National Monuments are some of America’s greatest treasures. There are 128 protected areas in the US that are currently considered as National Monuments. Criteria for the selection of National Monuments generally includes historical or archaeological significance.
These designations help keep the areas protected and available for anyone to enjoy. They also help direct travelers to amazing natural splendors and historic sites.
Related: National Parks, on the other hand, are selected based on the natural beauty, unique geological features, unusual ecosystems, and recreational opportunities.
United States National Monuments
- Admiralty Island, Alaska
- African Burial Ground National Park Service, New York
- Agate Fossil Beds National Park Service Nebraska
- Agua Fria Bureau of Land Management Arizona
- Alibates Flint Quarries, Texas
- Aniakchak National Park Service Alaska
- Aztec Ruins National Park Service New Mexico
- Bandelier National Park Service New Mexico
- Basin and Range, Nevada
- Bears Ears BLM, Utah
- Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality, Washington DC
- Berryessa Snow Mountain USFS, BLM California
- Birmingham Civil Rights National Park Service Alabama
- Booker T. Washington National Park Service Virginia
- Browns Canyon BLM, USFS Colorado
- Buck Island Reef National Park Service US Virgin Islands
- Cabrillo National Park Service California
- California Coastal Bureau of Land Management California
- Canyon de Chelly National Park Service Arizona
- Canyons of the Ancients Bureau of Land Management Colorado
- Cape Krusenstern National Park Service Alaska
- Capulin Volcano National Park Service New Mexico
- Carrizo Plain Bureau of Land Management California
- Casa Grande Ruins National Park Service Arizona
- Cascade–Siskiyou Bureau of Land Management Oregon, California
- Castillo de San Marcos National Park Service Florida
- Castle Clinton National Park Service New York
- Castle Mountains National Park Service California
- Cedar Breaks National Park Service Utah
- César E. Chávez National Park Service California
- Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Park Service Ohio
- Chimney Rock United States Forest Service Colorado
- Chiricahua National Park Service Arizona
- Colorado National Park Service Colorado
- Craters of the Moon NPS, BLM Idaho
- Devils Postpile National Park Service California
- Devils Tower National Park Service Wyoming
- Dinosaur National Park Service Colorado, Utah
- Effigy Mounds National Park Service Iowa
- El Malpais National Park Service New Mexico
- El Morro National Park Service New Mexico
- Florissant Fossil Beds National Park Service Colorado
- Fort Frederica National Park Service Georgia
- Fort Matanzas National Park Service Florida
- Fort McHenry National Park Service Maryland
- Fort Monroe National Park Service Virginia
- Fort Ord Bureau of Land Management California
- Fort Pulaski National Park Service Georgia
- Fort Stanwix National Park Service New York
- Fort Sumter National Park Service South Carolina
- Fort Union National Park Service New Mexico
- Fossil Butte National Park Service Wyoming
- Freedom Riders National Park Service Alabama
- George Washington Birthplace National Park Service Virginia
- George Washington Carver National Park Service Missouri
- Giant Sequoia United States Forest Service California
- Gila Cliff Dwellings National Park Service New Mexico
- Gold Butte Bureau of Land Management Nevada
- Governors Island National Park Service New York
- Grand Canyon-Parashant BLM, NPS Arizona
- Grand Portage National Park Service Minnesota
- Grand Staircase-Escalante Bureau of Land Management Utah
- Hagerman Fossil Beds National Park Service Idaho
- Hanford Reach, Washington
- Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad, Maryland
- Hohokam Pima National Park Service Arizona
- Homestead National Park Service Nebraska
- Honouliuli National Park Service Hawaii
- Hovenweep National Park Service Colorado, Utah
- Ironwood Forest Bureau of Land Management Arizona
- Jewel Cave National Park Service South Dakota
- John Day Fossil Beds National Park Service Oregon
- Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks Bureau of Land Management New Mexico
- Lava Beds, California
- Little Bighorn Battlefield National Park Service Montana
- Marianas Trench Marine U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Guam
- Military Working Dog Teams, Texas
- Misty Fjords, Alaska
- Mojave Trails, California
- Montezuma Castle, Arizona
- Mount St. Helens United States Forest Service Washington
- Muir Woods National Park Service California
- Natural Bridges National Park Service Utah
- Navajo Nation, Arizona
- Newberry United States Forest Service Oregon
- Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine NOAA, FWS (Atlantic)
- Ocmulgee National Park Service Georgia
- Oregon Caves National Park Service Oregon
- Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Bureau of Land Management New Mexico
- Organ Pipe Cactus National Park Service Arizona
- Pacific Remote Islands Marine U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service US Minor Outlying Islands
- Papahānaumokuākea Marine NOAA, FWS (Pacific)
- Petroglyph National Park Service New Mexico
- Pipe Spring National Park Service Arizona
- Pipestone National Park Service Minnesota
- Pompeys Pillar Bureau of Land Management Montana
- Poverty Point National Park Service Louisiana
- Prehistoric Trackways Bureau of Land Management New Mexico
- President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home, District of Columbia
- Pullman National Park Service Illinois
- Rainbow Bridge National Park Service Utah
- Reconstruction Era National Park Service South Carolina
- Río Grande del Norte Bureau of Land Management New Mexico
- Rose Atoll Marine U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service American Samoa
- Russell Cave National Park Service Alabama
- Salinas Pueblo Missions National Park Service New Mexico
- San Gabriel Mountains United States Forest Service California
- San Juan Islands Bureau of Land Management Washington
- Sand to Snow BLM, USFS California
- Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains, California
- Scotts Bluff National Park, Nebraska
- Sonoran Desert Bureau of Land Management, Arizona
- Statue of Liberty National Park Service New York, New Jersey
- Stonewall National Park Service, New York
- Sunset Crater Volcano National Park Service, Arizona
- Timpanogos Cave National Park Service Utah
- Tonto National Park Service, Arizona
- Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Park Service, Nevada
- Tuzigoot National Park Service, Arizona
- Upper Missouri River Breaks, Montana
- Vermilion Cliffs, Arizona
- Virgin Islands Coral Reef, US Virgin Islands
- Waco Mammoth, Texas
- Walnut Canyon, Arizona
- White Sands, New Mexico
- World War II Valor in the Pacific (in Hawaii, Alaska, and California)
- Wupatki, Arizona
- Yucca House, Colorado
US National Monuments Fun Facts
- The above 128 National Monuments are located in 31 US States as well as in the District of Columbia, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Minor Outlying Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
- Arizona has 18 national monuments, the largest number in any states, followed by California with 17 and New Mexico with 14.
- Almost 65 national monuments protect places of natural significance, including 12 geological sites, 7 marine sites, and 5 volcanic sites.
- 23 national monuments have major sites associated with Native Americans.
- 33 national monuments are other historical sites, including 12 forts.