Hovenweep National Monument

Essence: Hovenweep National Monument is located within the ancestral and traditional homeland of 26 Indigenous Tribes and Nations living throughout the Four Corners region. The park, including its outlying units, is situated along the Utah-Colorado border on Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. A complex of shallow canyons cut south through the tilted tableland to the San Juan River. Human habitation at Hovenweep dates to over 10,000 years ago when the nomadic Paleo-Indian roamed the area. The Ancestral Pueblo people occupied the Four Corners from about 500 to 1300 CE. By about 900 CE, people lived at Hovenweep year-round in canyon-head communities near water sources that supported agrarian life. Hovenweep is distinguished by its standing architecture, erected in the mid 1200s. There are square and circular towers, D-shaped dwellings, and kivas. Stonemasonry structures were built on canyon rims and isolated boulders. By the late 1200s Ancestral Pueblo clans began migrating south to the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico and the Little Colorado River Basin in Arizona. Hovenweep lay undisturbed for centuries until it was discovered by a Mormon expedition in 1854. "Hovenweep" is a Ute/Paiute word meaning "Deserted Valley," adopted by William Henry Jackson, photographer with the Hayden Surveys. In 1923, President Warren Harding proclaimed Hovenweep a part of the National Park System. Begin by showing your pass or paying fees at the Visitor Center and collect park literature and maps. Hike the two-mile Square Tower Group Trail. Ideally, visit all five outlying units. Each site has unique features and towers. High clearance, 4WD is required for some units.  

Travel: For travelers on US 491 there are two options for reaching the Visitor Center. From Pleasant View (midway between Dove Creek and Cortez), turn west on Road CC and measure distance from there. The highway sign points to both Hovenweep (26 miles) and Lowry Pueblo. At 5.3 miles turn south on Road 10. Enter Canyons of the Ancients National Monument at 16 miles. Turn east into the Monument, Visitor Center, and parking for the Square Tower Group at 26.2 miles. Alternatively, from Cortez, at the junction of US 491 and Road G (McElmo Canyon Road), drive west for 26 miles. Cross into Utah and continue on Ismay Trading Post Road for 3.7 miles. Turn right on Cajon Mesa Road. In 4.4 miles, turn right again on Hovenweep Road. In 6.0 miles turn right into the park. All roads leading to the park are paved, including roads from Bluff, Utah. Outlying sites that require 4WD high clearance are noted below.   
Total Time: Allow a full day to see all six units.
Difficulty: Visitors must stay on designated trails; navigation easy; Class 1 with no exposure; dogs allowed on a short leash; carry all the water you need.
Maps: Ruin Point, UT-CO; Negro Canyon, Colorado; Navajo Canyon, Utah, 7.5' USGS Quads. The Visitor Center has a couple of helpful maps.

Park Information: Fees, 31-site campground open year round within an International Dark Sky Park.
Latest Date Hiked: November 15, 2025 

Quote: The vertical architectural dimension is commonly understood by many Pueblo people as a cosmic ladder connecting different worlds in a layered universe, through which their ancestors ascended to the present world. Octavius Seowtewa

 

The complex Cutthroat Castle collection of buildings contrasts with a cornflower blue sky. Stonemasons masterfully erected square and circular three-story towers from a foundation of irregular boulders to create intentionally designed communities. (Thomas Holt Ward, photo)

Square Tower Group 

Distance and Elevation Gain: 2.0 miles; 150 feet
Total Time: 1:00 to 1:30

Map: Ruin Point, UT-CO 7.5' USGS Quad. The Visitor Center has a Square Tower Group trail guide.

Route: The trailhead, elevation 5,240 feet, begins at the Visitor Center. Walk south on a paved pathway for 0.2 mile to the north rim of Little Ruin Canyon. This description goes counterclockwise but the loop can be done in either direction. 

The Square Tower Group is the monument’s nucleus. Octavius Seowtewa, leader of the Zuni Tribe's Galaxy Medicine Fraternity, insists that the ancestral sites in the park be left undisturbed for future Zuni generations so they can visit the sites and reconnect back to their ancestors. Please stay on designated trails and do not cross over the chain barriers. As you move across the landscape remain aware that rattlesnakes thrive on the Great Sage Plain. 

 

Some of the plants bordering the initial paved footpath are labeled. Big sagebrush is ubiquitous along with its common companions rabbitbrush, snakeweed, cliffrose, and Ephedra veridis (Mormon tea). While the park contains as many as 325 different plant species, blooming flowers were scarce in late autumn. 

 

There are two primary rock formations in the park. The sheets of rock on either side of the trail are composed of Dakota Sandstone Formation, dating to the Late Cretaceous Period, 115 to 95 million years ago. It forms the cap rock on Cajon Mesa. All of the structures in the park were fashioned from quarried Dakota Sandstone. Rainwater captured in potholes was an important source of water. 

All of the communities in the Square Tower Group are clustered at the head of Little Ruin Canyon, a north tributary of McElmo Creek. The waterway bears southwest to join the San Juan River in the town of Aneth, Utah. Stronghold House today is but a small remnant of a large pueblo once located on the north rim of Little Ruin Canyon. Fashioned stones fill crevices in the flowing mother boulder and perfectly vertical walls create a clean finish, the signature of Hovenweep stonemasons.

For visitors limited to the paved walkway, the overlook at canyon's rim captures a broad sample of Hovenweep's vertical architecture. On the south rim, two-story Rimrock House has exceptionally square corners. Twin Towers, image-left, is a bit of a misnomer because one is oval and the other is horseshoe shaped. The trail loops past these remarkable buildings. Down off the rim is Eroded Boulder House. There is something both charming and comforting about being enclosed by a single massive stone and the merging of natural rock forms with human masonry. (THW, photo)  

The trail passes a pouroff and at 0.5 mile offers a quick detour to Tower Point. There sits a semi-circular tower with a comprehensive canyon view. Granaries in alcoves below the rim protected corn, beans, and squash against water and marauding critters.

 

Hovenweep Castle is a cluster of buildings at the head of Little Ruin Canyon. Stone sentinels rise from the canyon rim watching over a landscape shaped by silence and time. Members of the Hopi Tribe believe the structures served as watchtowers and astronomical observatories as well as facilities for defense and communication. The mastery of stone reflects craftsmanship seen at Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, and a community capable of coordinated design and communal effort.

The stonemasons of Hovenweep used "core-and-veneer" masonry. They fashioned the veneer by pecking and shaping Dakota Sandstone blocks on six sides. The core was filled with earth and cobbles. Finally, walls were sometimes covered with a layer of plaster.

"Form follows function" is a principle of architectural design which states that the appearance and structure or shape of a building should primarily relate to its intended function or purpose. This principle is so archetypal (and practical), surely the towers of Hovenweep were erected accordingly.  

Rising to a higher order of design, renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright said, "form and function are one." This epitomizes the craftsmanship of ancestral Pueblo masons displayed by sharp corners and smooth curves, and durability over the centuries. (THW, photo) 

Two story Square Tower was erected down inside the canyon on a sandstone boulder. The slender edifice was built with an intentional slight spiral shape. Out of view in this image, a T-shaped doorway faces west. The entrance resembles the letter “T” with a large, rectangular opening on top of a smaller rectangle at the base. T-shaped doors were first constructed at the great houses of Chaco Canyon and followed the migrations of Pueblo people to the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde. They are found at thousands of archaeological sites throughout the southwest. 

 

Hovenweep House seen below perched on the south rim of the canyon was one of the largest Pueblo villages in the Square Tower Group. Masons fit sandstone blocks so precisely that some walls remain plumb after eight centuries.

 

Below, the massiveness and impeccable lines of Hovenweep Castle are seen from Hovenweep House. Floating on the slope below the Castle are rubble fields of shaped stone, a testament to the sizable culture and population that thrived on Cajon Mesa.

Most entrancing for me are the compelling shapes of the Twin Towers. Two building with 16 rooms rise from the bedrock, walls nearly touching, and wooden lintels still in place. (THW, photo) 

At 1.4 miles the footpath descends 100 feet into the canyon on juniper log and stone steps. As you cross the drainage and head up the other side you will pass the contact between the two major rock formations in this region. Burro Canyon Formation underlies Dakota Sandstone (and is therefore older). It is a conglomerate composed of interspersed pebbles and cobbles of chert, limestone, and quartzite.

 

When water that soaked into the sandstone hits the contact with the impermeable Burro, it travels horizontally until it hits an opening at a life-supporting seep or spring. This is a universal principal of geology that occurs all over the planet and made it possible for the ancestral Pueblo people to survive in this high desert region. 

  

Painted Hand Pueblo

Travel: From the intersection of the park road and Road 10, drive north for 8.3 miles. Turn right on Road 4531. Drive east on a well graded gravel road for 0.8 mile and park in the designated lot. 

Distance and Elevation Gain: 0.7 mile, 50 feet

Total Time: 0:30 to 1:00

Map: Negro Canyon, Colorado 7.5' USGS Quad

 

Cajon Mesa tilts slightly south. Painted Hand is the northernmost (and therefore highest) of the outlying units. Both Painted Hand and Cutthroat Castle are perched west of Hovenweep Canyon, a north tributary of Yellow Jacket Canyon. The confluence of Yellow Jacket and McElmo Creek is on the Colorado-Utah stateline in Ismay. From the trailhead, elevation 6,060 feet, the path skims along the canyon's rim for 0.25 mile before initiating a loop with a slight descent to better view the site. Below, a tower on a boulder is visible, image-center. 

 

There are several informative placards distributed along the trail, voiced by individuals from a myriad of today's Tribes. Below, we are told Painted Hand was a small village with numerous towers, kivas, plazas, and storage enclosures. 

In 2025, the trail stayed well away from the principal ruin and we respected the limitation. On a previous visit years ago the trail passed adjacent to the round tower. Additional walls were emplaced under an overhung boulder. We were fortunate to see an ultra faint negative handprint blown with blue pigment. Proceeding along the trail we also found a faint, 12-inch-tall anthropomorph.  

Cutthroat Castle

Travel: There is no sign for Cutthroat Castle on Road 10. From Painted Hand parking, drive 0.7 mile south on Road 4531. You will need 4WD with high clearance to negotiate rocks and deep ruts. There is a lower parking lot for modified 4WD vehicles only. 

Distance and Elevation Gain: 1.4 miles, 220 feet

Total Time: 1:00

Map: Negro Canyon, Colorado 7.5' USGS Quad

From the upper trailhead, elevation 6,020 feet, a singletrack bears southwest, descending gently through a piñon-juniper woodland. Cross the technical 4WD road and enter a (generally dry) wash at 0.4 mile. The Dakota Sandstone drainage is a side canyon of a north fork of Hovenweep Canyon. Revel in a few moments of blissful walking on the bedrock floor. 

Arrive at Cutthroat Castle at 0.7 mile, elevation 5,820 feet. The main site is an elaborate structure perched on and around two massive boulders. Logs spanning between them support walls soaring up from the gap, image-center. The stonemasons were masters of the curve, obeying the dictates of the foundational outcrops. 

Both times I've been to Cutthroat we were alone and it felt intimate. But we were not alone. The towers keep watch. As a placard at Painted Hand states, "Pueblo people believe the ancestors that built these communities continue to live here, caring for their homelands and sharing the wisdom of the past." (THW, photo)

 

Horseshoe and Hackberry 

Travel: From the intersection of the park road and Road 10, drive north for 4.0 miles. Turn right on Road 4721. A 4WD vehicle with high clearance is required to drive the 1.0 mile to the parking area. The track is deeply rutted with exposed bedrock; impassible when wet. 

Distance and Elevation Gain: 1.5 miles, 100 feet

Total Time: 1:00

Map: Ruin Point, UT-CO  

 

From the trailhead, elevation 5,500 feet, a singletrack bears east along the canyon rim, first passing Horseshoe and ending at Hackberry. Both sites are within a 137-acre outlying unit. Flush with water from springs in Hackberry Canyon, the pueblos were occupied from 450 to 1300 CE. The two sites, as well as Holly, are in the juniper-sagebrush vegetation zone on Cajon Mesa. 

 

Horseshoe House was named for the two-story D-shaped structure lying on its back on the rim of a Hackberry side canyon. A two-story kiva is tucked under the overhang at the head of the canyon. 

Horseshoe Tower is located at the end of the point where the two forks of Hackberry Canyon meet. Here, elements are reduced to worked rock, source stone, and the ancient skyscape. (THW, photo)

  

Horseshoe Tower. (THW, photo) 

 

Hackberry was named for the eponymous trees still thriving at the site. The ruins of Hackberry are located at a spring in the main channel of Hackberry Canyon, a tributary of Bridge Canyon, in turn, a north contributor to Yellow Jacket Canyon. Hackberry has been mostly reduced to rubble fields but it once was the largest village in the park. In addition to room blocks and granaries, there is evidence of garden terraces and water control check dams.

 

On our first visit there was more freedom to roam and we found a large alcove with a seep pool, smoke-blackened ceiling, standing wall, and hand prints (image-center). Please note that this site is now off limits. 

  

Holly Group

Travel: From Horseshoe and Hackberry parking, the trailhead for Holly is another very rough 0.9 mile south on Road 4721.  

Distance and Elevation Gain: 1.0 mile (to park boundary and back), 100 feet  

Total Time: 0:45 to 1:00 

Map: Ruin Point, UT-CO 7.5' USGS Quad

Please note: You may hike from the campground to the Holly Group on the Holly Trail. The 4-mile (one-way) footpath goes through a couple of slot canyons, wanders up Little Ruin Canyon, and then up Keeley Canyon to the site.

 

From parking, elevation 5,360 feet, walk west, skimming along the head of Keeley Canyon. Eastward, Sleeping Ute Mountain is omnipresent from all the sites in the monument. 

By staying on trails you will protect soil that holds the earth down. Cryptobiotic soil crusts are composed of living organisms such as algae, cyanobacteria, and fungi that bind soil particles together in a dense matrix. The crust protects the desert by absorbing water and defending against wind and erosion. The mature crusts can literally be thousands of years old! 

As you approach the Holly Group ruins, you will pass by a massive boulder that has separated from the mother cliff and pitched boulder-top ruins at a precarious angle. The forces of erosion, including rock fall, have wreaked havoc on cultural sites throughout the southwest.  

The Holly Group has more visitors than other outlying sites, perhaps due to the intrigue and charm of multi-storied "Holly Tower." Balancing on a massive, sheer-walled boulder inside the canyon, the rectangular structure was built from the inside. 

Foundation rocks were fitted precisely to the boulder. It is my favorite ruin at Hovenweep. I've heard it also called Shaman's Tower and Boulder House (THW, photo) 

It's hard to see in this image but out on the ground, you can see the toe and hand holds that were pecked into the boulder below the entrance. (THW, photo)

 

Wall construction styles, core-and-veneer, chinked joints, little ladders of stone between thick sandstone blocks, and the precision of curves and corners, suggests ties to both Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. And yet the act of building towers on boulders is a distinctly local feature and specialty.

The original roof beams (as seen in 2013) at Holly House have been dated at 800 years old.

When we returned in 2025 the beams had been reinforced. 

Long ago we walked out the Petroglyph View Trail and dropped 50 feet into the canyon to stand right in front of a pictograph with one concentric circle and two spirals. Now, the Holly Sun Panel that archeologists believe marks the summer solstice is seen from an overlook at the far end of the Holly Group.  

Cajon Group 

Travel: From the junction of the park road and Road 10, drive 5.8 miles south. Turn right/west on Cajon Mesa Road. In just 0.4 mile, turn left and drive southwest on Old Aneth Cutoff Road for 2.8 miles. The dirt road is well graded with an expansive view. Watch for a little deep-red park sign and turn right. You will need 4WD with high clearance for the next 0.2 mile to the parking area. The primitive road has a high center and big swales. (Or, park at the turnoff and walk.)

Distance and Elevation Gain: 0.3 mile, flat

Total Time: 0:30

Map: Navajo Canyon, Utah 7.5' USGS Quad

Cajon is in the state of Utah on the Navajo Nation. It is the most southern, and at 5,180 feet, is the lowest outlying unit in elevation. Perched on the canyon rim at the southern edge of Cajon Mesa, there is a wide-open feel and full-swing view arcing from Sleeping Ute Mountain to Shiprock, the Carrizo Mountains, Monument Valley, Bears’ Ears, and the Abajo Mountains. And while Cajon is surrounded by scrubland, there is a spring at the head of the shallow canyon.

 

The main structures are mind-bending in both purpose and whimsy. Below, notice the tower built around and between two standing boulders. I find the "double boulder tower" simply enthralling. 

 

Three Hopi stonemasons, direct descendants of the original inhabitants at Hovenweep, have been stabilizing the ruins at the monument for many years. On-going renovation is needed to protect structures throughout the park that are in imminent danger from natural erosive forces and the cumulative pressures of visitation.  

In the late 1200s the people of Hovenweep began migrating south leaving behind sentinels of stone, symbols imbued with stories, and silence that speaks. (THW, photo)