FEBRUARY 2018
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| HOLLY RUINS |
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| HOLLY RUINS |
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| HOLLY RUINS |
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| HOLLY RUINS |
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| HOLLY RUINS |
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| HORSESHOE RUINS |
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| HORSESHOE RUINS |
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| HORSESHOE RUINS |
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| HORSESHOE RUINS |
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| HACKBERRY RUINS |
Horseshoe, Hackberry and Holly are some quality ruins located in Hovenweep National Monument not too far from the Visitors Center. To access them you will drive four miles east of the Visitors Center turn-off on Hovenweep Road, and take a right onto an unmarked dirt road. Follow the road for about a mile until you see a trailhead sign for the Horseshoe and Hackberry Ruins. It is only about a one-mile round-trip hike to see Horseshoe and Hackberry. You will pass some cool ruins, but sadly the National Park Service has placed fences in front of them to try to prevent people from getting too close. This took some of the enjoyment out of the experience. I guess this is a downside to the ruins being located within a National Monument. Nearly all of the other ruin sites in Utah are un-fenced, and allow people to walk right up to them. The ruins are still nice and worth a visit though.
The Holly Ruins are located about a mile further down the road from the Horseshoe and Hackberry Ruins Trailhead. I'd heard the road was a bit rough, so I decided to walk it to be safe. A high-clearance vehicle would have no trouble, and possibly a low-clearance vehicle if you drove it carefully. The Holly Ruins are even more impressive than the Horseshoe and Hackberry Ruins. From the trailhead it is only a short walk to see all of the buildings. In order to keep visitation down, Hovenweep doesn't really advertise these ruins. When I visited Hovenweep in December of 2012, I was completely unaware they existed, even though they were only four miles down the road. I only saw one family on my hike when I visited in February of 2018.
