Theodore Roosevelt Presidential LibraryPublic Lands Directory

Alerts and conditions

Information Voicemail not functioning

The voicemail for the main park phone line (970-562-4282) is not functioning reliably. People are advised to call during business hours in order to speak with a ranger.

Information Hovenweep has gone cashless

The park now accepts only mobile or electronic payments for entrance & camping fees. You can reserve campsites and buy entrance passes on Recreation.gov, or only use debit/credit cards to pay in person.

Read the full alert

Overview

Hovenweep preserves six prehistoric sites built between 1200 and 1300 CE which may have served as ceremonial centers. 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.

From the National Park Service

History

The designation history for this site (every law, proclamation and order, and the administration behind each) is being researched and checked by the Library’s historians.

What to see and do

Activities

  • Astronomy
  • Stargazing
  • Camping
  • Hiking
  • Junior Ranger Program
  • Park Film
  • Shopping
  • Bookstore and Park Store

Browse hiking, biking and paddling routes on AllTrails

Plan your visit

Hours

All Park Hours: Hovenweep National Monument is typically open year-round. Park trails are open only sunrise to sunset.

Fees and passes

  • Entrance - Private Vehicle — $20.00
  • Entrance - Motorcycle — $15.00
  • Entrance - Per Person — $10.00
  • Annual Entrance - Park — $55.00

The America the Beautiful pass covers entrance fees at federal recreation lands across all four agencies.

Getting there

The Hovenweep Visitor Center is located 40-45 miles from Cortez, CO, and Blanding and Bluff, UT. If you use a GPS or a navigation app on your phone, make sure that you have set your destination to the Hovenweep National Monument Visitor Center, and that your route matches the directions on our website. Alternate routes to the visitor center, and any road to our remote, outlying units, can be very rough.

Visitor centers

Campgrounds

  • Hovenweep Campground (31 sites) — reserve

Weather

Hovenweep is part of the Colorado Plateau, a "high desert" region that experiences wide temperature fluctuations, sometimes over 40 degrees in a single day. The temperate (and most popular) seasons are spring (April-May) and fall (mid-September-October), when daytime highs average 60 to 80 F and lows average 30 to 50 F. Summer temperatures often exceed 100 F, making strenuous exercise difficult. Winters are cold, with highs averaging 30 to 50 F, and lows averaging 0 to 20 F.

Phone: (970) 233-9167

Whose lands these are

These lands are the ancestral and present-day homelands of Native nations. A section on whose lands these are is being prepared with tribal review. In the meantime, Native Land Digital offers a starting point.

Photos

a stone structure resting on a cliff edge
Stronghold House · NPS Photo / Andrew Kuhn
a stone structure at night with the Milky Way arcing overhead
Milky Way at Square Tower Group · NPS Photo / Jacob W. Frank
a stone structure with blue sky and clouds overhead
Cajon Unit · NPS Photo / Neal Herbert
remains of a stone structure with wood beams on the edge of a canyon
Holly Group · NPS photo
Reddish-orange sandstone wall with petroglyphs etched into it
Holly Petroglyph Panel · NPS/Chris Wonderly

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