Hovenweep National Monument, Utah

Hovenweep National Monument is spread across a 20-mile expanse of canyons and mesas straddling the Utah-Colorado border. Within the boundaries of the National Monument are the remains of 6 pre-Columbian, Ancestral Puebloan villages. The greater part of these villages were built between 1200 and 1300 CE, about the same time as the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.

There are traces of humans inhabiting the Hovenweep area that go back about 10,000 years. Nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the area seasonally gathering food and hunting. The first settlements began to crop up in the 900's when folks started to settle down and grow crops in the fertile soil on the mesa tops.

The constructions that were left at Hovenweep are very similar to those of the Ancestral Puebloans that were left at Mesa Verde, although the buildings at Hovenweep show much more attention to detail and more careful construction. After more than 700 years, buildings that were built on top of irregular boulders are still standing.

Hovenweep National Monument is in a pretty secluded area of southeastern Utah. There is a visitor center, campground and interpretive trail close to the Square Tower Group but most of the Monument is undeveloped. That area east of the Colorado-Utah state line has become Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.