Tag Archives: park

District of Columbia

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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Vietnam Veterans Memorial

District of Columbia

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1982

2 acres

Website: nps.gov/vive

Overview

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund was incorporated as a nonprofit charity in 1979 to build a monument listing all the names of those killed or missing during the Vietnam War.  It was originally the idea of Jan Scruggs, an infantry corporal, and it was important to the veterans that it not make a political statement about the controversial war in Southeast Asia.  Selected from 1,421 design entries, Maya Ying Lin intended her memorial to be a quiet, protected place for reflection.  The polished black marble she chose to inscribe the half-inch-tall names also reflects the surrounding trees and grass in Constitution Gardens adjacent to the National Mall.  The $7-million cost of the memorial was entirely funded by corporate and private donations, including those from 275,000 individual Americans.

Highlights

Memorial wall, Three Soldiers sculpture, Vietnam Women’s Memorial, In Memory plaque

Must-Do Activity

Located near the Lincoln Memorial, the walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial stretch 246.75 feet in length, inscribed with 58,256 names listed chronologically by date of casualty.  People come to make rubbings of their loved one’s name and often leave small items at its base.  Added nearby in 1984, a life-size bronze sculpture by Frederick Hart depicts three male soldiers beneath a 60-foot flagpole.  The In Memory plaque was added in 2004 to recognize the many men and women who served and later died from causes related to the war.

Best Trail

There is no trail here, but there is always plenty of walking done when visiting the many memorials on the National Mall.

Photographic Opportunity

Dedicated on November 11, 1993, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial is a bronze sculpture by Glenna Goodacre that depicts three women helping a fallen soldier.  There were also eight yellowwood trees planted to commemorate the eight servicewomen killed in action in Vietnam. 

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

Open 24 hours

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Traffic can be slow and parking expensive in Washington, D.C., so consider taking the Metro to the National Mall. 

Camping

There are National Park Service campgrounds in Maryland’s Greenbelt Park and Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park.

Related Sites

Korean War Veterans Memorial (District of Columbia)

World War II Memorial (District of Columbia)

World War I Memorial (District of Columbia)

Nearest National Park

Shenandoah

Explore More – When her design was selected in 1981, Maya Ying Lin was a 21-year-old student from Athens, Ohio; where was she attending college at the time?

New York

Castle Clinton National Monument

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Castle Clinton National Monument

New York

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1946

1 acre

Website: nps.gov/cacl

Overview

The U.S. military constructed South-west Battery off Manhattan Island’s southern tip by the beginning of the War of 1812, although it never fired a shot in battle.  It was renamed Castle Clinton in 1817 to honor former mayor (and future governor) DeWitt Clinton, then once again to Castle Garden only seven years later.  After a roof was added in the 1840s, it hosted concerts, including the American debut of Swedish opera diva Jenny Lind in 1850 (tickets cost $225 or equivalent to $8,240 in 2023).  The island was joined to the mainland with landfill in the early 1850s, creating Battery Park.  From 1855 to 1890, Castle Garden processed approximately eight-million immigrants before the establishment of Ellis Island offshore.  Six years after the closing of the immigration station, Castle Garden was converted into the New York City Aquarium, which closed in 1941.

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

Castle Clinton, Battery Park

Must-Do Activity

Much of Castle Garden was destroyed during a tunnel construction project in the 1940s, but Castle Clinton remained and was restored three decades later.  Today it serves as a National Park Service visitor center, gift shop, and ticket office for ferry trips to Statue of Liberty National Monument.  There are also exhibits along the perimeter of the D-shaped fort, including a display with cannon.  Ranger-guided tours of the site are offered daily.

Best Trail

There are sidewalks and a seaside promenade in ——-24-acre Battery Park.  Be sure to check out the bronze sculpture “The Immigrants” outside the fort.

Photographic Opportunity

There once were “28 guns” facing New York Harbor from within Castle Clinton, and one display cannon remains. 

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

Roads are heavily trafficked and there is no designated parking for the National Park Service site, so we recommend you take the subway.

Camping

None

Related Sites

Statue of Liberty National Monument (New York-New Jersey)

Governors Island National Monument (New York)

Stonewall National Monument (New York)

Explore More – Today, what percentage of Americans can trace their roots to one of the nearly eight-million immigrants processed at Castle Garden from 1855 to 1890?

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

Alabama

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument

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Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument

Alabama

Managed by National Park Service

Established 2017

18 acres

Website: nps.gov/bicr

Overview

Created by President Barack Obama on January 12, 2017 (the same day as Freedom Riders and Reconstruction Era National Monuments), this site encompasses four city blocks of downtown within the larger 36-acre Birmingham Civil Rights District.  In 1963, this area was where the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed and the Children’s Crusade (a non-violent protest march) was attacked by policemen with water hoses and dogs.  The only portion of the site run by the National Park Service (NPS) is the A. G. Gaston Motel, which was bombed by the KKK after Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders stayed there from April through May 1963 to plan their non-violent campaign against segregation laws.  The City of Birmingham and the NPS have restored the motel to its historic appearance and a park ranger is stationed there three days a week.

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

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, A.G. Gaston Motel, 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, St. Paul United Methodist Church, Bethel Baptist Church

Must-Do Activity

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a history museum that opened in 1992 across from the 16th Street Baptist Church (see Photographic Opportunity).  With a timed entry ticket, your self-guided tour starts with a short video, then an immersive walk through the struggle for civil rights in Birmingham and around the U.S.  It includes powerful displays on the Freedom Riders bus burning and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” as well as the decades-long effort to bring to justice the bombers of the 16th Street Baptist Church.  If you come on one of the three days per week that a park ranger is posted at the A.G. Gaston Motel, be sure to stop there afterwards to see the ongoing reconstruction work.  Six miles north of the city in the Collegeville neighborhood, Bethel Baptist Church was bombed three times in 1956, 1958 and 1962, partly why the city earned the nickname “Bombingham.”  The church is associated with the influential Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who has a statue outside the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Best Trail

Across the street from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park features sculptures, interpretive signs, and an audio tour describing the violent attacks by police officers and dogs on civil rights protesters (many of them children) on May 7, 1963.

Photographic Opportunity

Across the street from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed on September 15, 1963, killing four young girls, an act of domestic terrorism that propelled the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Tours inside the church are by appointment only.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

The A.G. Gaston Motel is open Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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

Fees

No cost for the A.G. Gaston Motel or Kelly Ingram Park, but there is an admission fee at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (online reservations recommended).

Road Conditions

All roads are paved with a free parking lot next to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Camping

In northeast Alabama, De Soto State Park offers camping, in addition to excellent hiking trails to several waterfalls.  There are also three backcountry campsites in Little River Canyon National Preserve available from February through September with a permit.  Cheaha State Park and Joe Wheeler State Park both have campgrounds and lodges.  Talladega, Tuskegee, and William B. Bankhead National Forests also offer car camping and backpacking opportunities.

Related Sites

Freedom Riders National Monument (Alabama)

Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (Alabama)

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (Alabama)

A.G. Gaston Motel
A.G. Gaston Motel
A.G. Gaston Motel
Kelly Ingram Park
Scott at Kelly Ingram Park
Kelly Ingram Park
Kelly Ingram Park
Kelly Ingram Park
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
MLK, Jr. jail cell

Explore More – When did the City of Birmingham establish the 36-acre Birmingham Civil Rights District?

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

New York

Hamilton Grange National Memorial

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Overview

Anyone who has watched the musical Hamilton is familiar with the life story of Alexander Hamilton.  Hamilton Grange National Memorial is the only National Park Service (NPS) site dedicated to this “founding father.”  It is also the only one of 45 National Memorials built by the person it honors.  What you may not know is that his historic home in New York City has been moved twice, once in 1889 and again in 2008.

Highlights

Museum, tour, statue at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

Must-Do Activity

The Grange gets its name from the Hamilton family’s ancestral home in Scotland.  Built in 1802 on a 32-acre estate in Upper Manhattan, Hamilton only lived there two years before being shot and killed in an infamous duel with Aaron Burr.  Today you enter the home through the basement where the NPS runs a museum.  Access upstairs is available on guided tours or during daily “open house” hours, but you must leave large items in lockers.

Best Trail

None

Instagram-worthy Photo

The Grange was tucked between St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and an apartment building until 2008 when the NPS moved it to St. Nicholas Park, part of the original 32-acre estate.  A statue of Alexander Hamilton still stands where the house resided for more than a century.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

It is easiest not to drive into New York City, instead opt to take public transportation.

Camping

None

Related Sites

African Burial Ground National Monument (New York)

Federal Hall National Memorial (New York)

Saint Paul’s Church National Historic Site (New York)

  • Tiff at the entrance
  • Moving the house in 2008
  • Sweetgum leaves
  • Mourning scarf made following the duel

Explore More – After resuming his law practice in 1795, Hamilton represented free and enslaved African Americans and defended a newspaper editor sued for slander by which future president?

Ohio

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

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Overview

If you did not know there was a National Park in Ohio it is understandable since Cuyahoga Valley National Park was not officially designated until 2000.  It is centered around the historic Ohio and Erie Canal, which opened in 1827 to connect Akron to the port of Cleveland on Lake Erie.  Cuyahoga is an American Indian word meaning “crooked” and you will see why if you walk or bike down the 19-mile Towpath Trail where mules once pulled line boats through a series of locks (be sure to stop at Canal Visitor Center at Lock 38).  If you plan it right, you can take your bike on board the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad for a cheap one-way ride.

Learn more in our guidebook to the National Parks, A Park to Yourself: Finding Adventure in America’s National Parks (available on Amazon).

Highlights

Brandywine Falls, Lock 38, Hunt Farm, Everett Road Covered Bridge, Gorge Parkway

Must-Do Activity

In the park’s southern end near Akron-Canton, you will find a great blue heron rookery and beaver marsh along the crooked Cuyahoga River.  In the central section, you must stop to see the cascades of Brandywine Falls (see it depicted below in our original logo).  Closer to Cleveland, discover the Bedford Reservation along Gorge Parkway, including beautiful Bridal Veil Falls.  For a little culture in the outdoors, look up the summer schedule for Blossom Music Center or Porthouse Theatre.  Fall is an especially popular time to visit when the leaves change, but with over 100 miles of trails within the park, there is plenty to explore in every season.

Best Trail

We highly recommend a hike on the two-mile Ledges Loop Trail where mossy sandstone cliffs are cloaked by a dense forest of hemlock and hardwood trees.  Once a popular destination on the trail, Ice Box Cave is closed to protect the resident bat population, but similar spots nearby still offer a chance for exploration.

Instagram-worthy Photo

In the southern end of the park, Everett Road Covered Bridge has been rebuilt to demonstrate this once common construction method.

Peak Season

Fall

Hours

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

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There is no official campground in the park, but there are a variety of other lodging options including the historic Inn at Brandywine Falls.

Related Sites

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

James A. Garfield National Historic Site (Ohio)

First Ladies National Historic Site (Ohio)

  • Everett Road Covered Bridge
  • Brandywine Falls overlook
  • Brandywine Falls
  • Ledges Loop Trail
  • Ledges Loop Trail
  • Wood lily
  • Buttermilk Falls
  • Northern water snake (non-venomous)
  • Tiff below Buttermilk Falls
  • Bridal Veil Falls
This design we created to celebrate Cuyahoga Valley National Park is available on a variety of products at Cafe Press and Amazon.

Explore More – Who manages the Hale Farm and Village where costumed re-enactors bring history to life?

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