Tag Archives: Native American

Arizona

Navajo National Monument

August 7, 2024 Raven About The Parks 5 Comments

Navajo National Monument

Arizona

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1909

360 acres

Website: nps.gov/nava

Overview

Navajo National Monument was created to protect the Keet Seel ruin on the Navajo Nation, although the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived here in the 1200s are more closely related to the Hopi and Zuni. Three years later, the ruins at Betatakin and Inscription House (closed to the public) were added to the National Monument. We had such a great visit that we had to add it to his list of Top 10 National Monuments.

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

Tsegi Point Overlook, museum, film, Sandal Trail, Keet Seel overnight trip

Must-Do Activity

During the pandemic, the National Park Service (NPS) closed all access to the ruins until 2023, but visitors can now reserve spots on the 20-person ranger-led backpacking trips to Keet Seel that are offered twice per month in the summer. This strenuous trip covers 17 miles total with numerous stream crossings and all water must be carried in. The hardest part is at the end, when a 1,000 foot climb awaits, but it is worth it to be one of the few who get to see Keet Seel, the 150-room ruin that is second in size only to Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park. You also get to eat lunch at a surprisingly large waterfall in Keet Seel Canyon. For those looking for a shorter five-mile trip with only 580 feet elevation change, weekend day hikes to Betatakin are led by park rangers (sign up the day before on a first-come, first-served basis).

Best Trail

From the NPS visitor center (which is actually on Navajo land outside the National Monument boundary), the paved Sandal Trail follows the canyon rim to an overlook of the Betatakin cliff dwelling. There are signs explaining the local plant species and their uses by indigenous people on the 1.3-mile out-and-back trail. The 0.8-mile roundtrip Aspen Trail and 0.8-mile Canyon View Trail also leave from the visitor center.

Photographic Opportunity

Outside the visitor center, a replica sweathouse and male hogan are on display, plus examples of three-toed dinosaur footprints left in the sandstone. Inside the visitor center, pottery and an example of a family dwelling are on display, plus a short introductory film is offered.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Highway 564 is paved to the visitor center and Sunset View Campground, then a good dirt road leads to the Canyon View Campground and gated trailhead for ranger-led hikes to Betatakin and Keet Seel.

Camping

The free Sunset View Campground has running water and is one of the nicest campgrounds in the entire NPS system (now added to the Top 10 National Park Campgrounds with Running Water). There are vault toilets at Canyon View Campground, which is also free. Campers are limited to a total of seven nights per year at the campgrounds.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Arizona)

Walnut Canyon National Monument (Arizona)

Explore More – When was the large white fir tree added above the main entrance to Keet Seel cliff dwelling?

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

Arizona

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument

July 17, 2024 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument

Arizona

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

Established 2023

917,618 acres

Website: https://www.blm.gov/national-conservation-lands/arizona/ancestral-footprints

Overview

This new National Monument is situated on both the North and South Rim of the Grand Canyon, but outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. It includes the entirety of the Tusayan District of Kaibab National Forest on the South Rim, as well as two sections east and west of the 9,000-foot Kaibab Plateau on the Arizona Strip. Its name is derived from the Havasupai words Baaj Nwaavjo, which translate as “where indigenous peoples roam,” plus the Hopi term I’tah Kukveni, which means “our ancestral footprints.” According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) website it is pronounced “Baahj-Nuh-Waahv-Joh, Ee-Tah-Kook-Venny.” The National Monument was created primarily to prevent future uranium mining claims in this area and further protect evidence of thousands of years of human habitation (see Best Trail).

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

Red Butte, Hull Cabin, Apex Logging Camp, Grand Canyon Airport Historic District, Marble Canyon, Snake Gulch, Arizona National Scenic Trail

Must-Do Activity

Red Butte is located just east of paved Highway 64/180 on the way to Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim. A short 3.3-mile out-and-back trail with 912 feet of elevation gain is found at this geological formation sacred to the Havasupai, Hualapai, Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni people. Also in this area, Hull Cabin dates back to 1889 and Apex Logging Camp was situated along the Grand Canyon Railroad between 1928 and 1936 (although not much remains other than the foundation of a one-room schoolhouse). The Arizona National Scenic Trail runs through this part of Kaibab National Forest before entering the Grand Canyon and crossing the Kaibab Plateau.

Best Trail

Snake Gulch-Kanab Creek Trail #59 starts at the end of unpaved Forest Road 642 (about five miles from the end of pavement on Forest Highway 22). It soon passes an old homestead and turns left to enter the canyon, part of the extensive Kanab Creek Wilderness (and within the National Monument boundary). The first pictographs can be seen about 2.5 miles in and from then on consistently on the north side of the canyon. The images are primarily done in red paint from the Basketmaker People who resided in this region from 300 BCE to AD 800. We hiked in seven miles then turned around as it started to get really hot in late June, but the trail through the canyon continues 21 miles to where it connects with Ranger Trail #41. Our favorite pictographs were located about four miles in, which would make a good turnaround point for a day hike.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Stop at the historic Navajo Bridge that crosses the Colorado River at Marble Canyon where four public lands meet: Grand Canyon National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

Peak Season

Spring and fall, as summer can be very hot

Hours

Navajo Bridge Visitor Center (National Park Service)

https://www.nps.gov/glca/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

There are many unpaved and four-wheel-drive-only roads spread across this area, but Highway 64/180 to the South Rim is paved. High clearance is recommended to access Snake Gulch-Kanab Creek Trailhead. Highway 67 and most Forest Roads on the Kaibab Plateau are closed in winter due to heavy snowfall.

Camping

There are good, dispersed camping options throughout Kaibab National Forest, including along the dirt roads just outside the east entrance of Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim before entering the Navajo Nation.

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument (Arizona)

Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (Arizona)

Pipe Spring National Monument (Arizona)

Explore More – When were beefalo (bison and cattle mix) introduced to the House Rock Valley area west of Marble Canyon (and now found roaming inside Grand Canyon National Park and Kaibab National Forest)?

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

Arizona

Kaibab National Forest

July 10, 2024 Raven About The Parks 1 Comment

Kaibab National Forest

Arizona

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region

1,601,066 acres (1,560,165 federal/ 40,901 other)

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

Overview

Kaibab National Forest is located both north and south of Grand Canyon National Park, although the paved road from Jacob Lake to the North Rim is closed throughout the winter months due to heavy snowfall on the 9,000-foot Kaibab Plateau. There are numerous dirt roads to explore on each side of the canyon that in 2023 were encompassed into Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument (see our blog post). The Grand Canyon Forest Reserve was first set aside in 1893, then became Kaibab National Forest in 1908 before Grand Canyon National Park was removed from its acreage a decade later. In 1934, the southern Tusayan National Forest was joined to form the present boundaries.

Know someone who loves the National Forests? Gift them our travel guidebook Out in the Woods so they can learn more about all 155 National Forests.

Highlights

Kaibab Plateau Scenic Byway, Hull Cabin, Snake Gulch, Kendrick Peak, Sycamore Canyon, Beale Wagon Road, Overland Road, Bill Williams Mountain, Kanab Creek Wilderness, Thunder River Trail

Must-Do Activity

The highest point in Kaibab National Forest is 10,418-foot Kendrick Peak located in the Kendrick Peak Wilderness northwest of Flagstaff, which experienced a large wildfire in 2000. Scott started as a student at Northern Arizona University the next year, and has been able to watch this area recover over the decades since. Seven miles of dirt roads leave Highway 180 to access the Kendrick Mountain Trailhead at 7,980 feet in elevation. A steep, switchbacking 4.6-mile one-way trail partly follows a closed road to the top past Old Lookout Cabin (built in 1912). Bull Basin and Pumpkin Trails also lead to Kendrick Peak, but require more dirt road driving. From the summit, views are good north towards the Grand Canyon and east to the taller San Francisco Peaks within Coconino National Forest.

Best Trail

Bill Williams Mountain dominates the skyline in the town of Williams, the southern terminus of the 65-mile-long Grand Canyon Railway. Several routes climb to the top of the peak, but Bixler Saddle Trail starts higher than the others at 7,700 feet. It is accessed by a rocky road that leads to a small parking area at the saddle. From there the trail gains 1,000 feet in elevation in 2.5 miles before connecting with Bill Williams Mountain Trail to finish climbing a half-mile to the lookout tower at 9,256 feet. No matter how you summit, at the top there are breathtaking views in all directions.

Watchable Wildlife

Elk and mule deer are commonly seen on both sides of the Grand Canyon. Apparently, bison were introduced in the early 1900s and now roam freely in the National Forest, in addition to mountain lions, bobcats, and black bears. The canyon formed a natural barrier for the evolution of distantly-related Kaibab squirrels on the North Rim, a subspecies of the Abert’s squirrels found on the South Rim. Common birds include wild turkeys, robins, nuthatches, northern flickers, rufous hummingbirds, Steller jays, American crows, common ravens, and a variety of hawks. Fishing is a popular activity, with some excellent trout streams found in the National Forest.

Instagram-worthy Photo

There are five trailheads that access the 12-mile Sycamore Rim Trail loop, located south of Interstate 40 after driving ten miles of good dirt road. The trail passes through a ponderosa pine forest with overlooks of the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, also managed by Coconino and Prescott National Forests.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The paved road from Jacob Lake, Arizona to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park is closed throughout the winter months due to heavy snowfall. There are countless miles of dirt roads on each side of the canyon that access trailheads and allow for dispersed camping.

Camping

There are numerous campgrounds spread throughout the National Forest, as well as rentals of the historic 1917 Spring Valley Cabin and 1889 Hull Cabin (within the newly created Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument).

Wilderness Areas

Kanab Creek Wilderness

Kendrick Mountain Wilderness (also in Coconino National Forest)

Saddle Mountain Wilderness

Sycamore Canyon Wilderness (also in Coconino and Prescott National Forests)

Related Sites

Pipe Spring National Monument (Arizona)

Tuzigoot National Monument (Arizona)

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument (Arizona)

Nearest National Park

Grand Canyon

Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center in Jacob Lake

Conifer Tree Species

ponderosa pine, limber pine, southwestern white pine, two-needle pinyon pine, Utah juniper, one-seed juniper, Rocky Mountain juniper, Douglas-fir, white fir, Engelmann spruce

Flowering Tree Species

Gambel oak, quaking aspen, boxelder, Arizona sycamore, Arizona walnut, Fremont cottonwood

Explore More – Kaibab is the Paiute name for the Grand Canyon, which translates as what?

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

Hawaii

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

May 15, 2024 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

Hawai‘i

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1916

344,812 acres

Website: nps.gov/havo

Overview

Hawai‘i National Park was created in 1916, before being split in 1961 into this park on the Big Island of Hawai‘i and Haleakala National Park on Maui. Encompassing two of the world’s most active volcanoes (Kīlauea and Mauna Loa), Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is constantly changing. Indigenous people considered Kīlauea Caldera and its bubbling Halemaʻumaʻu Crater as the sacred home of Pele, goddess of the volcano. This area first became a tourist attraction in the 1840s when Volcano House was still a grass shack. A small, wooden hotel was built in 1877 that now serves as Volcano Art Center Gallery, before the larger lodge was finished in the 1940s on the edge of the caldera. A strenuous backpacking trail summits the world’s largest shield volcano, 13,677-foot Mauna Loa, which erupted in 1926, 1942, 1950, 1984, and 2022.

To learn more about the separate Kahuku Unit and how to find solitude in this National Park that saw 1.6-million visitors in 2023, check out our expanded 2nd edition of our guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks.

Highlights

Volcano Art Center, Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, Chain of Craters Road, Kīlauea Iki Crater, Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube), Hōlei Sea Arch, Lava Tree Molds, Mauna Loa Overlook, Kīpukapuaulu Trail, Pu‘u Loa Petroglyphs Trail

Must-Do Activity

Arrive early or late at the visitor center to avoid tour bus crowds, then check with a ranger to find the best overlooks to view any volcanic activity in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater (depicted in our illustration below). Consider returning to view the molten lava after dark, although parking can be a challenge. The Chain of Craters Road leads 20 miles south from the forested caldera rim above 4,078 feet in elevation down to the sparsely vegetated seashore, descending through a wide range of environments before it dead ends into recent lava flows near the Hōlei Sea Arch and 1.5-mile Pu‘u Loa Petroglyphs Trail, where the crisp images chipped into the black lava have been spared from centuries of volcanic activity.

Best Trail

Kīlauea Iki Trail makes a four-mile loop descending 400 feet to the bottom of the crater that was a lake of lava in 1959. It is recommended to hike it in a counter-clockwise direction to avoid ascending the steepest sections.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Kīlauea erupted nonstop from 1983 through 2018, when lava poured in a near constant stream into the ocean, and it has been sporadically active since then. Lava made it into the #1 spot on our Top 10 Natural Phenomena to See in the U.S.

Peak Season

Year round or whenever a volcano is active

Hours

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

Fees

$30 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

Chain of Craters Road is paved, but can be closed during volcanic eruptions, just as half of Crater Rim Drive has been closed since March 19, 2008. The side road to Hilina Pali Overlook is usually closed beyond Kulanaokuaiki Campground. The one-lane, potholed Mauna Loa Road is doable with a passenger vehicle if you take it slow, as is the unpaved road into the western Kahuku Unit.

Camping

The name of Kulanaokuaiki Campground translates as “shaking earth,” and this nine-site primitive camp has no drinking water, unlike the concessionaire-run Nāmakanipaio Campground and Cabins on Highway 11. Even though this is Hawai‘i, bring some warm clothes as it can be quite rainy and windy, especially when the volcano is erupting; the temperature around Halemaʻumaʻu Crater did not rise above 59°F all day during our 2023 visit.

Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park (Hawai‘i)

Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site (Hawai‘i)

Scott at the bottom of Kīlauea Iki Crater

Explore More – When was the 115,788-acre Kahuku Unit added to the National Park?

*This design we created to celebrate Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is available on a variety of products at* Cafe Press

We designed this ‘ohi’a lehua logo for the park available on Amazon.com

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Indiana

Hoosier National Forest

March 13, 2024 Raven About The Parks 2 Comments

Hoosier National Forest

Indiana

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Eastern Region

644,214 acres (202,814 federal/ 441,400 other)

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

Overview

Southern Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest was created in 1935 from cutover and abandoned farm land. Six years later an additional 88 acres of old-growth forest was purchased that became Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest, which has never been cut and is used to study natural succession. A 0.8-mile trail runs through the woods and accesses the Indiana Pioneer Mothers Memorial and Lick Creek Settlement Site. The latter was a community of free African-Americans led by the Quaker Jonathan Lindley from 1819 to 1865, and located nearby is an archaeological site where there was a stockaded village in the 1300s.

Highlights

Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest, Monroe Lake, Hickory Ridge Lookout Tower, German Ridge Lake, Lick Creek Settlement Site, Sundance Lake, Potts Creek Rockshelter Archeological Site, Lake Tarzian, Rickenbaugh House, Tipsaw Lake, Buzzard Roost Overlook, Clover Lick Barrens, Hardin Ridge Recreation Area, Birdseye Trail, Hemlock Cliffs Trail

Must-Do Activity

There are 266 miles of trails in Hoosier National Forest, including the 36.3-mile Terrill Ridge Trail that enters the Charles C. Deam Wilderness (Indiana’s one and only) and the 24.1 miles of trails around German Ridge Lake. Horse camps provide access to miles of bridle trails, including the 48.7-mile Hickory Ridge Trail. Many of the National Forest’s trails are old roads (even in the Wilderness), so while hiking watch for evidence of house foundations, fences, domestic plants, and cemeteries.

Best Trail

Hemlock Cliffs Trail is a 1.2-mile loop through a sandstone canyon that passes two unique waterfalls. Tall eastern hemlock trees surround both waterfalls that you can walk behind where the cliffs are undercut by erosion in this crumbly sedimentary rock. The falls only flow seasonally, but when they do the trail is often muddy and slippery, so take caution.

Watchable Wildlife

In 1972, wild turkeys were reintroduced to 6,000 acres around Clover Lick Barrens, an area of prairie vegetation. Other birds of interest include red-shouldered hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, scarlet tanagers, and pileated woodpeckers. Timber rattlesnakes and copperheads are two venomous snake species found here. Mammals include fox squirrels, raccoons, and white-tailed deer, which attract hunters in season.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Southern Indiana is known for its Karst topography, which often forms limestone caves, as well as some beautiful Swiss-cheese formations that can be seen along the Hemlock Cliffs Trail.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Road access is paved to the pullout for the Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest, and the unpaved road to Hemlock Cliffs Trailhead was a good enough for our mini-van.

Camping

There are horse camps at Shirley Creek, Blackwell, Hickory Ridge, and Youngs Creek, in addition to other campgrounds dispersed throughout Hoosier National Forest.

Wilderness Areas

Charles C. Deam Wilderness

Related Sites

Shawnee National Forest (Illinois)

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial (Indiana)

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park (Indiana)

Nearest National Park

Indiana Dunes

Conifer Tree Species

eastern hemlock, eastern white pine, shortleaf pine, eastern redcedar

Flowering Tree Species

American beech, tulip-poplar, basswood, Ohio buckeye, white ash, green ash, American elm, winged elm, black walnut, white oak, northern red oak, black oak, chinquapin oak, rock chestnut oak, post oak, blackjack oak, sugar maple, red maple, ironwood, sassafras, black cherry, black gum, black walnut, honeylocust, Kentucky coffeetree, flowering dogwood, redbud, basswood, sycamore, mockernut hickory, shagbark hickory, pawpaw, slippery elm, butternut, hophornbeam, sweetgum, mountain laurel

Explore More – Who was Charles C. Deam, the namesake for the only Wilderness in Indiana (designated in 1982)?

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

Navajo National Monument

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument

Kaibab National Forest

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

Hoosier National Forest

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