Click to Return to Beginning		THE NATIONAL PARKS AND EMERGENCY CONSERVATION NATIONAL MONUMENTS ADMINISTERED BY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Fire Drill in Sequoia National Park Arches, Utah, contains extraordinary examples of wind erosion in the form of gigantic arches, windows, and other unique formations. Aztec Ruins, New Mexico, has a prehistoric ruin of pueblo type containing 500 rooms; also other ruins. Bandelier, New Mexico, noted for its great number of cliff-dweller ruins of unusual ethnological and educational interest. Some of the tools, implements, and simple household equipment of the former inhabitants have been restored as they were centuries ago. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado, contains 10 miles of the deepest and most scenic portion of the Black Canyon; is in a predominatingly black or dark-colored granite formation streaked with light-colored granites. With a depth of 1,750 feet, at one point the width of the gorge from rim to rim is only 1,300 feet. Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, has many cliff dwellings in caves and crevasses containing records of cultural progress covering a longer period than any other ruins so far discovered in the Southwest. Capulin Mountain, New Mexico, has as its principal feature a huge cinder cone of geologically recent formation. Casa Grande, Arizona, contains ruins that are one of the most noteworthy relics of a prehistoric age and people within the limits of the United States. These ruins were discovered in 1694. Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, contains a large number of great prehistoric communal dwellings of intense archeological interest. Colonial, Virginia, containing three areas of historic importance in our colonial history with a connecting parkway-Jamestown Island, site of first permanent English settlement in America; the historic colonial town of Williamsburg; and Yorktown, where the culminating battle of the Revolution was fought. Colorado, Colorado, is a wonderful example of erosion, with lofty monoliths. Craters of the Moon, Idaho, contains remarkable fissure eruptions, volcanic cones, craters, lava flows, caves, and other volcanic phenomena. Death Valley, California, a fascinating desert region, including the lowest point in the United States, 270 feet below sea level, is interesting for its historical associations, geology, and plant life. Devils Tower, Wyoming, contains a remarkable natural rock tower of volcanic origin over 1,200 feet high. Dinosaur, Utah, has the fossil remains of great prehistoric animals. El Morro, New Mexico, contains an enormous sandstone rock eroded in the form of a castle upon which inscriptions were carved by the early Spanish explorers; also cliff-dweller ruins. Fossil Cycad, South Dakota, has deposits of interesting plant fossils. George Washington Birthplace, Virginia, includes the site of the birthplace of George Washington where upon the old foundations the birth house has been reproduced as far as possible; also the old family burial plot with graves of George Washington's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Glacier Bay, Alaska, contains great tidewater glaciers of keen scientific interest. Gran Quivira, New Mexico, has one of the most important of the earliest Spanish mission ruins in the Southwest and also pueblo ruins. Grand Canyon, Arizona, adjoining the Grand Canyon National Park. This monument provides new views of the famous Grand Canyon. Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, contains sand dunes which are among the largest and highest if not the greatest of any such dunes in the United States. Hovenweep, Utah and Colorado, has four groups of historic towers, pueblos, and cliff dwellings. Katmai, Alaska, is a dying volcanic region of scientific interest; includes the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Lewis and Clark Cavern, Montana, is an immense limestone cavern decorated with stalactite formations. Montezuma Castle, Arizona, contains a prehistoric cliff-dweller ruin of unusual size, situated in a niche in face of a vertical cliff. Muir Woods, California, is notable for its great grove of redwood trees. Natural Bridges, Utah, has three natural bridges, the largest being 223 feet high and 65 feet thick at the top of the arch. Navajo, Arizona, has numerous cliff-dweller ruins in a good state of preservation. Petrified Forest, Arizona, is of great scientific interest because of its abundance of petrified coniferous trees, one of which forms a natural bridge. Pinnacles, California, has many spire-like rock formations 600 to 1,000 feet high, and also numerous caves and other formations. Pipe Spring, Arizona, contains an old stone fort, connected with early Mormon history, and a spring of pure water, most important to the early pioneers in the desert region. Rainbow Bridge, Utah, is a unique natural bridge in the shape of a rainbow. This bridge, very symmetrical in form, rises 300 feet above the water. Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, is a region of historic and scientific interest. Many famous old trails traversed by the early pioneers passed this way. Shoshone Cavern, Wyoming, is a cave of considerable extent decorated with incrustations of crystals. Sitka, Alaska, contains 16 totem poles of the best native workmanship; is of historic interest in the history of the Russians and early Indians. Tumacacori, Arizona, contains a ruined Franciscan mission dating back to the seventeenth century. Verendrye, North Dakota, includes Crowhigh Butte, from which explorer Verendrye first beheld land beyond the Mississippi River. White Sands, New Mexico, is an area of glistening sands or deposits of wind-blown gypsum almost crystal clear and in a bright light resembling a vast snow field; has interesting plant and animal life. Wupatki, Arizona, contains prehistoric dwellings of ancestors of Hopi Indians. Yucca House, Colorado, has great mounds containing prehistoric ruins which when excavated are estimated to be of great archeological interest and educational value.
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