When we set out to visit all of the national parks, we drove past countless national monuments on our quest to check all the parks off our bucket list. Thankfully, in the years since we completed our original goal, we’ve retraced a lot of our road trip routes, adding stops at many of the incredible monuments that we missed on our first go-around. While national parks often get most of the headlines and visitors, our country’s 129 national monuments are every bit as remarkable, each in their own way. Established by either Congress or the President, these sites protect our historic places, cultural ruins, and natural, wilderness areas. In this episode, we talk about five of our favorites.

The national monuments we discuss in this episode:

• Devils Tower (Wyoming) - why you may or may not want to visit in early August
• Cedar Breaks (Utah) – what ancient beings live on the rim of this monument
• Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Utah) – what’s so spooky about this place
• Natural Bridges National Monument (Utah) – it was the first what?
• Chiricahua National Monument (Arizona) – why you might want to stay in your RV or tent at night when visiting this amazing place

Links to more information:

• Photos from our trip
• Where to learn more about our books and travels
• Join the conversation on Facebook - we want to hear from you!
• Check out our Instagram account

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices