National monuments are areas preserved and protected because they contain objects of historic, prehistoric, and/or scientific interest. Generally established by presidential proclamation under authority of Congress, they can also be established by direct action of Congress.

Most National Monuments are administered by the National Park Service, but the list below also includes those administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), United States Forest Service (USFS), and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

name (location) outstanding feature(s)
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Admiralty Island (Alaska) part of Tongass National Forest [USFS]

African Burial Ground (New York) site in downtown New York City that contains the remains of more than 400 free and enslaved Africans buried during the 17th and 18th centuries

Agate Fossil Beds (Nebraska) deposits of animal fossils

Agua Fria (Arizona) more than 450 distinct Native American structures [BLM]

Alibates Flint Quarries (Texas) site of a quarry used by prehistoric Indians

Aztec Ruins (New Mexico) ruins of a large Pueblo town of the 1100's

Bandelier (New Mexico) ruins of prehistoric pueblos and cliff dwellings

Booker T. Washington (Virginia) birthplace and boyhood home of black educator and college "founder" Booker T. Washington

Buck Island Reef (Virgin Islands) marine garden in the Caribbean that includes an underwater trail

Cabrillo (California) memorial to Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, "discoverer" of the West Coast of North America

California Coastal (California) all islets, reefs, and rock outcroppings along the entire California coastline [BLM]

Canyon de Chelly (Arizona) prehistoric Indian ruins at base of cliffs and in caves

Canyons of the Ancients (Colorado) more than 6,000 archaeological sites [BLM]

Cape Krusentern (Alaska) coastal plain containing large lagoons, rolling hills of limestone, and evidence of some 9,000 years of human habitation

Capulin Volcano (New Mexico) cinder cone of a volcano that has been extinct for about 59,000 years

Carrizo Plain (California) the largest single native grassland remaining in California [BLM]

Casa Grande Ruins (Arizona) ruins of an adobe tower built over 600 years ago

Cascade-Siskiyou (Oregon) more than 100 dwelling and root-gathering sites belonging to the Modoc, Klamath, and Shasta tribes [BLM]

Castillo de San Marcos (Florida) fort begun by Spaniards in 1672 to defend St. Augustine

Castle Clinton (New York) circular sandstone fort built in 1811 at the southern tip of Manhattan to protect New York City from the British

Cedar Breaks (Utah) huge natural amphitheater canyon

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers (Ohio) home of Charles Young, the first African American to reach the rank of Colonel in the US Army

Chimney Rock (Colorado) home to the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians, roughly 1,000 years ago [USFS]

Chiricahua (Arizona) strange, rocky landscape formed by nearly a billion years of erosion

Colorado (Colorado) canyons and unusual sandstone formations

Craters of the Moon (Idaho) lava fields with volcanic caves, cinder cones, craters, and tunnels

Devils Postpile (California) remains of lava flow forming rock columns up to 60 feet high

Devils Tower (Wyoming) volcanic rock tower 865 feet high

Dinosaur (Colorado, Utah) fossil deposits of dinosaurs and other animals

Effigy Mounds (Iowa) Indian mounds in shapes of bears, birds, etc.

El Malpais (New Mexico) extremely rough, rugged lava flow filling a large basin rimmed by high sandstone bluffs

El Morro (New Mexico) prehistoric rock carvings and inscriptions left by early explorers and settlers

First State (Delaware) preserves several buildings relevant to Delaware becoming the first state to ratify the Constitution

Florissant Fossil Beds (Colorado) fossil insects, leaves, and seeds

Fort Frederica (Georgia) built in the 1740's to protect British colonists from Spaniards

Fort Matanzas (Florida) Spanish fort built in the 1740's to protect St. Augustine

Fort McHenry (Maryland) site of 1812 battle that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Fort Monroe (Virginia) site of a fort which once protected the entrance to Chesapeake Bay

Fort Ord (California) U.S. Army base from 1917 to 1994 [BLM]

Fort Pulaski (Georgia) captured by Union forces during the Civil War

Fort Stanwix (New York) site of a 1768 treaty with the Iroquis and a Revolutionary War siege in 1777

Fort Sumter (South Carolina) where the first shots of the Civil War were fired

Fort Union (New Mexico) ruins of a fort built in 1851 to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail

Fossil Butte (Wyoming) fish fossils more than 40 million years old

George Washington Birthplace (Virginia) plantation where the first President of the United States was born

George Washington Carver (Missouri) birthplace of agricultural scientist George Washington Carver

Giant Sequoia (California)38 of the 39 Giant Sequoia groves in the Sequoia National Forest [USFS]

Gila Cliff Dwellings (New Mexico) prehistoric dwellings in overhanging cliffs

Governors Island (New York) former Army post and Coast Guard installation

Grand Portage (Minnesota) fur-trading post on portage route bypassing falls on the Pigeon River

Grand Staircase-Escalante (Utah) numerous paleontological sites [BLM]

Hagerman Fossil Beds (Idaho) the world's richest known fossil deposits from the late Pliocene epoch

Hanford Reach (Washington) former buffer zone surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation [FWS]

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad (Maryland) sites related to the life of Underground Railroad "conductor" Harriet Tubman

Hohokam Pima (Arizona) remains of Hohokam settlements dating back at least 500 years

Homestead (Nebraska) one of the first claims filed under the Homestead Act of 1862

Hovenweep (Colorado, Utah) prehistoric cliff dwellings

Ironwood Forest (Arizona) significant concentrations of ironwood trees and two endangered animal and plant species [BLM]

Jewel Cave (South Dakota) underground limestone chambers connected by narrow corridors

John Day Fossil Beds (Oregon) plant and animal fossils from five consecutive epochs in the earth's history

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks (New Mexico) layers of volcanic rock and ash deposited by a volcanic explosion [BLM]

Lava Beds (California) unusual caves, ciner cones, and other results of volcanic activity

Little Bighorn Battlefield ( Montana) site of the historic Battle of the Little Bighorn

Marianas Trench Marine (Marianas Islands) includes the deepest point on the earth's surface [FWS]

Misty Fjords (Alaska) contains the Quartz Hill molybdenum deposit, possibly the largest such mineral deposit in the world [USFS]

Montezuma Castle (Arizona) prehistoric cliff dwellings

Mount St. Helens (Washington) living laboratory for the study of how an ecosystem responds to a catastrophic volcanic eruption [USFS]

Muir Woods (California) grove of coast redwood trees

Natural Bridges (Utah) three gigantic natural bridges of sandstone

Navajo (Arizona) prehistoric cliff dwellings

Newberry (Oregon) lakes, lava flows, and other geologic features surrounding Newberry Volcano [USFS]

Ocmulgee (Georgia) remains of Native American mounds and towns, some dating from around 8000 B.C.

Oregon Caves (Oregon) limestone caverns

Organ Pipe Cactus (Arizona) organ-pipe cacti and other desert plants found nowhere else

Pacific Remote Islands Marine encompasses several islands and atolls, including Wake Island, southwest of Hawaii [FWS]

Papahanaumokuakea Marine 140,000 square miles of ocean waters and 10 islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. including Midway [FWS]

Petroglyph (New Mexico) hundreds of archeological sites and an estimated 25,000 images carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers

Pinnacles (California) spirelike rock formations towering as high as 1,200 feet

Pipe Spring (Arizona) fort and other structures built by Mormon pioneers

Pipestone (Minnesota) quarry where Native Americans took stone for making peace pipes

Pompeys Pillar (Montana) a 150-foot sandstone pillar that bears an abundance of petroglyphs [BLM]

Poverty Point (Louisiana) archeological site that dates from between 1650 and 700 B.C. consisting of six earthen rings and seven mounds

Prehistoric Trackways (New Mexico) fossilized footprints of numerous Paleozoic amphibians, reptiles, and insects [BLM]

Rainbow Bridge (Utah) one of the world's largest known natural bridges

Rio Grande del Norte (New Mexico) a variety of archaeological and historical artifacts including petroglyphs and Hispanic settlement sites [BLM]

Rose Atoll Marine (American Samoa) two small islands, a lagoon, and a coral reef [FWS]

Russell Cave (Alabama) tools and other evidence of human habitation from 6500 B.C. to 1650 A.D.

Salinas Pueblo Missions (New Mexico) where trade communities of Tiwa- and Tompiro-speaking Puebloans lived when Spanish Franciscan missionaries made contact in the 17th century

San Juan Islands (Washington) historic lighthouses and abundant wildlife [BLM]

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains (California) the northernmost portons of the Peninsular Range [BLM]

Scotts Bluff (Nebraska) landmark on the Oregon Trail

Sonoran Desert (Arizona) home to several federally-listed endangered species [BLM]

Statue of Liberty (New York) includes the former immigration center on nearby Ellis Island

Sunset Crater (Arizona) volcanic crater and cinder cone

Timpanogos Cave (Utah) limestone caverns known for coloring and twig-shaped wall formations

Tonto (Arizona) cliff dwellings dating from the 1300's

Tuzigoot (Arizona) ruins of prehistoric pueblos

Upper Missouri River Breaks (Montana) badland areas characterized by rock outcroppings, steep bluffs, and grassy plains [BLM]

Vermilion Cliffs (Arizona) steep eroded escarpments [BLM]

Virgin Islands Coral Reef (Virgin Islands) coral reefs, sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests in a 3-mile (4.8 km) belt around St. John island

Walnut Canyon (Arizona) ancient cliff pueblos

White Sands (New Mexico) white dunes of gypsum sand

World War II Valor in the Pacific nine sites in three states associated with World War II

Wupatki (Arizona) prehistoric sandstone pueblos

Yucca House (Colorado) unexcavated ancestral Pueblan archaeological site

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This page was last updated on 08/24/2017.