National Parks, Monuments, & Memorials

Much of the West has been carefully preserved in America’s national parks and monuments, enabling visitors to experience the same pristine natural beauty that greeted the first pioneers.

Go camping in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Take an unforgettable journey across the continental divide in Montana’s spectacular Glacier National Park. Marvel at the thermal wonders and abundant wildlife in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park – America’s first national park. Spend a day hiking through Craters of the Moon National Reserve in Idaho. Or visit South Dakota’s legendary Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Wherever your Western holiday takes you, there’s sure to be a national park, memorial or monument just waiting to be explored.

Yellowstone National Park Mount Rushmore National Memorial Glacier National Park Theodore Roosevelt National Park Grand Teton National Park Badlands National Park Devils Tower National Monument Fort Laramie National Historic Site Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Fossil Butte National Monument Jewel Cave National Monument Pompeys Pillar National Monument Wind Cave National Park Big Hole National Battlefield City of Rocks National Reserve Craters of the Moon National Monument

Yellowstone National Park

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America’s first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world’s most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Since its designation as a national park in 1872, Yellowstone National Park has been a cherished part of the region’s rich tapestry. It’s easy to see why. The very definition of “unspoiled,” Yellowstone has served for generations as a sort of living museum, its natural splendors giving visitors an up-close-and-personal glimpse of what the continent was like in the days before recorded history. With 2.2 Million acres of sprawling wilderness to explore, Yellowstone stands as one of North America’s greatest assets — and it’s open year-round for visitors to enjoy. The park’s vast network of trails will take hikers to hundreds of secluded places where vehicles are prohibited. You’re bound to see wildlife wherever you go. Yellowstone’s legendary wildlife includes grizzly and black bears, gray wolves, buffalo, elk, pronghorn antelope, trumpeter swans, eagles and much more. The iconic spots — Old Faithful, Lower Falls, Yellowstone Lake — will be familiar from paintings and photographs, but seeing them in person is a humbling, enthralling experience. They’re not just as good as you’ve heard — they’re better.

Winter access:

The road from Gardiner, Montana at the North Entrance to Cooke City, Montana is open year-round to wheeled vehicles. Most roads into the park are closed in November and open again in late March or April, as conditions allow. Visitors can travel through the park in snow coaches or on snowmobiles with an authorized guide. Visitors may cross country ski or snowshoe in the park on miles of groomed trails, on any unplowed roads and in the backcountry. A backcountry use permit is required for all overnight trips. Contact a park ranger at a visitor center or ranger station before beginning a trip. Warming huts are available throughout the park. As the authorized concessioner in Yellowstone National Park, Xanterra Parks & Resorts will supply much of your food, lodging and entertainment options. Visit their website for more information.

Many authorized concessionaires located in West Yellowstone, Montana, offer summer tours and winter excursions by snow coach or snowmobile into Yellowstone.

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Mount Rushmore National Memorial

The majestic 60-foot (18 m) faces of four U.S. presidents gaze out over South Dakota’s Black Hills. Recognised worldwide, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, stands as a symbol of American democracy. This national treasure represents critical times in American history.

From the Grandview Terrace, visitors get spectacular views of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. For a closer view, visitors can walk the half-mile (.8 km) Presidential Trail, which loops along the base of the mountain. The impressive Lincoln Borglum Museum contains interactive interpretive exhibits. Visitors discover why the four presidents were selected.

They see how the mountain was carved, and they learn about sculptor Gutzon Borglum and the workers who brought Mount Rushmore to life. An evening lighting ceremony enthralls visitors.

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Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park, together with the Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, form the world’s first International Peace Park. But in this rugged section of the Northern Rockies, exhilaration is the universal language. Mountain goats cling to craggy, glacier carved peaks. And drivers watch the scenery unfold beyond their knuckles as they drive along a road that defies words. The park was designated America’s 10th national park on May 11, 1910.

If there’s one defining feature of this place it’s the engineering wonder known as the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This spectacular 50-mile highway clings to the edge of the world as cars—and bikes—cross over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. Along the way, don’t be surprised if resident wildlife shares the road with you. After all, the same remote solitude you’re seeking is what attracted them here in the first place.

Take a guided tour in one of the iconic red buses, take a scenic boat ride on one of the pristine lakes or a horseback ride on a hidden trail. Unwind in a comfortable wooden chair at the Lake McDonald Lodge. As you pass through the gates and leave the park, you may also be a changed person. Inquire ahead of time as to the current status of the Going-to-the-Sun-Road because snow can often last well into June.

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Former President Theodore Roosevelt was big on conservation, and 100 years ago his efforts to preserve some of the nation’s natural beauty for all time led to the formation of the National Park Service. See what Roosevelt made all the fuss about by visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park within the North Dakota Badlands consists of the North, South and Elkhorn Ranch units. Make time to visit all three of the park’s unique units as all three are unique.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park offers majestic Badlands scenery, abundant wildlife and all kinds of adventures of your own making. Roosevelt got his first glimpse or the wonders of this area as a young man. It didn’t take long for him to recognize the scenic beauty that surrounded him. He credits the time spent here as that which put him on the path to becoming president.

During his administration, President Theodore Roosevelt founded the United States Forest Service, signed the National Monuments Act and established the first federal game preserve. His conservation efforts led to the founding of the National Park Service, established to preserve and protect unspoiled places like his beloved North Dakota Badlands, now known as Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The South Unit is along I-94 in western North Dakota. Here the Badlands have been shaped by millions of years of wind, rain, erosion, fire and the meandering Little Missouri River. The area was described in 1864 by Gen. Alfred Sully as “hell with the fires out.” The main access to the South Unit is through the historic town of Medora. Within the South Unit, a 36-mile scenic loop provides easy access to the many species of wildlife inhabiting this wilderness area. For a panorama of the Badlands, stop at Painted Canyon Visitors Center along the interstate and Take a long look at the Badlands stretching to the horizon.

The North Unit, accessible from U.S. Highway 85 south of Watford City, has deeper gorges and is heavily forested in places. The beauty and allure of the North Unit draws visitors year-round for sweeping vistas of this designated wilderness. A 14-mile scenic byway through the park brings visitors up close to the bison herds wondering through the rugged terrain.

The byway beginning at U.S. Highway 85 proceeds west through the North Unit. As 82 percent of the North Unit is designated wilderness area, you are likely to see buffalo herds and prairie dog towns, and you may catch a glimpse of wild horses, mule deer, elk and maybe even a coyote on your trip through the park.

The Elkhorn Ranch Unit is the location of Roosevelt’s original ranch in the Badlands, located in between the two larger units. The remote location features interpretive plaques on the site to provide details of the ranch. Hiking trails abound in all three locations, including the renowned Maah Haah Hey Trail. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is open year-round.

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Grand Teton National Park

An ethereal mountain landscape where jagged peaks tower more than a mile above the Jackson Hole valley, Grand Teton National Park is located in northwestern Wyoming just south of Yellowstone National Park and just north of the town of Jackson. Visitors can reach the park through U.S. 191.

The park’s mountain range is very popular among climbers, hikers and photographers. The Tetons are a prime example of fault-block mountain formation. When the earth’s crust cracked along a fault millions of years ago, the Tetons rose into the sky. The exposed crystalline rocks give these mountains their dramatic appearance in any season. The Grand Teton rises to 13,770 feet above sea level and 12 other peaks reach above 12,000 feet elevation.

The floor of Jackson Hole tells the story of glacial outwash – sand and boulders carried out of the Teton Mountains and the Yellowstone Plateau by glaciers and deposited on the valley floor. Interesting saucer-like depressions, called potholes, dot the outwash plain. These are thought to be the result of huge chunks of buried glacial ice melting leaving the ground above suddenly without support.

Sixty species of mammals, over 300 species of birds and a half dozen game fish call the Jackson Hole area home. The American elk (wapiti) is the most common member of the deer family in the park. During the summer, the elk range high in the mountains in search of food. When winter comes, they descend to the floor of Jackson Hole. Many migrate to the National Elk Refuge just north of the town of Jackson.

Grand Teton National Park offers hiking, camping, climbing, boating, kayaking and numerous photography opportunities. A road winds through the park, but the best way to experience the park is to take one of its shorter trails.

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Badlands National Park

Millions of years of wind, water and erosion have created the chiselled spires, deep canyons and jagged buttes of Badlands National Park.

On-going rains, freezes and thaws have revealed millions of years of sediment that paint a colourful landscape on the prairies of southwestern South Dakota. When the Lakota first encountered the striking, moon-like landscape, they aptly called the area “Mako Sica” or “bad land.” Early French trappers also described the area as “bad land” after difficult travels over the rugged terrain.

Today, visitors to Badlands National Park can explore this natural wonder on foot, on horseback or by car as they travel the scenic loop or roam the many trails.

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Devils Tower National Monument

Devils Tower National Monument, which looms more than 1,200 feet above Wyoming’s eastern plains and the Belle Fourche River, is a one-of-a-kind natural wonder. The flat-topped volcanic formation is found amid some of the state’s most beautiful country, leaving you plenty to do after you behold its otherworldly presence.

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Fort Laramie National Historic Site

“The Crossroads of a Nation Moving West.” This unique historic place preserves and interprets one of America’s most important locations in the history of westward expansion and Indian resistance. Fort Laramie, the first garrisoned post in Wyoming, is located adjacent to the town of Fort Laramie near the confluence of the North Platte and Laramie rivers. It was the most important outpost on the major emigrant trails – the Oregon, Mormon and California. The fort was named in honor of Jacques La Ramie, a French fur trapper who worked in the tributaries of the North Platte in the early 1800s.

Fort Union Trading Post

Between 1828 and 1867, Fort Union was the most important fur trade post on the Upper Missouri River. Here, the Assiniboine and six other Northern Plains Indian Tribes exchanged buffalo robes and smaller furs for goods from around the world, including cloth, guns, blankets, and beads. A bastion of peaceful coexistence, the post annually traded over 25,000 buffalo robes and $100,000 in merchandise.

Knife River Indian Villages

Earthlodge people hunted bison and other game, but were in essence farmers living in villages along the Missouri and its tributaries. The site was a major Native American trade centre for hundreds of years prior to becoming an important market place for fur traders after 1750.

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Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument memorializes the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn which took place in 1876 between the United States Seventh Cavalry Regiment led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, and the Sioux and Cheyenne under the political and spiritual leadership of Sitting Bull. A Visitor Center and Museum feature exhibits on the history of the battle, Custer, weapons, archaeology, Plains Indian life, and a walking tour with interpretive markers.

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Fossil Butte National Monument

Wyoming’s newest national monument, Fossil Butte, was established on October 23, 1972. It is administered and protected by the National Park Service. The monument contains 8,198 acres and protects a portion of the largest deposit of freshwater fish fossils in the world.

The richest fossil fish deposits are found in multiple limestone layers, which lie some 100 feet below the top of the butte. The fossils represent several varieties of perch, as well as other freshwater genera and herring similar to those in modern oceans. A large, deep-bodied fish with many curious plates is common. Other fish such as paddlefish, garpike and stingray are also present.

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Jewel Cave National Monument

Jewel Cave National Monument is not only the second-longest cave in the world (currently 150 miles and counting!), it is also one of its most structurally complex. Located just over an hour southwest of Rapid City, Jewel Cave is a regional gem tucked in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Exploration is ongoing in this pristine underground labyrinth, now the world’s second longest cave. Visit chambers decorated with calcite, nailhead and dogtooth spar crystals and other speleothems such as draperies, flowstone and stalactites.

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Pompeys Pillar National Monument

Pompeys Pillar is a rock outcropping that rises 200 feet above the Yellowstone River 30 miles east of Billings. Pompeys Pillar is like a sandstone history book that reads like a who’s who of western frontier history.

Look on the rockface for the remains of animal drawings created by people who used the area for rendezvous, campsites, and hunting. In 1806 Captain William Clark carved his signature and the date in this rock. It is the only site on the trail where visible evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition may be viewed by the public. Learn about the journey of the Lewis & Clark Expedition at the Visitor Center located here.

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Wind Cave National Park

Caves are one of the Black Hills most mysterious and intriguing wonders. To do your exploring underground, visit Wind Cave National Park. Stretching more than 100 miles, Wind Cave is one of the longest caves in the world, and the first cave to be designated a national park.

With a maze-like, underground chamber system, Wind Cave features the world’s largest concentration of box work, a rare formation of thin calcite fins that resemble honeycombs. Above ground, Wind Cave National Park includes a wildlife sanctuary of 28,295 acres for antelope, bison, elk, prairie dogs and other creatures to roam. Here, the ponderosa pine forest meets the rolling prairie, one of the last remaining mixed grassland areas in existence.

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Big Hole National Battlefield

Big Hole National Battlefield is a memorial to the people who fought and died here on August 9 and 10, 1877. About 750 non-treaty Nez Perce were fleeing from US Army troops charged with enforcing the US government’s demands that all Nez Perce move to a reservation a fraction the size of their traditional homeland.

In doing so, the Army was enforcing a national policy of placing all American Indians on reservations to make way for States. Here, just before day break on August 9, 1877, military forces attacked the non-treaty Nez Perce as they rested after six weeks of conflicts and flight from military forces. Learn more about the Flight of the Nez Perce here.

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City of Rocks National Reserve

City of Rocks National Reserve is a 14,407-acre paradise for rock climbing and backcountry adventure defined by its towering granite sculptures. The pioneers passing through on the California Trail during the Gold Rush named it “The Silent City.”

The mix of rock formations, aspen groves and sage meadows create terrain and scenery ideal for a variety of activities, including climbing, hiking, camping, birding, horseback riding, mountain biking and photography.

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Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

Traverse a landscape unlike any other at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Reserve. Spend a day hiking amongst the expanse of lava flows and exposed caves. Navigate through the volcanic remains via a loop drive or by taking the network of trails by foot.

Come nightfall, cast your eyes to the sky for another astronomical wonder. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a designated International Dark Sky Park, where limited light pollution preserves the night sky for pristine stargazing.

Only a few hours from Yellowstone National Park, Craters of the Moon is a perfect fit to round out a trip of natural wonders.

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