Hovenweep

Hovenweep is a National Monument that comprises six groups of Ancestral Pueblo buildings, located within Utah and Colorado.  The largest is the Square Tower group, which are strewn around and within Little Ruin Canyon, on the Utah side of the state line.  A short trail leads from the nearby visitor's center and connects to a 2 mile-long circuit trail that passes near most of the ruins that are above the canyon, and includes a section within the canyon.  The builders of the Hovenweep sites are thought to be people of the Mesa Verde branch of the Ancestral Pueblo culture, also known as the Anasazi.

After leaving Lowry Pueblo, I found a road sign that pointed south toward Hovenweep.  I turned onto a road that was just as unpaved as the one leading to Lowry.  Fortunately, after a mile it connected to a paved road that led the rest of the way to Hovenweep, about 20 more miles.  Although definitely "off the beaten path", Hovenweep still had a number of visitors when I was there.  I took this shot of the buildings called the Twin Towers from across the canyon.

Tower Point stands above the canyon wall.

These buildings are collectively known as Hovenweep Castle.

Square Tower, after which this group is named, sits within Little Ruin Canyon.