New Mexico is full of history from many eras. The three ruins sites preserved by Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument offer the visitor a glimpse into the meeting of the Puebloan and Spanish cultures that dates to the 1600s. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit. I […]
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Pecos
Pecos National Historical Park sits just a couple of miles from the busy I-25 corridor near Glorieta Pass, New Mexico, but it feels like a world apart. Surrounded by juniper forests and mountains, Pecos NHP is a beautiful place, but it’s not its beauty that makes it part of the National Park system. First declared […]
Wind Cave
Is Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota worth seeing when the cave is closed? That was the question before me when I visited in the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It wasn’t just the pandemic, though, elevator repairs had kept Wind Cave from offering cave tours for more than a year, and […]
Andersonville
Walking around the site of the Civil War prison at Andersonville, one can’t help but envision the horrid conditions of more than 30,000 men crammed into a 26-acre pen left mostly to fend for themselves against the environment, hunger and rampant sickness. Andersonville serves as a somber reminder of one of the most grim aspects […]
Kennesaw Mountain
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia preserves the site of the last major battle in the defense of Atlanta from Sherman’s advancing forces during the American Civil War. Despite being outnumbered 2:1, Johnston’s Confederates held out against Sherman’s forces in two separate attacks in June of 1964. While it was a tactical victory for the […]
Mammoth Cave
Do you have claustrophobia? How about a fear of being trapped underground? If so, then Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky is NOT the place for you! Enjoy exploring strange places? Then you’ll love this park! Discovered by modern settlers in the 1700s, Mammoth Cave started life as a saltpeter mine for making gunpowder. In […]
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 […]