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Montana

Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument

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Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument

Managed by Bureau of Land Management

Established 2001

377,346 acres

Website: https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/montana-dakotas/upper-missouri-river-breaks

Overview

In central Montana, 149 miles of the Upper Missouri River were designated as a National Wild and Scenic River in 1976, upstream from the reservoir in Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.  This stretch of the river still looks much the way it did when the Lewis and Clark expedition first explored it in 1805 and their former campsites are marked by posts.  The breaks are a topographic area where the Missouri River eroded sedimentary rock that formed as horizontal layers laid down at the bottom of an ancient sea.  The National Monument comprises public land in a matrix with private ranches, with cattle making the water unfit for filtering.  There are a couple places to drive to along the river, but the best way to experience it is by floating a canoe or kayak down the non-motorized sections

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

Fort Benton, Decision Point, Neat Coulee, Citadel Rock, Hole-in-the-Wall, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

Must-Do Activity

In Fort Benton, start your visit at the free interpretive center run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), then head downtown to learn more history by walking the riverfront of Fort Benton National Historic Landmark, including its many museums (admission fees charged) and sculptures of Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea and her son Pompey, and Shep (a local dog famous for his faithfulness).  To find out more about the Corps of Discovery, check out the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center upstream in Great Falls.  The most scenic stretch to float lies in the 44 miles between Coal Banks Landing and Judith Landing where there are no rapids and the river current is so strong that paddling is mostly reserved for steering.  A permit (fee) is required from the BLM, and we recommend you purchase a Boaters’ Guide and W.A.G. bags.  Wildlife we spotted along the river included bighorn sheep, bald eagles, white pelicans, great blue herons, and beavers. 

Best Trail

Only accessible by boat, the hike up the slot canyon at Neat Coulee from the Eagle Creek Developed Boat Camp is worth a stop.  It is also possible to scramble up to the eight-foot-tall Hole-in-the-Wall arch that comes into view on the south side of the river just past Citadel Rock.

Photographic Opportunity

One of the few places with road access in Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, at Decision Point, Captains Lewis and Clark were not sure which was the main route: the Marias or Missouri River.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

There is a small fee charged per person per day to be on the river, which helps pay for the maintenance of vault toilets along the route (other waste must be packed out in W.A.G. bags).  An America the Beautiful pass covers the admission fee for the small museum at the BLM visitor center in Ft. Benton.

Road Conditions

Dirt roads doable by passenger vehicles lead to Coal Banks Landing and Judith Landing, while paved roads lead to put-ins at Chouteau County Fairgrounds in Ft. Benton and Kipp Recreation Area at the western edge of Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.

Camping

There are campgrounds at Chouteau County Fairgrounds, Coal Banks Landing, and Kipp Recreation Area.  Throughout the National Monument developed riverside campgrounds can be accessed by boat, with dispersed camping allowed anywhere on public land (a good map is essential to avoid private land). 

Related Sites

Custer National Forest (Montana)

Pompeys Pillar National Monument (Montana)

Lewis and Clark National Forest (Montana)

Nearest National Park

Glacier

White pelicans
Bald eagle
Bighorn sheep
Hole-in-the-Wall
Hole-in-the-Wall
Neat Coulee
Upper Missouri River Breaks Interpretive Center in Fort Benton

Explore More – Who was Charles M. Russell and why did he get a National Wildlife Refuge named after him?

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

California

Lassen National Forest

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Lassen National Forest

California

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region

1,375,593 acres (1,070,992 federal/ 304,601 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/lassen

Overview

Lassen National Forest Reserve dates back to 1905, then a decade later when Lassen Peak explosively erupted (the first eruption to be photographed in the continental U.S.), 106,589-acre Lassen Volcanic National Park was carved out.  The two federal areas are connected by the 187-mile-long Lassen Scenic Byway (Highways 44 and 89) that traces the volcanic legacy of the southern Cascade Range.  The 41,100-acre Ishi Wilderness was named in 1984 to honor the last surviving member of the Yahi band of Southern Yanas, taken from his native home near Oroville in 1911 and employed as a janitor at the University of California’s Anthropology Museum in San Francisco until his death from tuberculosis five years later.

Highlights

Lassen Scenic Byway, Lake Almanor, Eagle Lake, Subway Cave, Hat Creek Recreational Area, Triangle Lake, Heart Lake National Recreation Trail, Bizz Johnson Trail, Spencer Meadows National Recreation Trail, Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Lassen National Forest runs campgrounds and boat ramps on both Lake Almanor and Eagle Lake, although most of their shorelines are privately owned.  Between the two lakes is the town of Susanville, where a railroad bed abandoned in 1978 was converted into the Bizz Johnson Trail that follows the Susan River for 26 miles. The trail features 12 river crossings and two tunnels with scenic mountain views.  Camping is restricted to specific portions of the trail. The 20,546-acre Caribou Wilderness was one of America’s first Primitive Areas designated in 1932 and along with the 16,335-acre Thousand Lakes Wilderness was established immediately following passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act.  In a proposed Wilderness area on the west side of Lassen Volcanic National Park, Heart Lake National Recreation Trail is a 2.4-mile one-way hike up to a glacial lake that connects to the longer Twin Meadows Trail.

Best Trail

Subway Cave is only 1,300 feet long, but the lava tube is the main attraction in Lassen National Forest, with free guided tours offered on summer weekends.  Lava flowed through here less than 2,000 years ago and interpretive signs along the 0.7-mile loop trail explain lavacicles and other geologic oddities.  A flashlight is necessary to explore past the openings of the 46°F cave, which drops to four feet in some places with a maximum ceiling of 17 feet.  One mile south on the Lassen Scenic Byway (Highway 44) is the 1.7-mile roundtrip Spatter Cone Trail (across from Hat Creek Campground).  The trail passes a variety of volcanic formations in a forest of Jeffrey pine trees.

Watchable Wildlife

Lassen National Forest is home to black bears, pine martens, mountain lions, bobcats, red foxes, coyotes, and a few gray wolves that migrated south from Oregon.  You are most likely to see mule deer or one of the variety of chipmunks or squirrels.  Bird sightings include mountain chickadees, Steller’s jays, Clark’s nutcrackers (at high elevations), and eight species of woodpeckers such as pileated and white-headed.

Photographic Opportunity

Sitting at 4,505 feet in elevation, Lake Almanor stretches for 13 miles near Chester, California and is a good place for summer boating and fishing.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Subway Cave is located right off Lassen Scenic Byway (Highways 44 and 89) and most of the unpaved roads we have explored in the National Forest have been maintained, probably because of the continued harvesting activities that we witnessed on our field trip from Cal Poly University in 2010.

Camping

Lassen National Forest runs campgrounds on both Lake Almanor and Eagle Lake, plus Hat Creek Recreational Area has seven campgrounds.  If you are looking to disperse camp outside Lassen Volcanic National Park, take the road west outside the southern entrance (but keep a clean campsite as we saw a black bear in the area).

Wilderness Areas

Caribou Wilderness

Ishi Wilderness (also managed by BLM)

Thousand Lakes Wilderness

Related Sites

Lava Beds National Monument (California)

Devils Postpile National Monument (California)

Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area (California)

Nearest National Park

Lassen Volcanic

Subway Cave
Subway Cave
Subway Cave
Tiff in Subway Cave
Lake Almanor
White pelicans
Lake Almanor

Conifer Tree Species

red fir, white fir, western hemlock, Jeffrey pine, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, western white pine, California juniper, incense-cedar

Flowering Tree Species

quaking aspen, Fremont cottonwood, ceanothus, manzanita

Explore More – Other than the namesake for Lassen Peak, who was Peter Lassen?

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

Utah

Rainbow Bridge National Monument

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Rainbow Bridge National Monument

Utah

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1910

160 acres

Website: nps.gov/rabr

Overview

The statistics on Rainbow Bridge are impressive: it spans 275 feet with a height of 290 feet (compare that to the 151-foot-tall Statue of Liberty), and the sandstone at its top is 42 feet thick and 33 feet wide.  Before geologists started lumping together natural bridges and arches, it was considered the largest natural bridge in the world formed by water running underneath it.  The Navajo and other tribes consider Rainbow Bridge sacred and request that nobody walks beneath its span.  When Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963, many archaeological sites were submerged beneath Lake Powell and at the reservoir’s peak volume this sacred site has had water reach to its base.  The National Park Service (NPS) manages Rainbow Bridge National Monument as part of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that straddles the Utah-Arizona border.

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

Boat ride, Rainbow Bridge

Must-Do Activity

The NPS runs Carl Hayden Visitor Center in Page, Arizona, which is a good place to plan a visit to Rainbow Bridge or purchase tickets for a Glen Canyon Dam tour.  If you do not want to attempt to navigate 50 miles one-way in your own boat (rentals available), there are all-day commercial boat trips into Bridge Canyon.  Depending on the water level, the hike from the boat dock to the first overlook of the natural bridge is around one-mile one-way and is not wheelchair accessible.  Photos do not do Rainbow Bridge justice, and you must see it for yourself to truly appreciate the size of this entry on our Top 10 NPS Sites for Natural Bridges/Arches. 

Best Trail

There is always a hike from the boat dock to the overlook, but if you are in good shape continue on the trail around to the left to see the other side of Rainbow Bridge.  With proper permits from the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona, it is possible to backpack into the site on either a 14-mile or 17-mile trail. 

Photographic Opportunity

Obviously, Rainbow Bridge is the star attraction here.  Navajo legends tell how one of the Hero Twins was saved from drowning when his father Jo’hanaa’éí (the Sun) sent a rainbow, later turned to stone to symbolize a father’s love.  Another story says a measuring worm turned itself to stone to save both Hero Twins.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

https://nps.gov/rabr/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

There is a $30 per vehicle entrance fee at the two marinas in Page (America the Beautiful passes accepted), in addition to charges for guided boat tours.

Road Conditions

The roads are paved to the marinas in Page, Arizona.  Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is famous for its backcountry 4×4 roads (like Hole-in-the-Rock Road) and flash floods, so check with a park ranger before attempting anything unpaved.  A fee is charged to ferry across Lake Powell between Halls Crossing and Bullfrog Marina.

Camping

There are several developed campgrounds in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (mostly near marinas), but free primitive camping is also allowed along most dirt roads.  A permit is required for backpack camping in the beautiful Coyote Gulch area off Hole-in-the-Rock Road.

Related Sites

Natural Bridges National Monument (Utah)

Capitol Reef National Park (Utah)

Navajo National Monument (Arizona)

Scott’s father on the trail to Rainbow Bridge

Explore More – Where along the trail to the Rainbow Bridge overlook is the three-toed dinosaur print found in the sandstone?

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

Florida

Fort Matanzas National Monument

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Fort Matanzas National Monument

Florida

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1924

300 acres

Website: nps.gov/foma

Overview

After a failed American settlement by persecuted French Protestants (Huguenots) in 1562, two years later a group of 200 soldiers, artisans, and a few women established a colony at the mouth of the St. Johns River (east of present-day Jacksonville, Florida).  Led by René de Goulaine de Laudonnière, they hurriedly assembled the triangular Fort Caroline, named for King Charles IX.  In 1565, Jean Ribault arrived with 600 more settlers and soldiers.  After learning the Catholic Spanish had established a base to the south at St. Augustine, Ribault set sail for a surprise attack, only to be shipwrecked by a hurricane.  The unprotected Fort Caroline was easily captured by the Spanish, who executed 140 of its 200 inhabitants.  The Spanish then killed nearly 250 French marooned at Matanzas Inlet, which gained its name from these “slaughters.”  Following a British siege in 1740, the Spanish began construction of Fort Matanzas on Rattlesnake Island to guard the southern entrance to the city of St. Augustine where they had built Castillo de San Marcos.  Only two years later, Fort Matanzas’ cannons successfully repelled British ships and today you can take a free ferry to tour inside the restored 50-foot-square structure.

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

Museum, film, boat ride, Fort Matanzas, Nature Trail

Must-Do Activity

We have tried three times to visit the fort here, but in 2016, 2019, and 2024 the dock was damaged by a hurricane so the National Park Service (NPS) ferry was not running to Rattlesnake Island.  Good news is there is an eight-minute film and you can see the small fort from the visitor center.  There are also hiking trails, boardwalks, and sandy beaches to explore at the southern tip of Anastasia Island, which are accessible by car.  Only 40 miles to the north, the NPS administers Fort Caroline National Memorial as a unit of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, where you can enter a one-third scale reconstruction of the triangular structure (and no ferries are involved). 

Best Trail

The half-mile Coastal Hammock Trail has signs introducing some of the tree and shrub species found in the maritime forest.

Photographic Opportunity

Southern live oak trees stretch their twisted branches above the picnic area in the parking lot of the visitor center.

Peak Season

Spring

Hours

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

Fees

The visitor center, trails, and NPS ferry are free, but there is a parking fee for beach access on the Atlantic Ocean side across Highway A1A from the visitor center entrance road.

Road Conditions

The road to the parking lot is paved from Highway A1A.

Camping

The NPS does not run a campground, but Anastasia State Park does south of St. Augustine.

Related Sites

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (Florida)

Fort Caroline National Memorial (Florida)

Canaveral National Seashore (Florida)

View of Fort Matanzas from the visitor center
Tiff at the ferry dock, which was closed… again
Visitor center
Video shown inside the visitor center

Explore More – What species of endangered sea turtles nest on the barrier islands protected within Fort Matanzas National Monument?

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

Michigan

Isle Royale National Park

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Isle Royale National Park

Michigan

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1940

571,790 acres

Website: nps.gov/isro

Overview

Surrounded by Lake Superior, Isle Royale is 45 miles long and nearer to Canada’s shores than it is to the rest of the United States.  Long ferry boat rides with short layovers make this a difficult National Park to see on a daytrip, so the average stay for visitors is 3.5 days.  The main access points are the ferry docks at Windigo in the west and Rock Harbor (which has a lodge) in the east. 

Learn more in the expanded 2nd edition of our guidebook to the National Parks— A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks.

Highlights

Rock Harbor, Suzy’s Cave, Scoville Point, Windigo, Minong Ridge Trail, Greenstone Ridge Trail

Must-Do Activity

Hiking is the main activity at Rock Harbor and popular destinations include Scoville Point (5 miles roundtrip), 1,080-foot tall Mount Franklin (4 miles), and a water-carved arch called Suzy’s Cave (4 miles).  From June to early-September, boat tours leave from the the marina to visit Rock Harbor Lighthouse, Edisen Fishery, Raspberry Island, Hidden Lake Trailhead, and Passage Island Lighthouse.  Kayak and canoe rentals are also available at Rock Harbor Marina.

Best Trail

Since 99% of the park is designated Wilderness, backpacking is the best way to experience Isle Royale (but come prepared for biting insects).  There are 34 backcountry campsites spread across the 165 miles of trail, but not right along the 42-mile Greenstone Ridge Trail that follows the island’s backbone west to east.

Instagram-worthy Photo

There are four lighthouses surrounding Isle Royale and two of them are visited by boat tours.  We circumnavigated the entire island on a ferry boat and our favorite was the red-brick Isle Royale Lighthouse on Menagerie Island.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

Despite the fact that it is closer to Minnesota (Central Time Zone), Isle Royale is part of Michigan and therefore in the Eastern Time Zone. 

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

Fees

$7 per person, per day or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

There are no roads on Isle Royale, which is only accessible by boat and floatplane.  Ferries run in the summer months from Grand Portage, Minnesota and Copper Harbor and Houghton, Michigan.

Camping

There are nine screened-in shelters and eleven tent sites right at Rock Harbor, but camping there is limited to one night only to accommodate backpackers.  Washington Harbor Campground is located at Windigo and allows up to a three-night stay, but the other 34 campsites require a backpacking permit (available at Rock Harbor, Windigo, and aboard the ferry boats from Michigan).  Advanced reservations are only accepted for groups of more than six people, so plans must be flexible since there are limits to the number of campers per site.

Related Sites

Grand Island National Recreation Area (Michigan)

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Michigan)

Grand Portage National Monument (Minnesota)

Keweenaw National Historical Park (Michigan)

Ranger III docked in Houghton, Michigan

Explore More – After depleting mines on the Keweenaw Peninsula, companies were eyeing Isle Royale’s deposits of what metal when it first gained federal protection in 1931?

This design we created to celebrate Isle Royale National Park is available on a variety of products at Cafe Press and Amazon.
Cafe Press

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