What’s the Difference? National Park versus National Monument

If you are looking at really cool spots in the U.S. to visit, National Parks and National Monuments have likely shown up on your radar.

The main difference is in the reason for preservation.

National Parks, as you are likely familiar with, protect land for scenic and recreational value (think Yosemite, established as a National Park in 1890 for its natural wonders such as Half Dome and the giant sequoia trees). National Monuments on the other hand may protect land of objects for various reasons—wilderness areas (such as Muir Woods and Craters of the Moon), fossil sites (such as Hagerman Horse National Monument), military forts, ruins (such as Gila Cliff Dwellings) and buildings (such as Ford’s Theater).

The National parks Services oversees all National Parks and some National Monuments, but other monuments may be managed and protected by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the DoD and the BLM. The National Park Service oversees the most National Monuments with 85 units managed (82 managed by itself, 3 co-managed)

A National Park is designated by Congress and must be voted on while a National Monument is established through the executive order (through the president)

Hagerman Fossil Bed National Monument and State Park Visitor Center

If you plan on visiting, make sure to consider getting a National Parks pass as it will save you on entrance fees for each National Park and National Monument

Yosemite National Park

National Parks (63):

Acadia, American Samoa, Arches, Badlands, Big Bend, Biscayne, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Carlsbad Caverns, Channel Islands, Congaree, Crater Lake, Cuyahoga Valley, Death Valley, Denali, Dry Tortugas, Everglades, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier, Glacier Bay, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Basin, Great Sand Dunes, Great Smoky Mountains, Guadalupe Mountains, Haleakala, Volcanoes, Hot Springs, Indiana Dunes, Isle Royale, Joshua Tree, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kings Canyon, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Lassen, Mammoth Cave, Mesa Verde, Mount Rainer, New River Gorge, North Cascades, Olympic, Petrified Forest, Pinnacles, Redwood, Rocky Mountain, Saguaro, Sequoia, Shenandoah, Theodore Roosevelt, Virgin Islands, Voyageurs, White Sands, Wind Cave, Wrangell-St. Elias, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion

National Monuments (129):
Admiralty Island, African Burial Ground, Agate Fossil Beds, Agua Fria, Aleutian Islands World War II, Alibates Flint Quarries, Aniakchak, Aztec Ruins, Bandelier, Basin and Range, Bears Ears, Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality, Berryessa Snow Mountain, Birmingham Civil Rights, Booker T. Washington, browns Canyon, Buck Island Reef, Cabrillo, California Coastal, Camp Nelson Heritage, Canyon de Chelly, Canyons of the Ancients, Cape Krusenstern, Capulin Volcano, Carrizo Plain, Casa Grande Ruins, Cascade-Siskiyou, Castillo de San Marcos, Castle Clinton, Castle Mountains, Cedar Breaks, Cesar E. Chavez, Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers, Chimney Rock, Chiricahua, Colorado NM, Craters of the Moon, Devils Postpile, Devils Tower, Dinosaur National Monument, Effigy Mounds, El Malpais, El Morrow, Florissant Fossil Beds, Fort Matanzas, Fort McHenry, Fort Monroe, For Ord, Fort Pulaski, Fort Stanwix, Fort Union, Fossil Butte, Freedom Riders, George Washington Birthplace, George Washington Carver, Giant Sequoia, Gila Cliff Dwellings, Gold Butte, Governors Island, Grand Canyon-Parashant, Grad Portage, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Hagerman Fossil Beds, Hanford Reach, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad, Hohokam Pima, Hovenweep, Ironwood Forest, Jewel Cave, John Day Fossil Beds, Jurassic, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks, Katahdin Woods and Waters, Lava Beds, Little Bighord Battlefield, Marianas Trench Marine, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home, Military Working Dog Teams, Mill Springs Battlefield, Misty Fjords, Mojave Trails, Montezuma Castle, Mount St. Helens, Muir Woods, Natural Bridges, Navajo NM, Newberry Volcanic NM, Northeast Cantones and Seamounts Marine, Oregon Caves, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Organ Pipe Cactus, pacific Remote Islands, Papahanaumokuakea, Petroglyph, Pipe Spring, Pipestone, Pompeys Pillar, Poverty Point, Prehistoric Trackways, President Lincoln and Soldier’s Home, Pullman, Rainbow Bridge, Rio Grande del Norte, Rose Atoll Marine, Russell Cave, Saint Francis Dam Disaster, Salinas Pueblo Missions, san Gabriel, San Juan Islands, Sand to Snow, Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains, Scotts Bluff, Sonoran Desert, Statue of Liberty, Stonewall, Sunset Crater, Timpanogos Cave, Tonto, Tule Lake, Tule Springs Fossil Beds, Tuzigoot, Upper Missour River Breaks, Vermilion Cliffs, Virgin Islands Coral Reef, Waco Mammoth, Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, Yucca House