Hovenweep Campground
2Heads uppark alerts
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 3129 on recreation.gov
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Hovenweep Campground is nestled within the beautiful, sweeping landscape of the Colorado Plateau in Southeast Utah, at an elevation of approximately 5300 ft. (1615 m). The campground is located alongside two converging canyons and is only 1/4 mile (.4 km) from the park's visitor center. Stunning views of mountains, canyons, and sandstone ledges adorned with desert plants make for a spectacular camping experience! Length of stay is limited to seven (7) nights (consecutively or non-consecutively) in any 30-day period or a total of 14 nights per year. Keep reading
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 (1.5 - 3 m) 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. 10 sites are RV-specific (including 1 handicap-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 picnic 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 (72 km) 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.
What the agency tells you
Camping is only permitted in the designated campground. Each campsite is limited to 8 persons, 2 tents, and 2 vehicles (a trailer counts as one vehicle).
Check in for your reservation is anytime after 11am. Check out is 10am at the latest
Hammocks and other items must not be strung on tree branches or limbs.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
If your plans change and you are unable to make it for your reservation. Please go and cancel using Recreation.gov. That way the site can become available for other campers. As demand for a site is high and there is limited space.
Flush toilets available year-round.
Wood fires in grates only. Wood gathering is prohibited. Do not leave garbage in fire grates. Charcoal cooking fires are allowed in fire pans and grills. Place ashes in fire grates. Properly extinguish all fires.
Campground ‘Quiet Hours’ are from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Noise levels are to remain at a conversational level.
All motor vehicles must be parked on designated vehicle pads and must not extend into the roadway. Vehicle barriers may not be moved to enlarge the available parking space.
Campground ‘Generator Hours’ are from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Length of stay is limited to seven (7) nights (consecutively or non-consecutively) in any 30-day period or a total of 14 nights per year.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 31 · 7 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 58 ft
- Paved pads
- 1 of 31
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Little
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - year round
- Showers
- None at this campground
- “Flush toilets are available, but there are no showers.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Dump station
- Yes
- Firewood
- Mentioned
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- Birding
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Ranger programs
- Picnicking
- Stargazing
- Visitor center
- Night sky · 149th darkest of 458 in UT
- Bortle 2
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Park Service says
- Yes
26 of 58 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:49 UTC
recreation.gov lists 29 of the 31 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:49 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
31 sites
All 31 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 22 of the 31 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Hovenweep | Site 1 | rv nonelectric | 45 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 10 | standard nonelectric | 46 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 11 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 12 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 13 | standard nonelectric | 31 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 14 | tent only nonelectric | 42 ft | ||
| Hovenweep | Site 15 | standard nonelectric | 38 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 16 | standard nonelectric | 42 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 17 | standard nonelectric | 44 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 18 | standard nonelectric | 43 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 19 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 2 | rv nonelectric | 53 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 20 | standard nonelectric | 41 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 21 | tent only nonelectric | 35 ft | ||
| Hovenweep | Site 22 | tent only nonelectric | 25 ft | ||
| Hovenweep | Site 23 | rv nonelectric | 38 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 24 | rv nonelectric | 37 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 25 | rv nonelectric | 52 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 26 | tent only nonelectric | 29 ft | ||
| Hovenweep | Site 27 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 28 | rv nonelectric | 45 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 29 | rv nonelectric | 46 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 3 | tent only nonelectric | 30 ft | ||
| Hovenweep | Site 30 | rv nonelectric | 37 ft | yes | $20 |
| Hovenweep | Site 31 | type not stated | 58 ft | ||
| Hovenweep | Site 4 | rv nonelectric | 51 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 5 | tent only nonelectric | 28 ft | ||
| Hovenweep | Site 6 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 7 | type not stated | 37 ft | ||
| Hovenweep | Site 8 | standard nonelectric | 37 ft | $20 | |
| Hovenweep | Site 9 | tent only nonelectric | 38 ft |
25 of 31 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
McPhee CampgroundSan Juan National Forest · 30 mi
McPhee Recreation ComplexSan Juan National Forest · 30 mi
Devils CanyonManti-La Sal National Forest · 31 mi
Sand Island Recreation AreaBears Ears National Monument · 31 mi
Sand Island Group SitesBears Ears National Monument · 31 mi
House CreekSan Juan National Forest · 31 miTurn by turn directions from Cortez, Blanding, or Bluff can be found on the Directions and Transportation page of Hovenweep's website.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Aneth, UT
Typical weather
Typical October night 37°F, day 71°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 18°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Hovenweep Campground is in Utah’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Mike Kennedy (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“the agency's own site records list "CELL PHONE SERVICE" on 31 of 31 campsites here”