Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [269]
Nero's
303 W. Main St. ☎ 970/565-7366. http:// subee.com/neros/home.html. Reservations recommended. Main courses $8.95–$21. AE, MC, V. Daily 5–9:30pm. Closed Sun in winter. ITALIAN/AMERICAN.
Our top choice in this area when we're craving something a bit different. The innovative entrees include house specialties such as Cowboy steak (a charbroiled 12-ounce sirloin seasoned with a spicy rub and served with pasta or fries); mushroom ravioli served with Alfredo
sauce, sautéed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and pecans; and shrimp Alfredo— sautéed shrimp with spinach served over fettuccine with Alfredo sauce and Romano cheese. There's an excellent selection of beef, plus seafood, fowl, pork, veal, and lots of homemade pasta. A small, homey restaurant with a Southwestern art-gallery decor, Nero's also offers pleasant outdoor seating in warm weather.
Picnic & Camping Supplies
Inside the park, a general store in Morefield Village sells camping supplies and groceries from late April through late October. In nearby Cortez, City Market, 508 E. Main (☎ 970/565-6505; www.city market.com), which has a deli, bakery, and excellent salad bar, sells everything you might want for a picnic or family outing, including fishing licenses.
Nearby National Monuments & Archaeological Sites
The major archaeological center of the United States, the Four Corners area— where the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet—is surrounded by a vast complex of ancient villages that dominated this entire region a thousand years ago. Here among the reddish-brown rocks, abandoned canyons, and flat mesas, you'll discover another world, once ruled by the ancestral Puebloans and today largely the domain of the Navajo.
HOVENWEEP NATIONAL
Preserving some of the most striking and isolated archaeological sites in the Four Corners area, this national monument straddles the Colorado-Utah border, 40 miles west of Cortez.
Hovenweep is the Ute word for "deserted valley," appropriate because its inhabitants apparently left around 1300. The monument contains six separate sites and is noted for mysterious, 20-foot-high sandstone towers, some square, others oval, circular, or D-SHAPED. Archaeologists have suggested their possible function as everything from guard or signal towers, celestial observatories, and ceremonial structures to water towers or granaries.
A ranger station, with exhibits, restrooms, and drinking water, is at the Square Tower Site, in the Utah section of the monument, the most impressive and best preserved of the sites. The Hovenweep Campground, with 30 sites, is open year-round. Sites are fairly small—most appropriate for tents or small pickup-truck campers—but a few sites can accommodate RVs up to 25 feet long. The campground has flush toilets, drinking water, picnic tables, and fire pits, but no showers or RV hookups. Cost is $10 per night; reservations are not accepted, but the campground rarely fills.
From Cortez, take U.S. 160 south to County Road G (McElmo Canyon Rd.), and follow signs into Utah and the monument. The other five sites are difficult to find, and you'll need to obtain detailed driving directions and check on current road conditions before setting out. Summer temperatures can reach over 100°F (38°C), and water supplies are limited, so take your own and carry a canteen, even on short walks. Bug repellent is advised; gnats can be a nuisance in late spring.
The visitor center and ranger station are open daily from 8am to 5pm year-round, and trails are open from sunrise to sunset. Admission for up to a week costs $6 per vehicle or $3 per person on bike or foot. For information, contact Hovenweep National Monument, McElmo Route, Cortez, CO 81321 (☎ 970/562-4282; www.nps.gov/hove).