Tag Archives: National Monument

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

October 8, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument outside Flagstaff, Arizona is worth a closer look than a drive-by on your way to Grand Canyon National Park. As its name suggests, this thousand-foot high cinder cone is stained red as though in perpetual twilight. Volcanic activity last occurred here in the year 1180 AD, but even though geologists consider this area dormant, it is just possible that a new cinder cone might start erupting at any time.

Highlights

Lava Flow Nature Trail, Bonito Lava Flow, Lenox Crater Trail, O’Leary Peak

Must-Do Activity

A 35-mile loop drive through Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument to neighboring Wupatki National Monument passes through ponderosa pine forest and sunflower-filled meadows on its way to an arid, rocky high desert region that is dotted with ruins. From the road you can see the San Francisco Peaks rising to the west, as well as a series of cinder cones outside the monument’s boundaries. Several of these mini-volcanoes are accessible by roads, including our favorite: S.P. Crater.

Best Trail

To experience the black cinders you have to get out of your car and hike through them, but take your time as the elevation is around 7,000 feet. Lava Flow Nature Trail provides interpretive signs along a partially paved one-mile loop. You cannot climb to the top of Sunset Crater, but you can summit nearby Lenox Crater on a steep one-mile trail.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Sunset Crater and the Bonito Lava Flow are especially eye-catching when viewed from atop 8,900-foot O’Leary Peak, accessible by hiking to a fire lookout tower in adjacent Coconino National Forest. The awe-inspiring vista will make you glad that movie producers were stopped from dynamiting Sunset Crater in 1928.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

$25 per vehicle, which also covers entrance to neighboring Wupatki National Monument.

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

The U.S. Forest Service runs the Bonito Campground across from the Sunset Crater visitor center from May through October. Dispersed camping is allowed in portions of Coconino National Forest.

Related Sites

Wupatki National Monument (Arizona)

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (Idaho)

Capulin Volcano National Monument (New Mexico)

Tiff with a field of sunflowers in September 2009

Explore More – How many millions of years of volcanic activity have occurred in the area around Flagstaff, Arizona?

New York

Stonewall National Monument

October 3, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

A raid by New York City police officers at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969 was not out of the ordinary, but the response by its patrons secured its place in history. At the time, it was illegal to serve alcohol to homosexuals, so the Stonewall Inn was operated by the Mafia as a “private” club. The police raid resulted in six nights of civil rights protests outside the bar around Christopher Park, gathering approximately 2,000 supporters on the second night. It was not the first gay pride protest in America, but it did have a lasting impact with more than a thousand LGBTQ groups forming in the following year.

Highlights

Christopher Park, George Segal sculpture

Must-Do Activity

In 2016, President Obama designated Stonewall National Monument in Christopher Park, across the street from the Stonewall Inn. During the summer, park rangers are on site approximately 11-1 and 3-4 every day, but we were told it is best to call beforehand to verify. The Stonewall Inn is still a business and not owned by the National Park Service (NPS), so nobody under age 21 is allowed in.

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

A sculpture by George Segal entitled Gay Liberation Monument was commissioned in 1979, but not installed in Christopher Park until 1992 due to public opposition. It depicts two standing men and two seated women comforting one another in their shared struggle for acceptance.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Roads are heavily trafficked and there is no designated parking so we recommend you take the subway.

Camping

None

Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site (Arkansas)

César E. Chávez National Monument (California)

Explore More – The original bar closed following the protests, so when did the current iteration of the Stonewall Inn open?

California

César E. Chávez National Monument

September 10, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

César Estrada Chávez was a Latino-American labor leader in the 1960s who led the fight for better working conditions and pay for all agriculture workers. He helped form the National Farm Workers Association (NWFA) labor union, which became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW). Similar to Martin Luther King, Jr., Chávez was an advocate of nonviolent protests, including fasts. Chávez passed away in 1993 and César E. Chávez National Monument was established in 2012.

Highlights

Chávez gravesite, memorial garden, museum, Chávez office

Must-Do Activity

The National Park Service site is located at the historic Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz property in Keene, California where César E. Chávez lived and the UFW was headquartered from 1970-84. The site is now the home of the National Chávez Center, his gravesite, and a memorial garden. The museum here includes exhibits, videos, and an audio program at Chávez’s old office. A quick Spanish lesson before you go: “Huelga” translates to “Strike” and “Sí, se puede” means “Yes, we can.”

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

César Estrada Chávez is buried at the National Chávez Center in Keene, California surrounded by a well-landscaped memorial garden.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The entry road is paved, but is located off the steeply inclined highway through Tehachapi, California in the southern Sierra Nevadas.

Camping

North of Keene, California, there are camping opportunities in Sequoia National Forest and around Isabella Lake.

Scott at the entrance
Chávez’s office is preserved exactly as it was when he died in 1993.
Chávez holding a National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) banner.
The memorial garden at the National Chávez Center is beautiful and well-manicured.

Explore More – Which famous U.S. Senator called Chavez “one of the heroic figures of our time” in the 1960s?

Colorado, Utah

Dinosaur National Monument

September 5, 2019 Raven About The Parks 3 Comments

Overview

As its name suggests, Dinosaur National Monument was first created in 1915 to protect an archaeological dig. The 200-foot long wall of unexcavated fossils at Dinosaur Quarry outside Jensen, Utah is still the park’s main attraction. A major addition of 200,000 acres was added in 1938, stretching into the neighboring state of Colorado. More than 90% of the National Monument (click here to see where it ranks in our Top 10) is managed as wilderness and is best explored by whitewater rafting the Green and Yampa Rivers.

Highlights

Dinosaur Quarry, Harpers Corner Road, Fremont pictographs, Jones Hole Trail, whitewater rafting

Must-Do Activity

Whitewater rafting trips on the Green River can last a few hours or multiple days depending upon where you put in. We highly recommend a three night trip starting at the Gates of Lodore with Adrift Dinosaur or one of several other outfitters. They also offer multi-day trips down the Yampa River, which is undammed and only navigable during the spring snowmelt. If you do not feel like getting wet, simply enjoy a quiet picnic on the shoreline at easily-accessible Split Mountain (or take a high-clearance vehicle down the rough road to scenic Echo Park).

Best Trail

The 4-mile long Jones Hole Trail is accessible to rafters on the Green River and from a fish hatchery at the end of a paved road near the Utah-Colorado border. It provides access to Ely Creek Falls and the Deluge Shelter pictographs, which are approximately 800 to 1,400 years old.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Dinosaur Quarry may be the only mountainside in America surrounded by its own glass-enclosed, air-conditioned building. It contains thousands of fossilized bones of giant creatures sitting in the same place they have been for the past 148-million years. It is a completely different experience than seeing dinosaur skeletons reconstructed in a museum, although they have those, too.

Peak Season

Spring and summer

Hours

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

Fees

No entrance fees for the Colorado side, but $25 per vehicle to enter the Utah side to view the Dinosaur Quarry.

Road Conditions

There are many dirt roads in the National Monument, some of which are impassable when wet, so check at a visitor center before entering. The roads to the Dinosaur Quarry, Jones Hole Trailhead, Deerlodge Park, and Harpers Corner are paved.

Camping

There are several campgrounds within the park accessible by paved or unpaved roads, as well as numerous backcountry campsites located along the Green and Yampa Rivers (plus, one on the Jones Hole Trail).

Mitten Park Fault is bisected by the Green River near Echo Park
Outside the NPS visitor center near Jensen, Utah
Tiff on the tram to the Dinosaur Quarry in 2012
Tiff at the Dinosaur Quarry in 2012
Whitewater rafting on the Green River in 2019
Bighorn sheep along the Green River
Deluge Shelter pictographs on the Jones Hole Trail
Steamboat Rock at Echo Park

Explore More – Who was the one-armed Civil War veteran that led the first exploration of the Green River (and named the Gates of Lodore after a poem) in 1869?

WONDON WAS HERE

District of Columbia

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument

September 3, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

The house at 144 Constitution Avenue NE in Washington, D.C. has an interesting history. First constructed by the Sewall family in 1799 near the new U.S. Capitol building, it was burned by British troops during the War of 1812. After being renovated by Vermont Senator Porter H. Dale in the 1920s, it was purchased by Alva Vanderbilt Belmont as a replacement headquarters for the National Woman’s Party (NWP). In 1972, it was named the Sewall-Belmont National Historic Site, affiliated with the National Park Service (NPS), who took over full control when it was established as a National Monument in 2016.

Highlights

Historic artifacts, sculptures, tours

Must-Do Activity

Free tours are given at specific times (see Hours below) by the NPS, but otherwise visitors can read the museum displays on both floors of the house. The name Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument refers to the aforementioned Alva Vanderbilt Belmont and Alice Paul, a militant suffragette who was arrested during World War I for picketing outside the White House. The protesters were attacked by men on the street, vilified in the newspapers, and abused in prison where they were force-fed during hunger strikes. In August 1920, these brave women achieved vindication with the passing of the 19th Amendment allowing all women the right to vote in the U.S.A.

Best Trail

The Sewell House has a placard outside as part of the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail. In 1814, the British believed there were snipers posted inside the house and burned it down, one of the few private residences destroyed during their march through Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812.

Instagram-worthy Photo

A statue of Joan of Arc greets visitors in the front hallway of the house. Our tour guide said that the statue is attached to the house’s foundation and is completely immovable.