United States national monuments

The United States National Monuments are part of the United States National Park System. Unlike United States national parks, they can be created by presidential proclamation without an act of Congress. Accordingly, they may be a step down from the national parks in general, but they are still spectacular and fascinating pieces of natural scenery and national history; many of these places could be the highlight of a major trip or could be worth a whole trip on their own.

The map markers in this article are roughly color-coded by each monument's main draw: gray for historic sites, maroon for Native American prehistoric sites, and green for nature. Of course, many of the monuments have some combination of these features: natural formations of historic importance, prehistoric sites surrounded by natural scenery, and so on.

Maine

 * , Patten

Maryland

 * , Federal Hill, Baltimore &mdash; Site of a famous battle in the War of 1812 where Francis Scott Key saw the American flag still flying over the fort and composed the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner, which later became the country's national anthem.

New York



 * , Financial District, New York City &mdash; A site in Lower Manhattan containing the remains of hundreds of Africans buried in what was a colonial-era cemetery.
 * , Financial District, New York City &mdash; A former fort at the southern tip of Manhattan that also served as the main immigration station in the country until a larger one at Ellis Island was built.
 * , Rome &mdash; A fort in upstate New York that was the site of a battle in the American Revolution.
 * , New York Harbor, New York City &mdash; An island park just off the southern tip of Manhattan that was once the site of military fortifications and an army base.
 * , New York Harbor, New York City &mdash; Home to Lady Liberty, still greeting visitors to New York Harbor. Tours of the inside of the statue are available if you reserve far in advance. Nearby on a separate island is Ellis Island, the famous former immigration station where the ancestors of a significant portion of America's population arrived in the United States.
 * , Greenwich Village, New York City — the Stonewall Inn and surrounding area, site of the Stonewall riots, making this the first national monument dedicated to LGBT history.

Washington, D.C.

 * , Capitol Hill — One of the most historic buildings in Washington, of great importance in the women's rights movement.

Alabama

 * , Birmingham — Birmingham saw several key events in the Civil Rights Movement, leaving historic landmarks preserved to this day.
 * , Anniston — Two locations important to the Civil Rights Movement: an old Greyhound Bus depot, and the site outside town where a bus was burned.
 * &mdash; A cave system noted for its significant prehistoric archaeological finds; site of the earliest known human settlement in the southeastern United States.

Georgia

 * , St. Simons Island &mdash; Preserves the ruins of a British fort and town from the 18th century.
 * , Tybee Island &mdash; A masonry fort that was the site of a crucial naval battle during the Civil War.

Kentucky

 * , Nicholasville — a training ground for African-American soldiers in the Civil War.
 * , near Somerset – a Civil War battlefield.

Louisiana

 * , Pioneer, Northern Louisiana &mdash; Prehistoric earthworks and mounds dating to nearly three thousand years ago.

Mississippi

 * &mdash; commemorates the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till. The Chicago church where the funeral was held is also part of the national monument.
 * , Jackson, Mississippi — home of civil rights activist Medgar Evers.

South Carolina



 * , Charleston &mdash; An island fort at the mouth of Charleston Harbor that is famous as the site of the opening battle of the Civil War.
 * , Sullivan's Island &mdash; Where South Carolina colonists fended off British attack during the American Revolution.

Virginia

 * , Roanoke &mdash; Preserves portions of a former tobacco plantation where Booker T. Washington, noted African-American political leader, was born into slavery.
 * , Hampton &mdash; A former military base that was a strategic site for forts from the first colonists in the area to the Civil War, when it served as a safe haven for freed slaves.
 * , Westmoreland County &mdash; Site of George Washington's birth and burial place of many of Washington's family members. Period buildings and furnishings are on display.

Florida

 * , St. Augustine &mdash; Built as a Spanish fort in the 17th century before changing to British and American hands.
 * , St. Augustine &mdash; A small Spanish fort dating to the 1740s.

Illinois

 * in Bronzeville, Chicago &mdash; Site of the funeral of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old lynching victim, whose service was held with an open casket to show the grotesque mutilations he was subjected to. Now part of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, which also includes sites in Mississippi.

Iowa

 * &mdash; Preserves a set of prehistoric mounds, including some shaped like animals.

Minnesota

 * &mdash; A footpath that bypasses a set of waterfalls and rapids, once used by fur trappers in the area.
 * , Pipestone &mdash; Preserves a set of quarries for stone used in traditional Plains Indians culture to create peace pipes.

Missouri

 * , Diamond (near Joplin) &mdash; Boyhood home of botanist and inventor George Washington Carver.

Ohio

 * , Xenia &mdash; Commemorates the life of Charles Young, the first African American National Park Service Superintendent and the highest ranking black army officer of his time.

Texas

 * , Fritch &mdash; A quarry site for flint that was distributed throughout the Great Plains in prehistoric times.
 * , Waco — A paleontological site with fossilized mammoths.

Nebraska

 * , near Scottsbluff, Nebraska Panhandle &mdash; Site of many well-preserved mammal fossils dating from nearly 20 million years ago.
 * , Beatrice &mdash; The first homestead obtained through the Homestead Act of 1862; contains displays about prairie homestead life.
 * , Scottsbluff &mdash; A set of steep hills that served as a landmark for pioneers along the Oregon and Mormon Trails.

South Dakota

 * &mdash; The second longest cave in the world, named for its calcite crystals.

Colorado

 * (BLM & USFS), between Salida and Buena Vista &mdash; A section of the Arkansas River popular for whitewater rafting.
 * (BLM), near Cortez
 * (USFS), near Pagosa Springs &mdash; An Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site.
 * &mdash; Contains Monument Canyon, with spectacular rock formations and desert wildlife.
 * &mdash; Preserves Jurassic fossil beds; a museum in the park displays dinosaur fossils.
 * &mdash; Petrified redwoods and detailed fossils of plants and insects from nearly 35 million years ago.
 * , near Cortez &mdash; A mostly unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan archaeological site dating to around a thousand years ago.

Idaho

 * &mdash; A large basalt flow with numerous volcanic rock features.
 * , Hagerman &mdash; Contains rich fossil beds from prior to the last ice age.

Montana

 * (BLM), near Billings – a rock formation with petroglyphs and the only remaining physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark expedition
 * (BLM)

Wyoming

 * &mdash; a towering stone monolith that rises dramatically above the surrounding landscape, perhaps most famous today as the setting of the climax of the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
 * &mdash; contains 50 million-year-old fossil beds.

Arizona

 * (BLM), north of Phoenix &mdash; Preserves prehistoric Pueblo settlements.
 * &mdash; Preserves a set of canyons and mesas in the midst of the Navajo Nation, with prehistoric Native American ruins.
 * , south of Phoenix &mdash; Contains a group of prehistoric structures.
 * , Eastern Arizona &mdash; Eroded volcanic rock features, including multitudes of vertical rock formations.
 * (BLM &amp; NPS), adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park &mdash; Deep canyons and lonely buttes at the junction of the Mojave Desert and Colorado Plateau.
 * , near Sacaton &mdash; Preserves archaeological remains including an ancient village. Not open to the public.
 * (BLM), South Central Arizona &mdash; A 5,000 year range of cultural and historical sites, including the Hohokam.
 * , Camp Verde &mdash; Remarkably well-preserved cliff dwellings nearly six hundred years old.
 * , Northern Arizona &mdash; Preserves a set of very intact Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings.
 * , Western Arizona &mdash; A desert landscape which is the only place in the country where the Organ Pipe Cactus grow naturally.
 * &mdash; A desert spring that was the site of Native American and Mormon settlements; contains exhibits on pioneer life.
 * (BLM), south of Phoenix &mdash; An extensive saguaro cactus forest amid Sonoran desert landscape.
 * , near Flagstaff &mdash; A volcanic cinder cone made of red rocks, hence the name.
 * , Eastern Arizona &mdash; Preserves a set of cliff dwellings.
 * , near Cottonwood &mdash; A two- to three-story pueblo ruin perched on the summit of a ridge.
 * (BLM), north of the Grand Canyon &mdash; vermilion-colored cliffs amid the remote high-desert; includes "The Wave".
 * , Flagstaff &mdash; Protects a set of cliff dwellings situated in a scenic canyon.
 * , near Flagstaff &mdash; Contains the remains of multiple ancient Native American settlements.

Nevada

 * , southern Nevada – Spirit Mountain and surrounding desert area, considered sacred to the Mojave people as well as other indigenous groups.
 * – Vast, rugged wilderness.
 * (BLM) — desert landscapes including rock art and the ghost town of Gold Butte.
 * , near North Las Vegas &mdash; Preserves a landscape containing Ice Age fossil beds.

New Mexico



 * , Farmington &mdash; Ruins of a large Ancestral Puebloan village, including a restored kiva.
 * &mdash; A set of ancient and scenic cliff dwellings carved out of the volcanic rock of local canyons.
 * , northeast New Mexico between Raton and Clayton &mdash; An extinct volcanic cinder cone that rises out of the surrounding plains.
 * &mdash; A basin covered in a large lava rock field that abruptly ends at the base of a sandstone bluff.
 * , near El Malpais National Monument &mdash; A sandstone formation with ancient petroglyphs and inscriptions carved from European explorers into the walls.
 * , near Las Vegas &mdash; A former frontier post and military fort once situated on the Santa Fe Trail.
 * , near Silver City &mdash; A set of cliff dwellings perched on a high canyon wall.
 * (BLM), central New Mexico near Santa Fe &mdash; A small monument preserving a set of tent-shaped volcanic rock formations and a short but scenic stretch of slot canyon accessible to hikers.
 * (BLM), Las Cruces
 * , Albuquerque &mdash; Preserves a collection of ancient petroglyphs carved on volcanic rock on a mesa overlooking Albuquerque.
 * (BLM), Las Cruces
 * (BLM), near Taos &mdash; A long and scenic stretch of gorge along the Rio Grande that's popular for hiking and whitewater rafting.
 * , Mountainair &mdash; Preserves the ruins of several pueblo villages and striking Spanish Colonial missions.

Utah

 * (BLM &amp; USFS), Canyon Country &mdash; a pair of buttes, rock climbing, and Native American history.
 * , near St. George &mdash; A natural amphitheater with spectacular red rock formations.
 * (BLM), Canyon Country &mdash; Deep sandstone canyons, impressive waterfalls and acres of road-less wilderness.
 * Canyon Country &mdash; Preserves Jurassic fossil beds; a museum in the park displays dinosaur fossils.
 * , near Cleveland &mdash; The densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur fossils ever found.
 * &mdash; A set of spectacular natural bridges, including the second and third largest natural bridges in the world, carved from sandstone.
 * , Glen Canyon National Recreation Area &mdash; The world's highest natural bridge, carved from red sandstone in a canyon just off Lake Powell.
 * &mdash; A cave system in the Wasatch Range with numerous colorful cave features.

California

 * (BLM and USFS) — An area of mountain ranges in northern California.
 * , Point Loma, San Diego &mdash; Perched on a high coastal bluff with views over San Diego Bay, with a historic lighthouse and a monument commemorating the Spanish explorer Cabrillo, the first European to land on what became the west coast of America.
 * (BLM) — Consists of the entire coast of California.
 * (BLM)
 * — next to Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert.
 * , Keene &mdash; Home and burial place of Cesar Chavez, civil rights activist and founder of United Farm Workers.
 * &mdash; Basalt cliffs and a 100-foot high waterfall.
 * (BLM), Marina
 * &mdash; The largest concentration of lava tube caves in North America.
 * (BLM), next to Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert.
 * , Marin County – A beautiful place to see endangered coastal redwoods, the tallest trees on the planet
 * (USFS), Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles
 * (BLM and NFS) — Mountain and desert habitats, mainly in San Bernardino County.
 * (BLM and USFS), Palm Desert
 * , Newell &mdash; Site of a large Japanese internment camp during WWII.

Oregon

 * (BLM), Medford
 * , Kimberly &mdash; Well-preserved fossils from the last 65 million years, painted in distinct colors by the many minerals in the fossil beds.
 * (USFS), Bend
 * &mdash; Natural marble caves with numerous prehistoric fossils.

Washington

 * (FWS), near Richland &mdash; A free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River near a historic nuclear weapons facility created during the Manhattan Project.
 * (BLM), San Juan Islands &mdash; Rugged islands in the Puget Sound with historic lighthouses and habitats for orcas, eagles, and seals.
 * (USFS)&mdash; Site of a major volcanic eruption in 1980

Alaska

 * (USFS), near Juneau
 * &mdash; extremely remote and rarely visited, based around Mount Aniakchak, a volcano that erupted thousands of years ago and left a vast caldera.
 * &mdash; A coastal plain with multiple lagoons and limestone bluffs.
 * (USFS)
 * , Atka Island, Attu Island, Kiska Island &mdash; A set of WWII battlefield remnants on the Aleutian Islands.

U.S. Virgin Islands

 * , Christiansted &mdash; Preserves a small island and surrounding coral reef ecosystem.

Other territories

 * – a large marine park home to several atolls. On UNESCO's tentative list as it comprises one of the most widespread coral reefs in the world