Monuments
National Monuments protect cultural landscapes, geologic wonders, and historic resources that are often compact enough for a focused day or weekend visit. Many monuments highlight Indigenous heritage, fossil beds, cliff dwellings, or dramatic rock formations.
88 parks and sites (NPS)
Featured parks for monuments
Upcoming events
Upcoming ranger programs and events at 88 parks in this designation (from the NPS Events API).
Born here, Freed here
Join a member of park staff for a one-hour walking tour of the site where Booker T. Washington was born and freed at the age of 9. Learn about Washington’s enslaved childhood on the Burroughs plantation and how the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation here in 1865 fulfilled the Declaration of Independence’s promise that “all men are created equal.”
Museum Tour
Join NPS staff for a guided tour of the museum exhibits. Learn about the National Woman's Party and their confrontational tactics in the fight for the 19th amendment ensuring women's right to vote. The work continued in this headquarters as the NWP continued the campaign for women's social, political, and economic equality.
Museum Tour
Join NPS staff for a guided tour of the museum exhibits. Learn about the National Woman's Party and their confrontational tactics in the fight for the 19th amendment ensuring women's right to vote. The work continued in this headquarters as the NWP continued the campaign for women's social, political, and economic equality.
Juneteenth
Celebrate Juneteenth Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 18, 1865, Union soldiers, led by General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston Island, Texas with 2,000 federal troops. The following day, June 19, General Granger read aloud news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Texas General Order No. 3 stated, The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.
Open Military Bunker
If conditions permit, volunteers will bring the coastal defenses of Point Loma to life. These are your only chances to tour the bunkers on Point Loma. Don't miss this amazing opportunity to learn more about the soldiers stationed at Fort Rosecrans during WWII and see the weapons and instruments that protected our coast during the tumultuous war years. The bunker can't be opened if there is inclement weather. Check with the Visitor Center for the latest schedule.
Guided Walking Tour of Cabrillo
Join a park volunteer for a one-hour walking tour of Cabrillo National Monument including the Cabrillo Statue and the Old Point Loma Lighthouse at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. This program is suitable for all ages. No reservations required. Meet in front of the Visitor Center and keep in mind that the walk includes a hill up to the lighthouse.
Dark Sky Night
Join us for an exceptional Dark Sky experience. Capulin was named a Gold Tier Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association in 2016. Capulin Volcano holds Dark Sky viewing most Saturday nights during Summer months, and select nights Fall, Winter, and Spring. Giant telescopes are provided by us, and the dark northeastern New Mexico skies by nature. You will see planets, galaxies, nebula, and other amazing sights all with your own eyes. Capulin Volcano is at a higher altitude of over 6,000 feet. Nights can get chilly even in summer. A jacket, long pants, and closed toe shoes are recommended to attend a Dark Sky program. No reservations are needed.
Suffs: The Musical Special Museum Tour
Check out the real-life history behind the Tony-award winning Broadway musical Suffs here at the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument. See the banners, cartoons, photographs, and museum items that inspired the writers of the musical and learn more about your favorite characters like Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, Lucy Burns, and Mary Church Terrell.
Open Tower Day
Enjoy the sweeping views from atop the tower in celebration of the establishment of the National Park Service. On Open Tower Days, you can experience the lighthouse with a half-hour guided tour between 10:00am - 3:30pm. The guided tours are the only way to access the top tower of the lighthouse and will give participants a glimpse into life at this lighthouse station between 1855 - 1891. Tickets will be available on the day of the event, first come first serve. Please stop by the ticketing table near the lighthouse earlier in the day to ensure a ticket time. All participants must stop by the ticketing table to obtain ticket. For those who do not wish to climb to the top tower, you will still be able to experience the kitchen of the lighthouse with historic interpreters. All activities are available at no additional cost to the entrance fee.
Open Tower Day
Imagine yourself as the first keeper when you make your way to the top of the lighthouse in celebration of the anniversary of the first time the light was lit! On Open Tower Days, you can experience the lighthouse with a half-hour guided tour between 10:00am - 3:30pm. The guided tours are the only way to access the top tower of the lighthouse and will give participants a glimpse into life at this lighthouse station between 1855 - 1891. Tickets will be available on the day of the event, first come first serve. Please stop by the ticketing table near the lighthouse earlier in the day to ensure a ticket time. All participants must stop by the ticketing table to obtain ticket. For those who do not wish to climb to the top tower, you will still be able to experience the kitchen of the lighthouse with historic interpreters. All activities are available at no additional cost to the entrance fee.
All parks (88)
African Burial Ground National Monument
The African Burial Ground stands as the oldest and largest known excavated burial site in North America for both free and enslaved Africans. It offers a profound testament to the enduring legacy of African communities whose labor, resilience, and cultural contributions were fundamental in shaping the development of New York.
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
In the early 1900s, paleontologists unearthed the Age of Mammals when they found full skeletons of extinct Miocene mammals in the hills of Nebraska -- species previously only known through fragments. At the same time, an age of friendship began between rancher James Cook and Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota. These two unprecedented events are preserved and protected here... at Agate Fossil Beds.
Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument
13,000 years ago, Alibates Flint was used by mammoth hunters as a source of flint for tools. Learn how important this site was to the survival, commerce, and culture of the people of the High Plains.
Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve
Given its remote location and challenging weather conditions, Aniakchak is one of the most wild and least visited places in the National Park System. This landscape is a vibrant reminder of Alaska's location in the volcanically active "Ring of Fire," as it is home to an impressive six mile (10 km) wide, 2,500 ft (762 m) deep caldera formed during a massive volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago.
Aztec Ruins National Monument
Aztec Ruins has some of the best-preserved Chacoan structures of its kind. Learn more about the ancestral Pueblo people in the park's museum and explore the Aztec West great house to see exceptionally advanced architecture, original wooden beams, and a restored Great Kiva. Aztec Ruins is a deeply sacred place to many Indigenous peoples across the American Southwest. Please visit with respect.
Bandelier National Monument
Bandelier National Monument protects over 33,000 acres of ruggedly beautiful canyon and mesa country. Petroglyphs, dwellings carved into the soft rock cliffs, and standing masonry walls pay tribute to the early days of a culture that still survives in the surrounding communities.
Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument
Home to the National Woman's Party for more than 90 years, this was the epicenter of the struggle for women's rights. From this house in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court, Alice Paul and the NWP developed innovative strategies and tactics to advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment and equality for women. President Barack Obama designated the national monument on April 12, 2016.
Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
In 1963, images of snarling police dogs unleashed against non-violent protesters and of children being sprayed with high-pressure hoses appeared in print and television news around the world. These dramatic scenes of violent police aggression against civil rights protesters in Birmingham, Alabama were vivid examples of segregation and racial injustice in America.
Booker T Washington National Monument
Booker T. Washington was born a slave in April 1856 on the 207-acre farm of James Burroughs. After the Civil War, Washington became the first principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School. Later as an adviser, author and orator, his past would influence his philosophies as the most influential African American of his era. Come explore his birthplace.
Buck Island Reef National Monument
Welcome to Buck Island Reef National Monument, called “the finest marine garden in the Caribbean Sea” by President John F. Kennedy. Snorkel the famous underwater trail, explore endangered elkhorn coral reefs. Hike the trails on the 176-acre island to the observation platform for an unparallel view. Discover a vibrant world above and beneath the waves in this Caribbean paradise.
Cabrillo National Monument
In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo climbed out of his boat and onto shore, becoming the first European to set foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Cabrillo National Monument not only tells the story of this 16th-century exploration but also houses a wealth of cultural and natural resources. Join us and embark on your own Voyage of Exploration.
Camp Nelson National Monument
The US Army established Camp Nelson as a fortified supply depot in April 1863. Over the next 3 years, the site evolved into a massive recruitment and training center for United States Colored Troops and a refugee camp for their families. It served as a shelter for civilians fleeing war and for enslaved people hoping to secure their freedom and aid in the destruction of slavery.
Showing 1–12 of 88 parks