American Travel Beyond the National Parks
The 63 American National Parks have earned international fame, and for good reason. These legendary natural wonders stand out for their pristine beauty, important history, and immense cultural and ecological significance.
While the 63 “flagship” parks are certainly the ones most people recognize and affiliate with the National Park Service (NPS), the Park Service preserves 431 sites in total. Of those 431 sites, many are national monuments, iconic places that have earned protection for their natural, cultural, historic, and ecological value.
Fun Facts About American National Monuments
The term “national monuments” evokes images of stone statues commemorating historical events or places. But national monuments go well beyond statues and historic sites. National monuments also include vast and stunning landscapes, entire city districts, old historic towns, important historical places, the homes of famous American leaders, critical aquatic habitats, Indigenous cultural sites, and more.
Here are five facts about American national monuments:
1). While the designation of a national park requires an act of Congress, U.S. presidents can use the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate national monuments. Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower as the first national monument in 1906. Roosevelt went on to create an additional 16 national monuments.
2). National monuments are often later upgraded into national parks via an act of Congress plus the president’s signature. Almost half (25) of the 63 national parks started as national monuments! Quoting the National Park Service: “National parks such as Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Acadia, Olympic, White Sands, and many others, were first created as national monuments. The reasons these parks began as monuments varied, but surely a primary cause was political—one sympathetic president was easier to deal with than a hesitant Congress.”
3). National monuments protect natural lands differently from national parks. For example, the existence of permitted industrial uses on national monuments seems at odds with a protected area, but these activities do occur at some monuments and are closely monitored by the NPS. National monuments generally protect “existing rights,” meaning that whatever use was allowed before the designation can continue. That might include oil and gas drilling, mining, and cattle grazing, to name a few.
4). The National Park Service keeps a running tally of the national monuments with information on each. The monuments vary quite a bit in size and scope. Some are the homes of important historical figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. or John Muir. Others are vast ocean landscapes preserved for their ecological value.
5). Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama are the six U.S. presidents responsible for the most national monuments in terms of number and size. The six individuals created 95 national monuments and preserved over 600 million acres of land and sea.
Our Ten Favorite National Monuments
It’s challenging to pick just one or two favorites, so we made it easy on ourselves by choosing ten! The following are ten of our favorite national monuments, all of which are featured in our National Monuments and Natural Wonders Collection:
Devils Tower National Monument. Towering 1,267 feet above the plains of northeastern Wyoming, Devils Tower National Monument is the monument that started it all. This monolithic rock formation was featured in Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film, “Close Encounters of a Third Kind.” The butte is also sacred to several Indigenous American tribes, and the huge structure was the first U.S. National Monument ever designated! Rock climbers and nature enthusiasts alike stop to enjoy the butte, take pictures, have picnics nearby, or even attempt to climb to the top.
Natural Bridges National Monument. Designated to protect and preserve some of nature’s most impressive rock formations, Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah is a park that surrounds three incredible rock arches. Natural Bridges National Monument protects stone bridges that were formed over the course of thousands of years by the passage of water beneath and around them. An excellent lesson in the power of erosion, this monument offers incredible photograph moments and an educational experience for the whole family.
Cabrillo National Monument. Cabrillo National Monument is located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo climbed out of his boat and onto shore, becoming the first European to set foot on the West Coast of the United States.
Muir Woods National Monument. Few places in the United States command a sense of wonder and magic like Muir Woods. Federally protected as a National Monument since 1908, these woods are rich in old-growth coastal Redwoods, trees that have withstood the test of time for hundreds of years. The forest seems almost out of a fairytale, with ancient trees spanning dozens of feet in diameter and some reaching more than 200 feet tall.
Colorado National Monument. This region was designated as protected land to conserve the six canyons, plateaus, stone monoliths, and wildlife that live in the region. The few buildings and roads in Colorado National Monument have also been preserved, as they hold cultural and historic significance for the region.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument. These canyons are protected as a national monument because the canyons have been the home of Indigenous peoples for nearly 5,000 years. Even today, the Navajo Nation works the land and makes their villages among the intricate canyon system’s river beds and canyon floors.
Craters of the Moon National Monument. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is located in the Snake River Plain of central Idaho. It is situated along U.S. 20, between the small towns of Arco and Carey, at an average elevation of 5,900 feet above sea level. The monument was established on May 2, 1924, and was once a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered cinder cones and sagebrush islands. In 2017, Craters of the Moon was designated an International Dark Sky Park for its stunning night sky.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. One of our favorite places in Utah is Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, the last region in the continental United States to be mapped. This monument was designated a protected land for its incredible canyons, river beds, monoliths, plateaus, mesas, and hoodoo spires.
Admiralty Island National Monument. Covering nearly a million acres of old-growth rainforest, alpine tundra, and rugged coastline, Admiralty Island National Monument (located within the Tongass National Forest) has been home to the Tlingít peoples for centuries and to brown bears even longer. Admiralty Island is in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska. It is the seventh-largest island in the United States and the 132nd-largest island globally.
Dinosaur National Monument. A family favorite and an excellent destination for dinosaur enthusiasts young and old, Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. The monument offers visitors an incredible opportunity to view dinosaur fossils and petroglyphs. There are also camping, hiking, and river rafting opportunities.
Hundreds of National Monuments Depicted in Original Poster Art
Anderson Design Group makes art of inspiring places across the country and world, guided by the design and illustration techniques of the Golden Age of Poster Art and Illustration. Beyond being studio artists, the folks at ADG also travel to many locations where they hand-render with pencil, brush, and stylus.
Case in point, many of the original illustrations and vintage-styled poster art in the American National Monuments & Natural Wonders collection are places ADG founder Joel Anderson and his team of artists have traveled to! Though often overshadowed by the illustrious 63 national parks, America’s national monuments are worth visiting.
Inspired by the success of ADG’s critically acclaimed 63 Illustrated American National Park poster series, ADG’s artists have applied the same passion, technique, craftsmanship, and care to each illustrated poster design in this new series dedicated to favorite American scenic places.
New designs are added frequently, so keep an eye on the collection as it grows! May the vintage art and travel art inspire you to visit new places across the country, and may the collection’s posters serve as heartfelt souvenirs and decorations to remind you of the trip of a lifetime.
Until next time,
- Ren Brabenec
Anderson Design Group Staff Writer
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