Chimney Rock National Monument, Colorado, was established in 2012 on San Juan National Forest land surrounded by the Ute Reservation. Its twin rock spires high on a ridge inspired the name, but the monument protects several sites of ancient Puebloan ruins built by the Chaco people. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating […]
Aztec Ruins
Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico protects the site of a large Puebloan ruin. Established in 1923, this site is one of many that protect sites of the Chaco Culture, but it is certainly one of the most accessible sites of its kind. Despite the name given to it by American settlers, this site had […]
Waco Mammoth
Waco Mammoth National Monument in Texas preserves the active dig site for the remains of a group of at least 24 prehistoric Columbian mammoths. While the first bones were discovered in 1978, the site wasn’t opened to the public until 2009 as a joint venture between the city of Waco and nearby Baylor University. In […]
Capulin Volcano
Capulin Volcano National Monument in northern New Mexico protects a well-preserved cinder cone volcano from a field that erupted thousands of years ago. Established in 1916, it’s one of the older monuments in the National Parks System. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Weather. Clear but windy and 50 […]
Ocmulgee Mounds
Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (formerly Ocmulgee National Monument) in central Georgia was established in 1936 to protect the site of several large mounds built by the Mississippian people around 1000 years ago. The site is home to eight mounds of various shapes and sizes as well as a Civil War Battlefield, the battle of […]
Tonto
Tonto National Monument, in the Superstition Mountains of central Arizona, protects a series of ancient ruins of cliff-dwelling natives known as the Salado culture. Set in the northeast corner of the Sonoran desert, the monument is not only home to well-preserved ruins, but beautiful red cliffs and Saguaro cactus as well. Visitor Rating (write your […]
Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree National Park, California is a wild desert landscape of rock formations and the iconic trees for which it was named. Established as a National Monument in 1936, it was upgraded to a National Park in 1994. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating Scenery Uniqueness Wildlife Diversity ILNP Park Review In […]
Casa Grande Ruins
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Arizona, protects a large ancient ruin (the so-called “big house”) of the native Hohokam people in southern Arizona. It was declared a National Monument in 1918, but its federal protection had been underway since 1892 making it the first reserve for a prehistoric cultural site in the U.S. Visitor Rating […]
Juan Bautista de Anza
The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail runs through southern Arizona and up the California coast to commemorate the historic route taken in 1774 by de Anza and a small party and in in 1775-1776 with around 240 Spanish colonists to establish the first non-native settlement in the San Francisco area. Visitor Rating (write […]
Tumacácori
Tumacácori National Historical Park in southern Arizona preserves the sites of a handful of Spanish missions and settlements that were part of Spain’s advance into what is now the southwest United States. Named for the O’odham village it was built near, the main site at Tumacácori was preserved as a National Monument by Theodore Roosevelt […]
Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail commemorates the route taken by the famous American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their search through the northern plains and mountains for a route to the Pacific Ocean. The park was listed as one of the original “National Historic Trails” when this category was added into […]
Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at Moton Airfield, Alabama, was placed on the Register of Historic Landmarks in 1998 to preserve the site where the first African American pilots and maintainers of the US Armed Forces were trained during WWII. These men persevered against doubt and racism at every level to become one of the most […]