I love this park! Such a cool surprise since we almost didn’t even do it. Epic vistas along the rim trail. I liked this state park better than Canyonlands NP. The history of its name was also interesting, but sad.
This place was really cool! Petroglyphs are not new for me since I’ve seen so many in southern Utah. If you have never seen petroglyphs before, and you have any mobility issues (it is super easy to access), it is a must see even though it is a bit out of the way.
Loved this place! Visitor center was closed for Covid. On the 2 mile little hike you see multiple structures, 15 maybe. A lot are very well preserved! We went on a cool day in late September, but since it was sunny it still felt kind of hot! One end of the trail loop has a steep section, but it can be avoided if you stay on the near side of the ravine or double back the way you came.
This covers a large area and is meant to be backpacked across and make your own discoveries. Instead, we drove the 88-mile loop and did the four stops: visitor center (make sure you look up the hours before you go), Lowry Pueblo, Painted Hand, and Hovenweep (technically a separate monument but they go so well together). Everything is marked decently, as long as you know what you’re looking for (get a map at the visitor’s center!).
Lowry Pueblo was a huge, multi-room pueblo that they have built a roof over to help protect it from the elements. You can even go inside some of the (roof-less) rooms through short doorways (don’t climb the walls!).
Painted Hand, towers/pueblos/pictographs, was the only place difficult to find. It was down a long, rough dirt road that does have a marked parking area. But then good luck finding the sights! We felt like we were randomly finding trail markers going every which way and not seeing anything. We eventually found it all, and it was cool to see the pictographs (not petroglyphs) and towers and pueblos.
The highlight of the drive was definitely Hovenweep. It’s a series of extremely well preserved pueblos and towers all along both sides of a small ravine. There is a small visitor center (closed for Covid) at the trailhead.
This was an epic vista! Definitely worth the parking fee ($10/vehicle). The hike to the viewpoint has a few benches along the way. Definitely bring water if it is sunny! It took my 5 kids (ages 7-12) and me about 45 minutes round trip.