Mike Endres - Guide to Western National Monuments

WARNING: Although there has been an effort to make the trail descriptions in this book as accurate as possible, some discrepancies may exist between the text and the trails in the field. Hiking in the outdoors involves some risks. This guidebook is not a substitute for your experience and common sense. The users of this guidebook assume full responsibility for their own safety. Weather, terrain conditions, and individual technical abilities must be considered before undertaking any of the routes in this guide.

Guide to Western National Monuments

Mike Endres 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Mike Endres: author and photographer

Takeshi Takahashi: designer

Jodi Jennings: copyeditor

Elle Klock: production assistant

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Printed in the United States of America

Print ISBN 978-1-937052-55-3

Ebook ISBN 978-1-937052-74-4

An autumn mist rises from a river valley near Mount St. Helens. Much of the land surrounding the monument is open to the public for outdoor recreation.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 gave US presidents the authority to establish national monuments as an expedient method to protect natural and historically significant areas in the United States. The first monument, Devils Tower, was designated by President Theodore Roosevelt on September 24, 1906. This established a long-standing tradition followed by all but two presidents (Richard Nixon and Donald Trump), resulting in the current list of 129 national monuments at the time of this writing.

Many previously designated monuments have transitioned to national parks (such as White Sands National Park in 2019) or another status, while others have been turned over to state control or simply disbanded.

The true value of monuments can be experienced firsthand by visiting any of those listed in this guide. Perhaps the most striking and familiar example is the Grand Canyon. First designated as a national monument in 1908, it is now a world-famous national park, attracting nearly six million visitors annually from around the world, according to National Park Service data from 2019. Nearly half of our current national parks began life as a national monument.

The 129 current monuments are managed by eight different agencies within five separate departments of the federal government. The vast majority fall under the management of the Department of the Interior, and of those, the National Park Service oversees most of them. You can purchase an Interagency Annual Pass to these lands for only $80 from nps.gov. It will allow you access to areas managed by the US Forest Service, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

This guide, while not all-encompassing, is intended to showcase those national monuments that have a more natural, outdoor recreation-focused appeal. For that reason, some monuments are excluded. The omissions include those that are more of a historical site or those that represent a notable time period in our nations history. Other monuments in the West are not covered here because they are inaccessible to most people or are not located in the contiguous United States.

Leave No Trace

Leave the areas you visit better than you found them. For more information on Leave No Trace ethics, visit lnt.org.

Camp on durable surfaces and never cut switchbacks: If you decide to go off-trail, groups should spread out instead of walking single file to avoid trampling resources and creating new trails.

Respect wildlife: If an animal appears agitated by your presence, youre probably too close.

Dispose of waste in a responsible manner: Pack it in, pack it out.

Fires: Be careful with your campfires, research and obey burn warnings and fire bans, and consider foregoing a fire altogether in the backcountry when camping. Drown your fires completely before leaving them.

The Ten Essentials

Navigation (map and compass): Carry an up-to-date map and an accurate compass. Know how to use them. GPS units and modern smartphone apps are a nice backup.

Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen): The sun can sap your energy and motivation surprisingly quickly. Lather up and protect yourself every day.

Bend in the Green River near Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument.

Sunset on the rock formations at Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Insulation (extra clothing): Carry enough insulation to keep you warm in any condition you might reasonably experience, no matter how close to the car you plan on being. Carry reliable rain gear and protect your supplies from water. Avoid cotton clothing, which absorbs water and resists drying.