USA National Parks & Monuments

We visited many National Parks and Monuments whilst living in the USA between 2012 and 2023. Here's a list:

• Grand Canyon
• Petrified Forest
• Joshua Tree
• Yosemite
• Death Valley
• Black Canyon of the Gunnison
• Great Sand Dunes
• Mesa Verde
• Rocky Mountain 
• Colorado National Monument
• Dinosaur National Monument
• Yellowstone
• Arches
• Canyonlands (South Entrance)
• Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument 
• Bryce
• Zion
• Capital Reef
• Mt Rainier
• Mt Rushmore
• 4 Corners
• Hovenweep
• Canyon of the Ancients
• Cedar Breaks
• Chimney Rock
• Florissant Fossil Beds
• California coast: drive Highway One from Monterey Bay to Los Angeles

Great Sand Dunes NP with snow January 5, 2023

Notable things worth seeing that are not National Parks or Monuments:

• A ferry ride through the canyon at Lake Powell, AZ
• Hoover Dam, NV
• Sandia Peak, NM
• Drive up Pikes Peak, CO
• Drive or cycle up Mt Evans, CO
• JFK Presidential Library (Boston)
• 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan
• Washington DC, walk around all the monuments in and around the national plaza
• Library of Congress, DC
• Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, VA
• Legoland California

Colorado's lesser known attractions worth seeing:

• Paint mines
• Bishops Castle
• Redstone Coke Ovens
• St Mary's Glacier
• Drive across Grand Mesa
• Drive Silver Thread Byway
• Drive Colorado 145 from Cortez to Telluride
• Hike Devil's Head

10 Favorite Experiences

1. Cycling up Colorado National Monument at daybreak
2. Cycling up Mesa Verde at daybreak
3. Kayaking Gross Reservoir to the mouth to see them water coming into the reservoir from upstairs
4. Manitou Incline
5. Cycling up the south side of Guanella Pass
6. Hike Mt Chief, Evergreen, Colorado
7. Hike White Domes trail in Valley of Fire state park, Nevada
8. Hike Devil's Head Colorado
9. Beachcombing at Cambria, California
10. Drive highway 1 from Monterey Bay to Los Angeles (Must see San Simeon elephant seal colony)

The one never do again experience:

• Drive through Bakersfield, California. Busiest places on Earth, especially the freeways which are wall to wall semi trucks.