The United States has 100 protected areas known as national monuments. The President of the United States can establish a national monument by executive order, and the United States Congress can by legislation. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorized the president to proclaim "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest" as national monuments. Concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Indian ruins and artifacts—collectively termed antiquities—on western federal lands prompted the legislation. Its purpose was to allow the president to quickly preserve public land without waiting for legislation to pass through an unconcerned Congress. The ultimate goal was to protect all historic and prehistoric sites on U.S. federal lands.

President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national monument, Devils Tower in Wyoming, on September 24, 1906. He established eighteen national monuments, although only nine still retain that designation. Fifteen presidents have created national monuments since the program began; only Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush did not. Bill Clinton created the most monuments, nineteen, and expanded three others. Jimmy Carter protected vast parts of Alaska, proclaiming fifteen national monuments, some of which later were promoted to national park. The most recent national monument designated by Presidential Proclamation was by George W. Bush on January 6, 2009. Three marine locations in the central Pacific Ocean were protected, covering a total of . The most recent monument, Prehistoric Trackways, was established by an Act of Congress, signed into law on March 30, 2009. Fort Moultrie National Monument is not included here because it is considered part of Fort Sumter National Monument.

Twenty-seven states have national monuments, as do the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Minor Outlying Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Arizona, with eighteen, has the largest number of national monuments, followed by New Mexico with twelve and California with ten. Fifty-five national monuments protect places of natural significance, including ten geological sites, seven marine sites, and five volcanic sites. Twenty-two national monuments are associated with Native Americans. Twenty-three are other historical sites, including ten forts.

Many national monuments are no longer designated as such. Some were upgraded to national parks by Congress, while others were transferred to state control.

List of national monuments

Breakdown by federal agency and department

Six federal agencies in four departments manage the 100 current U.S. national monuments. Of these, 95 monuments are managed by a single agency, while five are co-managed by two agencies.

Agency	Department	Co-Managed	Total Managed
National Park Service (NPS)	Interior	2 with BLM, 1 with FWS	75
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)	Interior	2 with NPS, 1 with USFS	16
United States Forest Service (USFS)	Agriculture	1 with BLM	6
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)	Interior	1 with NOAA, 1 with NPS	6
Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH)	Veterans Affairs		1
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)	Commerce	1 with FWS	1
(duplications)			(5)
Total			100

National monuments

National Monument Name	Photo	Agency	Location	Date Formed	Description
Admiralty Island		USFS	Alaska		Occupying most of Admiralty Island, the 7th largest in the United States, this monument is part of Tongass National Forest in the Alaska Panhandle. It has a large population of grizzly, black, and brown bears, as well as whales, mountain goats, and deer. Most of the monument has been declared the Kootznoowoo Wilderness, restricting future development. The Greens Creek mine lies within the monument.
African Burial Ground		NPS	New York		Re-discovered in 1991 during excavations for a new federal building, this former burial ground that contains the remains of more than 400 free and enslaved Africans buried during the 17th and 18th centuries was designated a National Historic Landmark memorial in 1993.
Agate Fossil Beds		NPS	Nebraska		The valley of the Niobrara River is known for its large number of well-preserved Miocene mammal fossils which date from about 20 million years ago.
Agua Fria		BLM	Arizona		Located around the canyon of the Agua Fria River, it contains more than 450 distinct Native American structures, including large pueblos with more than 100 rooms.
Alibates Flint Quarries		NPS	Texas		Alibates was the quarry site for high-quality, rainbow-hued flint that was distributed throughout the Great Plains in pre-Columbian times. It is part of the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and includes the ruins of several Plains Village Indian dwellings.
Aniakchak		NPS	Alaska		Mount Aniakchak, which erupted 3,500 years ago, and the surrounding region make up one of the least visited NPS sites. Surprise Lake, within the volcano's wide, deep caldera, is the source of the Aniakchak River.
Aztec Ruins		NPS	New Mexico		The ruins contain Pueblo structures from the 11th to 13th centuries with more than 400 masonry rooms which were misidentified by early American settlers as Aztec. It lies within the World Heritage Site of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
Bandelier		NPS	New Mexico		A historic district, Bandelier contains Frijoles Canyon, which contains Ancestral Pueblo homes, kivas, rock paintings and petroglyphs.
Booker T. Washington		NPS	Virginia		The Booker T. Washington National Monument preserves portions of the tobacco farm on which educator and civil rights leader Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856. The site contains replicas of the house Washington was born in, a smokehouse, a blacksmith shed, a tobacco barn, and a horse barn.
Buck Island Reef		NPS	Virgin Islands		Most of this monument is underwater, containing a large elkhorn coral barrier reef that provides cover for a great variety of reef fish, sea turtles and Least Terns. It is based around Buck Island, an uninhabited island.
Cabrillo		NPS	California		This monument commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, which was the first European expedition on what later became the west coast of the U.S. The monument includes a statue of Cabrillo and 16th-century coastal artillery batteries built to protect the harbor of San Diego from enemy warships.
California Coastal		BLM	California		This monument ensures the protection of all islets, reefs and rock outcroppings from the coast of California to a distance of , along the entire long California coastline.
Canyon de Chelly		NPS	Arizona		Located within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation, it preserves the valleys and rims of the canyons of de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument, all of which are Navajo Tribal Trust Lands.
Canyons of the Ancients		BLM	Colorado		Surrounding Hovenweep National Monument, it preserves and protects more than 6,000 archeological sites, the largest concentration in the U.S.
Cape Krusenstern		NPS	Alaska		Co-located with the NHLD Cape Krusenstern Archeological District, this coastal plain contains large lagoons and rolling hills of limestone. The bluffs record thousands of years of change in the shorelines of the Chukchi Sea, as well as evidence of some 9,000 years of human habitation.
Capulin Volcano		NPS	New Mexico		Capulin is an extinct cinder cone volcano that is approximately 59,000 years old and part of the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field. The crater is deep and its rim is more than in diameter.
Carrizo Plain		BLM	California		Carrizo Plain is the largest single native grassland remaining in California. It contains part of the San Andreas Fault and is surrounded by the Temblor Range and the Caliente Range. At the center of the plain is Soda Lake, which is near Painted Rock.
Casa Grande Ruins		NPS	Arizona		This monument preserves a group of structures surrounded by a compound wall in the Gila Valley that were built in the early 13th century. They were inhabited by the Hohokam people until they were abandoned in the mid-15th century.
Cascade–Siskiyou		BLM	Oregon		One of the most diverse ecosystems found in the Cascade Range, it has more than 100 dwelling and root-gathering sites belonging to the Modoc, Klamath, and Shasta tribes.
Castillo de San Marcos		NPS	Florida		This Spanish fort near St. Augustine, called Fort Marion when first protected, served for 205 years under four different flags. Built in 1672, it was involved in sieges with the British while under Spanish command, the American Revolution under Britain, the Civil War under the Confederacy, and the Seminole Wars and the Spanish-American War under the United States.
Castle Clinton		NPS	New York		A circular sandstone fort built in 1811 at the southern tip of Manhattan to protect New York City from the British, Castle Clinton is now located in Battery Park. It later became a beer garden, a theater, the first immigration station (predating Ellis Island), and a public aquarium.
Cedar Breaks		NPS	Utah		A natural amphitheater canyon similar to formations at Bryce Canyon National Park, it stretches over and is more than deep.
Chiricahua		NPS	Arizona		These Rhyolite tuffs are the eroded remains of an immense volcanic eruption that shook the region some 27 million years ago. It was called the Land of the Standing-Up Rocks by the Apache.
Colorado		NPS	Colorado		Monument Canyon runs the width of the park and includes rock formations formed by erosion. The monument includes of semi-desert land high on the Colorado Plateau and has a wide range of wildlife including pinyon pines, juniper trees, ravens, jays, Desert Bighorn Sheep, and coyotes as well as a range of recreational activities.
Craters of the Moon		NPS, BLM	Idaho		One of the best preserved flood basalt areas in the continental U.S. contains three lava fields along the Great Rift of Idaho as well as the world's deepest open rift cracks and other volcanic features.
Devils Postpile		NPS	California		Once part of Yosemite National Park, this monument is a dark cliff of columnar basalt created by a lava flow at least 100,000 years ago. It also has the -high Rainbow Falls.
Devils Tower		NPS	Wyoming		The tower is a monolithic igneous intrusion of volcanic neck rising dramatically above the surrounding terrain. Proclaimed by Theodore Roosevelt, this was the first national monument.
Dinosaur		NPS	Colorado, Utah		This sandstone and conglomerate bed, known as the Morrison Formation, was formed in the Jurassic Period and contains fossils of dinosaurs including Allosaurus and various long-neck and long-tail sauropods.
Effigy Mounds		NPS	Iowa		This monument preserves three prehistoric sites with 206 prehistoric mounds, notable for 31 unusual mounds in the shape of mammals, birds, or reptiles.
El Malpais		NPS	New Mexico		An extremely rough, rugged lava flow covers much of the park, filling a large basin rimmed by higher sandstone that forms large, wind-carved bluffs. It has lava tube caves that stretch over and the Cebolla Wilderness, a forested rimrock area that features prehistoric rock art and the Zuni-Acoma Trail, an ancient Pueblo trade route.
El Morro		NPS	New Mexico		On the site of an ancient east-west trail is a great sandstone promontory with a pool of water at its base. There are inscriptions from the 17th century as well as older petroglyphs made by the Anasazi.
Florissant Fossil Beds		NPS	Colorado		Huge petrified redwoods and incredibly detailed fossils of ancient insects and plants reveal a very different landscape in Colorado of almost 35 million years ago in the Eocene age.
Fort Frederica		NPS	Georgia		Built by James Oglethorpe between 1736 and 1748, these remnants of a fort and town protected the southern boundary of the British colony of Georgia from Spanish raids. It was the site of the Battle of Bloody Marsh.
Fort Matanzas		NPS	Florida		This 1740 Spanish fort guarded Matanzas Inlet, the southern mouth of the Matanzas River, which allowed access to St. Augustine. The monument is managed in conjunction with Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and also protects of salt marsh and barrier islands.
Fort McHenry		NPS	Maryland		The only place designated a national monument and historic shrine, Fort McHenry is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812 when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy. It inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Fort Pulaski		NPS	Georgia		In 1862 during the American Civil War, the Union Army successfully tested a rifled cannon against the defending Confederates, rendering brick fortifications obsolete. Fort Pulaski was also used as a prisoner-of-war camp during the war. The national monument includes most of Cockspur Island (containing the fort) and all of adjacent McQueens Island.
Fort Stanwix		NPS	New York		Fort Stanwix guarded a portage known as the Oneida Carrying Place during the French and Indian War. In 1768, the Treaty of Fort Stanwix was negotiated between the British and the Iroquois, which led to further hostilities. It fell into ruin and was rebuilt in the late 1970s.
Fort Sumter		NPS	South Carolina		Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. It is best known as the site where the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter. Nearby Fort Moultrie is a unit of this monument; it was made of palmetto logs and inspired the flag and nickname (Palmetto State) of South Carolina.
Fort Union		NPS	New Mexico		A frontier military post and supply depot in the late 19th century, it sat at the intersection of the Mountain and Cimarron Branches of the old Santa Fe Trail.
Fossil Butte		NPS	Wyoming		Fossil Butte preserves the 50-million-year-old Green River lake beds, the best paleontological record of tertiary aquatic communities in North America. Fossils including fish, alligators, bats, turtles, dog-sized horses, insects, and many other species of plants and animals suggest that the region was a low, subtropical, freshwater basin when the sediments accumulated, over about a 2-million-year period.
George Washington Birthplace		NPS	Virginia		Representative of 18th-century Virginia tobacco farms, this site is the birthplace and boyhood environment of George Washington. The entrance includes a Memorial Shaft obelisk of Vermont marble that is a one-tenth scale replica of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Also within the monument are the historic birthplace home area, a kitchen house, and the Washington family burial ground.
George Washington Carver		NPS	Missouri		The site preserves Moses Carver's farm, which was the boyhood home of George Washington Carver, a scientist and educator who developed many uses for peanuts. It was the first national monument dedicated to an African-American and first to a non-president.
Giant Sequoia		USFS	California		The monument includes 38 of the 39 Giant Sequoia groves in the Sequoia National Forest, amounting to about half of the sequoia groves currently in existence. This includes one of the ten largest Giant Sequoias, the Boole Tree. Its two parts are around Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.
Gila Cliff Dwellings		NPS	New Mexico		Located within the Gila Wilderness, the people of the Mogollon culture lived in these cliff dwellings above the canyon floor from the 1280s through the early 14th century. They lived in five caves with 46 rooms. Henry B. Ailman discovered them in 1878.
Governors Island		NPS	New York		From 1783 to 1966, Governors Island in New York Harbor was an Army post, and from 1966 to 1996 it was a Coast Guard installation. Located on Governors Island are Castle Williams and Fort Jay, which served as outposts to protect New York City from sea attack.
Grand Canyon-Parashant		BLM, NPS	Arizona		Located on the northern rim of the Grand Canyon, this diverse landscape includes an array of scientific and historic resources. About 20,000 of the monument's are also within Lake Mead National Recreation Area. There are no paved roads or visitor services.
Grand Portage		NPS	Minnesota		The Grand Portage itself is an footpath which bypasses a set of waterfalls on the Pigeon River near Lake Superior. The region was a vital trade route and center of fur trade activity as well as an Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritage site.
Grand Staircase-Escalante		BLM	Utah		Preserving , the monument consists of the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante. It is notable for its paleontological finds and geology, and it was the first monument to be maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.
Hagerman Fossil Beds		NPS	Idaho		This monument contains the largest concentration of Hagerman Horse fossils in North America. It protects the world's richest known fossil deposits from the late Pliocene epoch, 3.5 million years ago. These plants and animals represent the last glimpse of time that existed before the Ice Age, and the earliest appearances of modern flora and fauna.
Hanford Reach		FWS	Washington		Created from what used to be the security buffer surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, this area has been untouched by development or agriculture since 1943. The area is part of the Columbia River Plateau, formed by basalt lava flows and water erosion, and is named after the Hanford Reach, the last free flowing section of the Columbia River.
Hohokam Pima		NPS	Arizona		Hohokam Pima is part of the Gila River Indian Community and not open to the public. The monument preserves the Snaketown-Settlement, archeological remains of the Hohokam culture, which lived in the area until 1500.
Homestead		NPS	Nebraska		Daniel Freeman's homestead was recognized by the United States Congress as the first homestead in the nation obtained through the Homestead Act of 1862. The monument contains a visitor center, a tract of tallgrass prairie, and the Freeman School.
Hovenweep		NPS	Colorado, Utah		Hovenweep contains six clusters of Native American ruins. Holly Canyon, Hackberry Canyon, Cutthroat Castle and Goodman Point are in Colorado and Square Tower and Cajon are in Utah. Ancient Pueblo Peoples lived in the Hovenweep area from 1150 to 1350.
Ironwood Forest		BLM	Arizona		Located within the Sonoran Desert, significant concentrations of Ironwood (Olneya tesota) trees and two endangered animal and plant species are found within the monument. More than 200 Hohokam and Paleoindian archeological sites have been identified from between 600 and 1450 AD
Jewel Cave		NPS	South Dakota		Jewel Cave is the second longest cave in the world, with about of mapped passageways. In the Black Hills, it was discovered in 1900 and is so named because of its calcite crystals.
John Day Fossil Beds		NPS	Oregon		Located within the John Day River Basin, the Fossil Beds have a well-preserved, complete record of fossil plants and animals from more than 40 of the 65 million years of the Cenozoic Era. The monument is divided into three units: Painted Hills, named for its delicately colored stratifications; Sheep Rock; and Clarno. Blue Basin is a volcanic ash bowl transformed into claystone by eons of erosion, colored pastel blue by minerals.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks		BLM	New Mexico		Kasha-Katuwe is known for its geology of layers of volcanic rock and ash deposited by a volcanic explosion. Over time, weathering and erosion of these layers has created canyons and tent rocks. The tent rocks themselves are cones of soft pumice and tuff beneath harder caprocks.
Lava Beds		NPS	California		This is the site of the largest concentration of lava tube caves in North America. It also includes Petroglyph Point, one of the largest panels of Native American rock art. The monument lies on the northeast flank of the Medicine Lake Volcano, the largest volcano in the Cascade Range.
Little Bighorn Battlefield		NPS	Montana		This monument includes the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn between George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry and a combined Lakota-Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho force, Custer National Cemetery, and the Reno-Benteen Battlefield.
Marianas Trench Marine		FWS	Northern Mariana Islands		Covering over , this marine monument includes the waters and submerged lands of the three northernmost islands of the Mariana Archipelago, the submerged lands of 22 designated volcanic sites, and the Mariana Trench.
Misty Fjords		USFS	Alaska		Located within the Tongass National Forest and called The Yosemite of the North for its similar geology, it also contains the Quartz Hill molybdenum deposit, possibly the largest such mineral deposit in the world. Throughout the monument is light-colored granite, about 50 to 70 million years old (Eocene Epoch to Cretaceous Period), that has been sculpted by glaciers that gouged deep U-shaped troughs.
Montezuma Castle		NPS	Arizona		Montezuma Castle features well-preserved cliff dwellings built and used by the Pre-Columbian Sinagua people around 1400 AD. Several Hopi clans trace their roots to the area, which is not connected to Montezuma. The monument also includes the Montezuma Well, which has been used for irrigation since the 8th century.
Mount St. Helens		USFS	Washington		Following the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, this area was set aside for research, recreation, and education. The environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.
Muir Woods		NPS	California		Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, it protects one of the last old growth Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) groves in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as one of the most easily accessed.
Natural Bridges		NPS	Utah		Located at the junction of White Canyon and Armstrong Canyon, it is part of the Colorado River drainage. It features the second- and third-largest natural bridge in the world, carved from the white Triassic sandstone of the Cedar Mesa Formation that gives White Canyon its name.
Navajo		NPS	Arizona		This monument preserves three of the most intact cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people, the Anasazi. The monument is high on the Shonto plateau, overlooking the Tsegi Canyon system in the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona.
Newberry		USFS	Oregon		Located within Deschutes National Forest, the monument protects the area around the Newberry Volcano and its geologic features. It contains over of lakes, lava flows, and other geologic features.
Ocmulgee		NPS	Georgia		Ocmulgee preserves traces of more than 10 millennia of native Southeastern culture, including Mississippian mound. From Ice Age hunters to the Creek Indians of historic times, there is evidence of at least 10,000 years of human habitation. Between 900 and 1150, an elite society supported by skillful farmers lived on this site near the Ocmulgee River.
Oregon Caves		NPS	Oregon		The monument is known for its marble caves, as well as for the Pleistocene jaguar and grizzly bear fossils found in the deeper caves. There are four primary buildings: The Oregon Caves Chateau, The Ranger Residence, The Chalet, and the old Dormitory.
Organ Pipe Cactus		NPS	Arizona		This monument is the only place in the United States where the Organ Pipe Cactus grows wild. There are many other types of cacti and desert flora native to the Sonoran Desert. The Bates Well Ranch and Dos Lomitas Ranch are also within the monument.
Pacific Remote Islands Marine		FWS	United States Minor Outlying Islands south-southwest of Hawaii		The marine monument consists of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island, which are in the Pacific southwest of Hawaii.
Papahānaumokuākea Marine		NOAA, FWS	Hawaii		Encompassing of ocean waters and 10 islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, it is the largest Marine Protected Area in the world. It is larger than 46 states as well as 7 times larger than all other national marine sanctuaries combined.
Petroglyph		NPS	New Mexico		This monument protects a variety of cultural and natural resources, including five volcanic cones, hundreds of archeological sites and an estimated 25,000 images carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers. It lies on West Mesa, a volcanic basalt escarpment.
Pinnacles		NPS	California		Known for the namesake eroded leftovers of half of an extinct volcano, it is popular for its rock climbing.
Pipe Spring		NPS	Arizona		Rich with American Indian, early explorer and Mormon pioneer history, this site shows Ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab Paiute Indian and pioneer life in the Old West, including the cabin where explorer John Wesley Powell's survey crew stayed in 1871. The water of Pipe Spring, discovered in 1858, made it possible for plants, animals, and people to live in this dry desert region.
Pipestone		NPS	Minnesota		This monument preserves traditional catlinite quarries used to make ceremonial peace pipes, vitally important to traditional Plains Indian culture. The quarries are sacred to the Sioux and Sioux and were neutral territory where all tribes could quarry the stone.
Pompeys Pillar		BLM	Montana		Pompeys Pillar is a sandstone pillar from the late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation next to the Yellowstone River. It has an abundance of Native American petroglyphs, as well as the signature of William Clark, who named the formation after Sacagawea's infant son.
Poverty Point		NPS	Louisiana		Poverty Point is a prehistoric archeological site that dates from between 1650 and 700 BC and consisting of six earthen rings and seven mounds. The diameter of the outside ridge is , and the largest mound rises .
Prehistoric Trackways		BLM	New Mexico		Prehistoric Trackways contains fossilized footprints of numerous Paleozoic amphibians, reptiles, and insects, as well as fossilized plants and petrified wood dating back approximately 280 million years. (Public Law No. 111-11)
President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home		AFRH	District of Columbia		President Abraham Lincoln and his family resided seasonally on the grounds of the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home, which was founded in 1851 for homeless and disabled war veterans. The home is co-managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Rainbow Bridge		NPS	Utah		One of the largest in the world, Rainbow Bridge is the most famous example of a natural bridge as well as the most accessible. It stands tall and spans wide; the top of the bridge is thick and wide. It was made from sandstone formed during the Triassic and the Jurassic periods.
Rose Atoll Marine		FWS	American Samoa		This marine monument consists of the two small islands of Rose Atoll, a lagoon, and a coral reef east of American Samoa. It is the southernmost point in the U.S..
Russell Cave		NPS	Alabama		Donated by the National Geographic Society, the cave's exceptionally large main entrance was used as a shelter by prehistoric Indians from the earliest known human settlement in the southeastern United States. The rock from which Russell Cave was carved was formed over 300 million years ago at the bottom of an inland sea that covers the region.
Salinas Pueblo Missions		NPS	New Mexico		Formerly known as Gran Quivira National Monument, it is where Native American trade communities of Tiwa- and Tompiro-speaking Puebloans lived when Spanish Franciscan missionaries made contact in the 17th century. What remains are the ruins of four mission churches, at Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira, and the partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas.
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains		BLM, USFS	California		This monument preserves large portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto ranges, the northernmost of the Peninsular Ranges. Parts are within San Bernardino National Forest and the California Desert Conservation Area.
Scotts Bluff		NPS	Nebraska		Scotts Bluff is an important 19th century geologic formation and landmark on the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail. It contains multiple bluffs on the south side of the North Platte River, but it is named after a prominent bluff called Scotts Bluff which rises more than above the plains at its highest point. The monument is composed of five rock formations named Crown Rock, Dome Rock, Eagle Rock, Saddle Rock, and Sentinel Rock.
Sonoran Desert		BLM	Arizona		This monument protects a small portion of the Sonoran Desert. It is home to several federally-listed endangered species and also has three wilderness areas, many significant archeological and historic sites, and remnants of several important historic trails.
Statue of Liberty		NPS	New York, New Jersey		This iconic statue, built in 1886 on Liberty Island and tall, commemorates the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and is a gesture of friendship from France to the U.S. Liberty Enlighening the World is a symbol of welcoming immigrants to the U.S. and is listed as a World Heritage Site. Ellis Island, where 12 million immigrants entering the U.S. passed through, is included in the monument.
Sunset Crater Volcano		NPS	Arizona		Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes in the San Francisco volcanic field that is related to the nearby San Francisco Peaks. Final volcanic activity in the 13th century painted the upper portion of the cone with bright red and orange rocks, giving the volcano its name.
Timpanogos Cave		NPS	Utah		The Timpanogos cave system is in the Wasatch Range in the American Fork Canyon. Three main chambers are accessible: Hansen Cave, Middle Cave, and Timpanogos Cave. Many colorful cave features or speleothems can be seen, including helictites, cave bacon, cave columns, flowstone, cave popcorn, and cave drapery.
Tonto		NPS	Arizona		Lying on the northeastern edge of the Sonoran Desert along the Salt River, Tonto preserves two cliff dwellings that were occupied by the Salado culture during the 13th to 15th centuries. The monument is surrounded by Tonto National Forest.
Tuzigoot		NPS	Arizona		Tuzigoot preserves a two- to three-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge in the Verde Valley. It was built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400.
Upper Missouri River Breaks		BLM	Montana		A series of badland areas characterized by rock outcroppings, steep bluffs and grassy plains along the Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River in central Montana, The Breaks is home to at least 60 mammal species and hundreds of bird species. Charles Marion Russell often painted here, and Lewis and Clark traveled on this pathway.
Vermilion Cliffs		BLM	Arizona		Steep eroded escarpments consisting primarily of sandstone, siltstone, limestone and shale rise as much as above their base. These sedimentary rocks have been deeply eroded for millions of years, exposing hundreds of layers of richly colored rock strata. The monument protects Paria Plateau, Vermilion Cliffs, Coyote Buttes and Paria Canyon.
Virgin Islands Coral Reef		NPS	Virgin Islands		These coral reefs, sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests are in a belt that surrounds St John, VI.
Walnut Canyon		NPS	Arizona		Walnut Canyon protects 25 cliff dwelling rooms constructed by the Sinagua people. It lies on the Colorado Plateau and cuts through the Permian Kaibab Limestone, which exposes the Toroweap Formation and Coconino Sandstone.
White Sands		NPS	New Mexico		Located in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin valley area, White Sands consists of the southern part of a field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. It is completely within the White Sands Missile Range and is subject to closure when tests are conducted.
World War II Valor in the Pacific		NPS, FWS	Hawaii, Alaska, California		Valor in the Pacific encompasses nine sites in three states associated with World War II: The Attack on Pearl Harbor, including the USS Arizona, Utah, and Oklahoma memorials in Hawaii; the Aleutian Islands Campaign on Attu Island, Kiska Island, and Atka Island in Alaska; and the Japanese American internment at Tule Lake War Relocation Center in California.
Wupatki		NPS	Arizona		Many settlement sites built by the Sinagua, Cohonina, and Kayenta Anasazi are scattered throughout the monument. About 2000 Ancient Pueblo People moved here to farm after an 11th century eruption of Sunset Crater.
Yucca House		NPS	Colorado		Designated a research national monument, it is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan archeological site. The site is one of many Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo) village sites located in the Montezuma Valley occupied between AD 900 and 1300.

See also

• List of areas in the United States National Park System
• List of National Historic Landmarks of the United States
• National Memorial

References

1. , and . U.S. Code collection. Cornell University Law School. Retrieved on 11 February 2009.
2. As of 2009, Poverty Point is a public park owned and operated by the state of Louisiana. See Poverty Point#Recent history

External links

• Map and chronological list of all National Monuments
• Alphabetical list of all National Parks Service areas
• National Monuments and the Forest Service
• U.S. Bureau of Land Management National Monuments list
• National Monuments from HowStuffWorks
• List of U.S. National Monuments