We almost just happened upon this National Monument, as we hadn’t really looked up places to visit in the area other than Valley of the Gods and Monument Valley. We were heading back to Montrose, CO, via Ridgway, to repair Molly’s damaged windshield, and this Nat’l Monument was on the way. Even better: we scored spot in the campground. So we headed there. The main site ‘Square Tower Group’ consists of several groups of Ancestral Puebloan structures: towers, castle, houses, kivas. We wandered the grounds and very much enjoyed and were in awe of the ruins.
‘Hovenweep’ is a Ute/Paiute word meaning ‘deserted valley’. The name ‘Anasazi’ has long been used for the prehistoric farmers of the Four Corners (border of UT, CO, AR, NM). The favoured term now is ‘ancestral Puebloan’, indicating they were the ancestors of modern-day Puebloans.
The evening was spent with Em, Bec and Jean.
