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Utah

Bears Ears National Monument

November 6, 2024 Raven About The Parks 8 Comments

Bears Ears National Monument

Utah

Managed by U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management

Established 2016

1,351,849 acres

Website: https://www.blm.gov/visit/bears-ears-national-monument

Overview

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service manage the more than one-million acres of Bears Ears National Monument in partnership with five local Native American tribes. After it was established, in 2017 it was controversially reduced in size to 201,876 acres before being restored four years later. Much of the southern portion of La Sal National Forest, including the Dark Canyon Wilderness, is included inside its boundaries. The entire area protects millions of years of the paleontological record and has more than 100,000 archaeological sites, especially on Cedar Mesa where day-use and overnight permits are required. The BLM has excellent maps and trip-planning resources available on their website.

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

Highlights

Butler Wash, Moon House Ruin, Newspaper Rock, Moki Dugway, San Juan River, Elk Ridge Scenic Backway, Dark Canyon Wilderness, Mule Canyon, Seven Kivas, The Citadel Trail

Must-Do Activity

It would be easy to spend more than a week exploring the roads and trails within Bears Ears National Monument. Everyone should try to drive the good 17-mile-long dirt road through Valley of the Gods to see rock formations like Rooster Butte and Woman in the Tub. West of Blanding, paved State Route 95 passes Mule Canyon Interpretive site, Butler Wash Interpretive Trail, and Butler Wash Dinosaur Tracksite. In La Sal National Forest, the 58-mile-long Elk Ridge Scenic Backway is a well-maintained (though unpaved) route that leads north from Natural Bridges National Monument to Highway 211, which connects to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. There are multiple trails along the way that provide access to the Dark Canyon Wilderness, an area known for old-growth forests, natural arches, and Ancestral Puebloan ruins and pictographs.

Best Trail

There are many trails to choose from, but one of the most popular is off unpaved Texas Flat Road that enters Mule Canyon (parking fee) and accesses House on Fire, a well-preserved granary located one mile in after multiple stream crossings. There is a paved parking lot suitable for RVs at Butler Wash Interpretive Trail, a half-mile one-way walk on to an overlook of a cliff dwelling.

Photographic Opportunity

Along Highway 211 to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, be sure to stop at the paved parking lot for Newspaper Rock. Another nice panel of rock art is found in Sand Island Campground along the San Juan River near Bluff, Utah.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Fees

A day-use fee of $5 per person applies at several parking areas on Cedar Mesa in southern Bears Ears National Monument, including Mule Canyon access to House on Fire Ruins. There are pay stations at several sites, as well as pre-paid online permits (including for 20 people per day to access Moon House Ruin).

Road Conditions

State Route 95 and Highway 211 are both paved, but other roads like the Moki Dugway, Valley of the Gods Road, and 58-mile-long Elk Ridge Scenic Backway should not be attempted by RVs. A high-clearance vehicle is required to drive many side roads, including six-mile-long Cigarette Springs Road to The Citadel and Seven Kivas Trails. Be aware that flash floods are a danger as many roads traverse canyons.

Camping

There are numerous developed campgrounds spread throughout Bears Ears National Monument. We enjoyed our stay at Hamburger Rock Campground outside the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Dispersed camping is also a good option, especially in scenic Valley of the Gods and along lightly-traveled Elk Ridge Scenic Backway. All backcountry camping on Cedar Mesa requires a permit and no campfires are allowed.

Related Sites

Canyonlands National Park (Utah)

Natural Bridges National Monument (Utah)

Hovenweep National Monument (Utah-Colorado)

Explore More – Where are the actual Bears Ears formations that give the National Monument its name?

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments

Colorado, Utah

La Sal National Forest

October 30, 2024 Raven About The Parks 4 Comments

La Sal National Forest

Utah, Colorado

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Region

535,288 acres

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/mantilasal

Overview

La Sal National Forest is found in two separate sections of southeastern Utah surrounding the La Sal and Abajo Mountains, topping out on 12,721-foot Mt. Peale. Much of the southern portion of the National Forest, including the Dark Canyon Wilderness, was included in the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument, established in 2016 and then controversially reduced in size before being restored. Since 1949, it has been administratively combined with the northern and separate Manti National Forest, so it can be difficult to find information for La Sal National Forest alone.

Highlights

Bears Ears National Monument, La Sal Mountain Loop Scenic Backway, Warner Lake, Bull Canyon Dinosaur Tracks, Buckeye Reservoir, Elk Ridge Scenic Backway, Harts Draw Highway, Abajo Loop State Scenic Backway, Mt. Peale, Arch Canyon, Mt. Tukuhnikivatz

Must-Do Activity

Many visitors access the forest south from Moab on the mostly-paved La Sal Mountain Loop Scenic Backway, a steep drive suitable for passenger vehicles that is accessible in the warmer months. The often snow-capped La Sal Mountains are featured as the backdrop in nearly every photo of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. The Sierra La Sal (“Salt Mountains” in Spanish) were a prominent landmark on the Old Spanish Trail between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. Be sure to make the dirt Gateway Road (FS 207) detour 5.4 miles to visit Bull Canyon Dinosaur Tracks, where there is also a commanding view of Fisher Mesa and Bull Canyon. Oowah Lake and Warner Lake are also located on unpaved side roads (3.2 and 5.2 miles respectively) from La Sal Mountain Loop Road.

Best Trail

The 58-mile-long Elk Ridge Scenic Backway is a well-maintained, though unpaved route that leads north from Natural Bridges National Monument to Highway 211, which connects to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. There are multiple trails along the way that provide access to the Dark Canyon Wilderness, an area known for old-growth forests, natural arches, and Ancestral Puebloan ruins and pictographs. A high-clearance vehicle is not required to reach Big Notch Trailhead where a trail steeply drops into Dark Canyon. Erosion has cut red clay walls that make navigation somewhat difficult in places. About four miles in, not far past the large Cicada Arch on the north side, you reach a spring at the meeting with Drift Trail Canyon. Another two miles takes you to Scorup Cabin, a good place to turn around or explore Horse Pasture Canyon.

Watchable Wildlife

Wildlife species are similar to Utah’s Dixie National Forest and Fishlake National Forest, including black bears, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, porcupines, raccoons, skunks, badgers, bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, and pronghorns. Large birds include bald eagles, golden eagles, northern goshawks, turkey vultures, wild turkeys, common ravens, and various species of owls and woodpeckers. Look for short-horned lizards in the Dark Canyon Wilderness. There are many trout and other gamefish found in the streams and small lakes spread across the high-elevations of the La Sal and Abajo Mountains.

Photographic Opportunity

In the summer months, take La Sal Mountain Loop Scenic Backway to Bull Canyon Dinosaur Tracks to see 200-million-year-old therapod tracks, plus an awesome overlook to the north.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

La Sal Mountain Loop Road is mostly paved, but side roads to Bull Canyon Dinosaur Tracks, Oowah Lake, and Warner Lake are not. The 58-mile-long Elk Ridge Scenic Backway is a rocky, unpaved route that leads north from Natural Bridges National Monument to Highway 211; and side roads to some trailheads require a high-clearance vehicle.

Camping

Warner Lake Campground takes reservations, as does Buckeye Reservoir in Colorado and a few others. Dispersed camping is also an option, especially along lightly-traveled Elk Ridge Scenic Backway.

Wilderness Areas

Dark Canyon Wilderness

Wilderness

Related Sites

Arches National Park (Utah)

Bears Ears National Monument (Utah)

Natural Bridges National Monument (Utah)

Nearest National Park

Canyonlands

Conifer Tree Species

Utah juniper, Rocky Mountain juniper, two-needle pinyon pine, ponderosa pine, white fir, subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, Douglas-fir

Flowering Tree Species

Gambel oak, quaking aspen, Fremont cottonwood, Utah serviceberry, bigtooth maple, manzanita, sagebrush

Explore More – Due to an administrative error in 1908, what was the misspelled name of La Sal National Forest (which was quickly corrected)?

Learn more about this and the 154 other National Forests in our new guidebook Out in the Woods

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Mississippi

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument

October 23, 2024 Raven About The Parks 4 Comments

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument

Mississippi

Managed by National Park Service

Established 2019

0.74 acres

Website: nps.gov/memy

Overview

In the early 1960s, Medgar Evers served as a field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and became a target for racial hatred in Jackson, Mississippi. After Medgar was slugged while aboard a bus and almost run over by a car, the Evers family home was firebombed on May 28, 1963. Then just before midnight on June 11, Medgar was assassinated in his driveway by a sniper from a vacant lot across the street. Medgar died the next morning and his wife Myrlie moved the family to California where she continued as a civil rights advocate (and was eventually elected as Chair of the NAACP). The family rented the property for 30 years before donating it to Tougaloo College who restored the house and sold it to the National Park Service (NPS) in 2020.

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

Highlights

Evers’ House, Myrlie’s Garden

Must-Do Activity

In 1956, the Evers family chose this new house because it did not have a front door, but rather an entrance on the side off the covered carport for security. After you enter the house from the back door, be sure to find where the bullet hole is still in the wall to the kitchen. You will also notice that the children’s beds were on the floor below the window level for safety, and Medgar trained them to crawl to the bathroom in case of an attack. There is a four-page Junior Ranger booklet for the site that can be completed during a short visit, which takes a serious yet positive tone for this important civil rights site. Still, it made it on our list of the Top 10 Most Depressing National Park Service Sites.

Best Trail

There is a sidewalk through Myrlie’s Garden, a community garden less than one-tenth of a mile from the house where interpretive signs on the wooden fence tell the life story of the Evers.

Photographic Opportunity

In Jackson’s Elraine Subdivision, the Evers’ house is one of 36 ranch-style houses built as the first planned middle-class subdivision for African Americans in Mississippi after World War II.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

Closed Sundays and Mondays, and noon to 1 p.m. for lunch

https://www.nps.gov/memy/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

There is street parking available in the neighborhood, but rangers prefer that you park at Myrlie’s Garden and walk over.

Camping

There are three free NPS campgrounds along the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs through Jackson, Mississippi. To the east on Interstate 20, Bienville National Forest also has camping options.

Related Sites

Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument (Mississippi-Illinois)

Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (Mississippi-Alabama-Tennessee)

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument (Alabama)

Explore More – The assassin Byron De La Beckwith was immediately caught, then set free after two deadlocked trials, so how many years later was he finally convicted?

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments

Ohio

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

October 16, 2024 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

Ohio

Managed by National Park Service

Established 2013

60 acres

Website: nps.gov/chyo

Overview

Charles Young was born to enslaved parents in 1864 and went on to become only the third African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point despite being the target of constant insults and social isolation. He was commissioned an Army officer, serving with the “Buffalo Soldiers,” so named by American Indians because their hair and ferocious fighting style was similar to the bison. Young became the first African American to serve as the Superintendent of a National Park when he commanded troops at General Grant (now Kings Canyon) and Sequoia National Parks in 1903. Four years later, Young and his family purchased the 1839-built house he called “Youngsholm” after teaching military science at nearby Wilberforce University for over a decade. His military career took him to the Philippines, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and Liberia, but he was not allowed to fight in Europe during World War I. In 1922, Young died while serving as a military attaché in Africa and after a campaign by his family and notable African-American celebrities his body was reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments. It is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

Highlights

Youngsholm, film, living history demonstrations

Must-Do Activity

A “15-month renovation” of Youngsholm began in October 2021 to restore the house and add an elevator, which in typical government fashion was not finished until April 2024. There is a film focused on his life as a civil rights trailblazer that is played on the second floor of the house, which you can also watch online before visiting. We also recommend the 2023 PBS special Buffalo Soldiers that focuses extensively on Charles Young. None of the rooms inside Youngsholm are furnished, but there are many informational signs about Young and the Buffalo Soldiers. In addition, 30-minute talks on a variety of topics are given on most weekends by park rangers and there is a Junior Ranger booklet for the site.

Best Trail

None

Photographic Opportunity

A short drive across Highway 42 from Youngsholm takes you to Wilberforce University where there is an Ohio Historical Marker telling the story of Charles Young’s connection with the school.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/chyo/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Youngsholm is located right off paved Highway 42 near the campus of Wilberforce University.

Camping

The scenic Hocking Hills State Park has 172 campsites (reservations recommended) and is one of the most popular places to camp in Ohio. Hueston Woods State Park offers 490 campsites, 59 cabins, and a lodge.

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (Ohio)

Fort Davis National Historic Site (Texas)

Explore More – What fraternity of African-American leaders is represented by the purple-and-green stained-glass window in Youngsholm?

Learn more about the other 137 National Monuments in our book Monumental America: Your Guide to All 138 National Monuments

Missouri

Gateway Arch National Park

October 9, 2024 Raven About The Parks 4 Comments

Gateway Arch National Park

Missouri

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1935 National Expansion Memorial, 2018 National Park

91 acres

Website: nps.gov/jeff

Overview

On February 22, 2018, the 60th National Park in the U.S. was created from what was formerly Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri. Gateway Arch National Park encompasses 91 acres on the Mississippi River, including the historic 1828 courthouse and the iconic 630-foot-tall arch that was finished in 1965. We first visited on our cross-country road trip in 2007 and returned in 2016 while the underground museum was under construction and the greenway was extended over Interstate 44. When we came back in 2022, the courthouse was closed for renovation, but the museum had reopened with exhibits explaining the importance of this city as a starting point for the settlement of the west after President Thomas Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the country in 1803. It is by far the smallest of the 63 National Parks (5,457 acres less than Hot Springs), which begs the question: Why wasn’t this designated a National Historical Park instead?

Learn more about how to visit this National Park in the expanded second edition of our guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks.

Highlights

Gateway Arch, tram, film, museum, Old Courthouse, Old Cathedral

Must-Do Activity

Unlike other National Parks, this one does not preserve a natural landmark, but it does have claustrophobia-inducing tram cars (fee) that take you four-minutes to the top of the Gateway Arch for excellent views across Illinois and Missouri. It is worth the hassle to go through a security screening to see the new museum. The 35-minute film Monument to the Dream is also available for a fee.

Best Trail

There are sidewalks that follow the Mississippi River and loop around the arch. Be sure to cross the street to the Old Courthouse where the first of two trials in the infamous Dred Scott case was held in 1854. Continue west behind to the courthouse to the Kiener Memorial Fountain for a photo that frames the building beneath the Gateway Arch.

Photographic Opportunity

The 630-foot-tall Gateway Arch is the defining landmark of St. Louis, but the historic 1834 Old Cathedral still serves as an active Catholic Church inside the park boundaries.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

There is no fee to walk the grounds or pass through security for the museum and gift shop, but you do have to pay to view the film or ride the tram to the top of Gateway Arch. When open, the Old Courthouse is also free to enter.

Road Conditions

All roads are paved, but parking can be tricky. We suggest paying for a parking garage or paying to park on the river levee near the paddlewheel boats, since car break-ins are common in downtown St. Louis.

Camping

This is the only National Park without the option to camp, so consider heading southwest to the wonderful Ozark National Scenic Riverways or Mark Twain National Forest. In southeast Missouri, Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park is rated as one of the best RV campgrounds in the country.

Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park (Missouri)

Harry S Truman National Historic Site (Missouri)

Entering the museum after security screening

Explore More – In 1947, how many city blocks were razed to make way for the memorial, including several historic buildings dating back to 1818?

We designed this Gateway Arch logo for the park available on Amazon.com

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Bears Ears National Monument

La Sal National Forest

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument

Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument

Gateway Arch National Park

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