Sometimes, you just need a minute or two away—to recollect, to destress, to center yourself. To forget about the annoyances of the moment.
Here’s an opportunity to do just that.
So sit back, put in your headphones, click the fullscreen button, and enjoy the late afternoon shoreline of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Hovenweep National Monument doesn’t get much fanfare. It’s hard to live in the shadow—almost literally—of nearby world-famous Mesa Verde National Park. It’s also hard to compete with the sheer number of cultural sites protected by Bears Ears National Monument and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, both next door neighbors to Hovenweep. At only 784 acres, it’s among the smallest national parks in the West, and a little bit out of the way for many travelers.
But it’s the quaint nature of Hovenweep’s aptly-named Little Ruin Canyon that really shines for visitors.
Behind the visitor center, an easy 2-mile loop brings you close to each of the canyon’s major ruins: Tower Point, Hovenweep Castle, Square Tower, Hovenweep House, Rim Rock House, Twin Towers, Stronghold House, and Unit Type House. The canyon is small and feels homely—you can easily see across to the structures on the opposing rim. And the scale of the ruins here, known as the Square Tower Group, really makes it easy to imagine each as its own house on an ancient neighborhood block.
The Ancestral Puebloan people (often called the Anasazi until recently) who inhabited this canyon left behind countless ruins, rock art, and other artifacts in the Four Corners region. While the stunning Mesa Verde and Chaco Culture are among the best known parks preserving the remains of this culture, Hovenweep provides visitors with a different experience.
Whereas the sheer scale of Chaco’s sprawling Pueblo Bonito or the massive Cliff Palace of Mesa Verde tell the story of great cultural centers, Hovenweep’s story seems far more intimate. In some ways, it’s like comparing Manhattan with a sleepy suburban neighborhood. One has the glitz and glamour, but the other excels at its relatability.
That even holds true with Hovenweep’s small campground. Featuring just 31 sites—but equipped with curved shade structures and graveled tent pads—the small campsites give off a comfy, yet cozy vibe. There are even delineated trails thoughtfully placed from each campsite to the central restroom facility, which features flush toilets and running water. Not bad for a $10 stay.
When we camped there on a Friday night in March 2017, only three of the sites were occupied. And the occupants of each were fast asleep not long after dark.
That’s too bad really, because the night sky is one of the best features of the park. In 2014, Hovenweep was designated as an International Dark Sky Park, a testament in part to the park unit’s remoteness.
There’s more to Hovenweep than just the canyon and campground, however. The national monument also boasts four outlying parcels—Cajon, Cutthroat Castle, Holly, and Horseshoe/Hackberry—each containing additional related ruins.
In short, Hovenweep is a great destination for avoiding the park crowds, visualizing what life might have been like for this community of Ancestral Puebloans, and enjoying an interesting and intimate little slice of the Four Corners region.
If you’ve been to quite a few National Park units—especially the ones that don’t close at night—you may have noticed something odd about the layout of their visitor centers. In nearly all of them, the public restrooms are located on the exterior of the building, as opposed to down an interior hallway inside the visitor center. There are exceptions to … Read more
After having our weekend camping trip get cancelled, Jen and I decided to salvage our Sunday with a day trip west towards the Colorado River. Our goal was to explore the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge a bit, check out the desert wildflower scene there, and scout a few places to camp in the future.
After packing up the car with our gear, snacks, and picnic supplies, we hit the road for the 2.5-hour drive to the western approach of the Kofa Mountains. The entire low desert region around the town of Quartzsite, Arizona is prime RV camping in the winter months. The BLM public lands surrounding the town, and those that ring the Kofa, allow for long-term camping, so the desert flats are filled with both trailers and coaches, as well as the occasional #vanlife rig.
Kofa is a rather large place. It’s 665,000 acres of rugged mountain ranges and sloping valleys, all but one-fifth of which is designated Wilderness. The land was originally set aside to protect desert bighorn sheep back in 1939, the product of a Boy Scout advocacy campaign to protect the species. Mining, however, has seemingly always been a part of the modern history of this area. The name Kofa comes from the King of Arizona mine located along the mountain range’s southwestern edge.
Our first stop of the day was just outside the National Wildlife Refuge’s official boundary at a feature called the spiral labyrinth. I have no idea when it was constructed, who made it, or why. I’m not exactly a fan of mutilating the desert with something like this, but I’ll admit that it’s a lot cooler than I expected it to be.
The labyrinth is located just off the main road into Palm Canyon and is scraped into desert pavement, much like the ancient intaglios further west. At more than 60 feet wide, the spiral is impressive—especially given the quality of its design and construction.
I would have loved to stay here for much longer than we did and to walk the entire thing. Unfortunately, two inconsiderate asshats were camping right next to the thing, preventing us from taking the photos we’d like or even enjoying a serenity.
Moving along, we entered the refuge and turned onto Queen Mine Road. The road is quite a bit rougher than Palm Canyon, as it eventually leads into a tight canyon where it dead ends. Thank goodness I have Sam the Subie. I’ve always wanted to camp along this road, which is home to a somewhat iconic photo spot, sometimes called the Kofa spires or Kofa sea stacks. It’s also the approach one would use for scrambling up Signal Peak, the highest point in Yuma County. I’ll be back to tackle this summit another time as part of my Arizona County High Points quest.
We doubled back and headed towards Palm Canyon for lunch. Palm Canyon is the most common destination for visitors. It’s incredible easy to find—the main sedan-friendly road into the Kofa leads directly to it. It’s also a signed half-mile foot trail, which means it’s usually the only Kofa destination that you’ll find on hiking websites or guidebooks. The canyon is home to the California fan palm, the only palm species that grows natively in Arizona.
We positioned the car to block the wind, made some sandwiches and enjoyed the vista. After lunch, I scouted around the mouth of the canyon for some tent-appropriate campsites we could use on a future group trip. And yep, there are some primo sites with great views into the canyon. We’ll definitely be back.
It was now time to explore the expansive King Valley, which bisects the wildlife refuge and separates its two primary mountain ranges: the Kofa Mountains and the Castle Dome Mountains. We headed back to the highway and down to King Road, then took it southeast into the interior of the refuge. Passing countless camp pull-offs and expansive vistas, we eventually headed northeast over the desert flats towards Polaris Mountain and the Kofa Mine. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived at the foothills, so we couldn’t stay and explore the area on foot.
After departing the Kofa, we turned south towards Yuma. On our way, we stopped at the Yuma Proving Ground, a large military testing installation. The proving ground, still currently in use, is a remnant of General Patton’s massive Desert Training Center. An interesting note on the national wildlife refuge: in times of war, it can automatically revert to active Yuma Proving Ground land.
There are a dozen or more old tanks on display outside the main gates—each of which was originally tested on the facility grounds—so I stopped for Jen to take a look and read the various plaques.
Our purpose in heading out of our way to Yuma was simple: beer. Jen has officially adopted #azbeerquest and had not yet marked off Yuma’s sole craft brewery. This must be corrected. But first, we needed to stop at a dive bar that’s been on my list to visit for several years. It didn’t disappoint. I even had to fight off some handsy (and apparently quite lonely) locals looking to get frisky; I suppose that’s what you get at a former strip club.
We departed to grab dinner and a beer flight at the brewery and mark another off the quest. After a long but enjoyable day, we headed towards home, completing an impressive loop around southwestern Arizona.
I’m always a bit surprised when a friend seems shocked that we’d did a day trip like this one. I sometimes get questions like:
“How did you know where to go?” or “How long did it take you plan that trip?” or even “I could never just go do something like that.”
Let’s just set the record straight: day trips rock!
They’re easy to put together and they’re easy to do. They allow you to get out and explore your state. And if you bring food along with you, then they only cost a tank of gas. Don’t have a destination in mind? Don’t let that stop you. Grab a map, hit the road, and decide as you go. Don’t know what to bring? Just bring whatever you want to have with you. I’d recommend some water, beverages and snacks, and warm clothes if it’s cold out. Besides that, there’s really not much to it.
Stay tuned here and we’ll help ensure that you start taking more of those day trips and just get out more.
Child of mine
come as you grow
in youth you will learn the secret places
the cave behind the waterfall
the arms of the oak that hold you high
the stars so near on a desert ledge
the important places
and as with age you choose your own way
among the many faces of a busy world
may you always remember the path that leads back
back to the important places.— Dad for Forest, 1986
This short poem inspired the excellent short film above. It’s a poignant re-telling of how the poem inspired a return trip, and it highlights the role that our public lands play in our collective lives. Of how those shared experiences—even ones separated by decades—can help make us feel at home and connected to the ones we care most about. Our important places help us create, and later relive, our cherished memories.
If you haven’t made it back to the important places of your life recently, maybe it’s time to change that.
What do you do when you’re driving a backcountry dirt road near the Mexican border—miles from any city—and you come across an offer you just can’t refuse?
Well, I think we all know the answer to that…
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