Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)'s photos with the keyword: Hovenweep National Monument

Fellow explorer, coming out of the canyon on the trail at the Square Towers group. Though clear it was quite cold that morning, with temperatures around freezing and moderate winds.

Looking up from inside the canyon.

Looking up from inside the canyon.

The head of the Sleeping Ute, with a tower in the foreground

Structures around the small canyon that are considered to be part of the Square Tower group. See #1649 for comments on the Hovenweep monument.

Sleeping Ute mountain(s), so named because the mountains are said to resemble a Ute chief sleeping on his back with hands folded on his chest (see Wikipedia link). The mountain range, across the state border in Colorado, is considered sacred. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_Mountain

Structures around the small canyon that are considered to be part of the Square Tower group. See #1649 for comments on the Hovenweep monument.

While this may not look impressive, it might be! There is documentation suggesting that the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp of the New Deal) was active at Hovenweep, but I could find no specifics. One thing, though, that CCC workers made in most parks was benches that were similar to this in style.

Structures around the small canyon that are considered to be part of the Square Tower group. See #1649 for comments on the Hovenweep monument.

The square tower of the Square Tower group. See #1649 for comments on the Hovenweep monument.

Structures around the small canyon that are considered to be part of the Square Tower group. See #1649 for comments on the Hovenweep monument.

Structures around the small canyon that are considered to be part of the Square Tower group. See #1649 for comments on the Hovenweep monument.

Structures around the small canyon that are considered to be part of the Square Tower group. See #1649 for comments on the Hovenweep monument.

Hovenweep National Monument is probably my favorite of the Native American ruins. Like Walnut Canyon (see earlier pictures of this trip), it has a 2 mile loop around multiple structures and no one structure dominates, thus it has the feel of having once been a fairly active village. Unlike the other collections of structures in the area, this is not very visited, thus it is easy to spend time on the trail reflecting on what life was once like here. Per the park service, the structures were built between 1200 and 1300 AD (CE). What is seen in these pictures is structures in the Square Tower group, there are five other prehistoric villages around Hovenweep, but all of those are on unpaved roads and are less accessible

The name on this made me laugh, sounding almost like the label of a public housing unit. Note also the structure on the other side of the valley. At Hovenweep National Monument, from a January, 2010 visit.

Sleeping Ute Mountain, said to be named that due to resembling a sleeping Ute chief with his arms crossed. The mountain is in Colorado, seen from Hovenweep NM in Utah. At Hovenweep National Monument, from a January, 2010 visit.

Note the tower down in the canyon, on the left side of the picture. At Hovenweep National Monument, from a January, 2010 visit.

See the description of Hovenweep in a nearby summer picture. This was my second visit to Hovenweep and the first time in the winter. Going in the winter was well worth it. The lack of foliage makes this area feel much smaller since you can easily see multiple structures at once. The lack of visitors (there were no other visitors in the park while I was there) means that the trails are very quiet, leaving much more time to reflect on what life in the canyon may have been like in the winter, in the 13th century.