## Overview

 Hovenweep Campground is nestled within the beautiful, sweeping landscape of the Colorado Plateau in Southeast Utah, at an elevation of approximately 5300 ft. The campground is located alongside two converging canyons and is only 1/4 mile (.4km) from the park\'s visitor center. Stunning views of mountains, canyons, and sandstone ledges adorned with desert plants make for a spectacular camping experience! 
## Recreation

 Hovenweep offers multiple hikes, with the most popular being the Square Tower Group\'s 2-mile (3.2km) walking loop. This hike has the densest population of ancestral Puebloan structures within Hovenweep and allows visitors to get within 5-10 feet of them, creating an intimate and humbling experience with fantastic opportunities for photography. For visitors seeking a longer hike, the Holly Trail is conveniently located at the back of the campground and is roughly 8 miles (12.9 km) round-trip, traversing through 2 slot canyons within Keely Canyon and leading visitors to Hovenweep\'s outlying site, Holly. Additional hikes to Hovenweep\'s remaining outlying sites are also available, but generally require a higher-clearance vehicle to access and are subject to variable road conditions. Visitors can also enjoy the majesty and vastness of the dark skies and glowing stars here at our certified International Dark Sky Park! 
## Facilities

 Hovenweep Campground contains 31 campsites that are available for reservation. Ten sites are RV-specific (including 1 accessible site), while the remaining 21 sites have tent pads. Sites provide a wonderful opportunity for a variety of visitors to stay overnight in a peaceful national monument. The campground road is a paved, one-way loop with campsites located on the inner and outer sides, offering a variety of views for campers! Flush toilets are available, but there are no showers. Drinking water is available from May 1 - November 1 (water is available at the visitor center year-round). All campsites contain picnic tables and fire rings with grill grates. All but 4 campsites have shade structures over the picnice tables. The park does not have dump stations or any hook-ups for RVs. Firewood is not available at the campground. Trash, recycling bins, and a receptacle for pet waste bags are located by the restrooms. 
## Natural Features

 The campground is forested with beautiful, established Utah Juniper trees along with many desert wildflowers and plants, dotting the landscape and offering vivid color to the surrounding sandstone ledges and canyons. Spring reveals the majesty of Veined Penstemon, painting our park with pinks, blues and purples, while Fall sparkles with yellow rabbit brush accents. The park is within an arid, high desert environment with hot summers and cold winters. Hovenweep is home to many species of wildlife, ranging from antelope ground squirrels, ravens, and songbirds to coyotes, jack rabbits and lizards. Many nights and mornings are filled with the calls and songs of our local wildlife! This area piques the interest of many wildlife viewers, birders, and artists as they pull inspiration from the natural beauty and welcoming peace of Hovenweep! 
## Nearby Attractions

 Hovenweep is located roughly 45 miles from the nearest town with restaurants and shopping. The closest gas station is located 20 miles from the park, in Aneth, Utah. Our park is located next to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, which is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Canyons of the Ancients offers mountain biking/horseback riding trails, as well as archaeological sites and other areas of interest for visitors to explore. There are also multiple state, national, and tribal parks located within an hour or two\'s driving distance from Hovenweep.

Hovenweep National Monument

31 sites - arrived at 1 pm at the end of May and had many empty sites to choose from. The campground is only about 1/3 full at almost 6 pm. If you want a shower, this campground is not for you but I don't base my rating on shower availability. There is potable water, a clean bathroom with flush toilets, level campsites and beautiful views. That's all I need! After all, it's camping.

Several sites are reserved for RVs. We took one for our teardrop but could have used one of the sites with a tent pad. A campervan or small trailer could pull in the parking area for some of the tent sites. Tent pads are mostly dirt with a little bit of crushed rock.

This is a Dark Sky Park but there are lots of those in Utah.

Middle of nowhere but worth it!

Many roads into area, all narrow, winding and potholed. Arrive well before dark as roads are also full of livestock. Clean bathroom but no showers. Lovely views all around. Dark sky activities in summer. Shelters and fire rings at all spots as well as nice tent pads. Some rv only spots. Water inside visitor center, pump out front didn't work. Free  admission to Monument, $15 bucks to camp. Improvements to water and infrastructure in progress. Fees for admission coming in May 2019.

Great little campground!

Arrived early afternoon and visitor center was closed. Their hours are 0900 to 1200 hours. We drove on to the campground, drove around to pick our site. The campground was designed as a tent campground but there are some sites that a van or small trailers RVs will fit. Our site had a fire pit, picnic table with a cover. Fairly level site, amazing view. We can’t see any neighbors. This is a first come first serve. Once we picked our site we went to the kiosk. Parking was $14 or with a pass it was $7. Nice flush toilets, clean, toilet paper and hand soap with air dryers. Outside bathroom are containers for recycle, etc. that was a nice surprise. At Welcome Center you may get up to five gallons of water per person in your party per day.   Cell service with Verizon was two to three bars sitting at picnic table. Haven’t tried the wee boost yet. 

Peace

This is a great campsite. We came across it leaving Cortez and realized that we were losing daylight. It was about 40 minutes from Cortez and we were lucky to find it. There are about 30 sites with sand beds, covered tables, and fire pits. Truly a beautiful spot for $15/night. It was very safe and you could hear the coyotes at night. The grounds and bathrooms were clean and there were paths leading to the restrooms from each campsite. Unfortunately, we arrived on a full moon night so couldn’t stargaze but it would be incredible! Keep in mind, this is a first come first serve campground so I’d suggest arriving earlier especially no moon nights during peak season. 