we reached this site with a stock Land Rover.

The next year, we ventured further into the canyon, which required high clearance four wheel drive. The road is very uneven, rocky and rutty. Reaching Cutthroat Castle was a fun off-road exploration. I would not suggest a stock vehicle, or venturing out there alone.

You will find on many structures, such as the Hovenweep Castle and the Unit Type House in the Square Tower Group (Little Ruin Canyon), strategically placed openings that admit shafts of sunlight on the equinoxes and solstices.

An ancient calendar to mark planting and harvest times, perhaps?

These Puebloan people had farmed and hunted on this land for centuries...so these would be essential times to mark.

Favorite thing: I couldn't say this any better than it is said in all the brochures distributed at these sites...

"The name Anasazi has long been used for the prehistoric farmers of the Four Corners. The term now favored is ancestral Puebloan, indicating they were the ancestors of modern-day Puebloans. Many Pueblo people maintain physical and spiritual connections to these places. Please appreciate and respect them."

You know, it really was sad to see graffetti etched into the rocks of these ancient homes by ignorant tourists. Really, how would you feel if you invited somebody into your home and they carved their name into your kitchen table???