Special Report

50 Most Popular National Monuments

Steven Peters, Thomas C. Frohlich

Published: July 1, 2016 12:09 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 6:09 am

Fireworks, barbecues, and parades are perhaps the most common Fourth of July celebrations. While perhaps more solemn, visiting some of the numerous national monuments and memorials is another perfect way to observe Independence Day. Writer and historian Wallace Stegner called national parks, “Absolutely American, absolutely democratic.”

The National Park Service, established nearly 100 years ago, tracks the number of visits to each of its nationally recognized sites. Of the 368 national parks for which data is available, 24/7 Wall St. specifically reviewed annual visits to the 79 national monuments and memorials. The Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. is the most popular, with 6.8 million visits a year. Only 12 of the 79 locations receive more than 1 million visitors in a given year. Walnut Canyon in Arizona rounds out the list in 50th place, with 129,914 visitors annually.

The Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument, and other such structures are of course man-made. However, the federal government also designates natural features to commemorate historical events, individuals, or — as is true for national parks — to preserve and protect landmarks, historic, and prehistoric structures. Of the 50 most visited national monuments, close to half are features of the natural landscape.

Click here to see the 50 most popular monuments.

For example, the John Day Fossil Beds National Memorial in Oregon and the Dinosaur National Memorial in Colorado protect fossil records. Similarly, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Memorial was established to preserve the only known place in the world where the organ pipe cactus grows wild.

Congress has the power to proclaim monuments and memorials, as does the president. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorized presidents to create national monuments on federal lands. The act was intended to allow for swift protection of lands and objects of great interest. However, presidential establishments of monuments and memorials have not always been undisputed. Franklin Roosevelt’s Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming, Jimmy Carter’s designation of 56 million acres in Alaska, and Bill Clinton’s proclamations of 19 monuments were all contentious.

To identify the most visited U.S. monuments and memorials, 24/7 Wall St. calculated average annual visits to U.S. monuments and memorials from 2011 through 2015 from the National Park Service, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

These are the most visited U.S. monuments and memorials.

Source: Thinkstock

50. Walnut Canyon National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 129,914
> Location: Arizona
> Established: 11/30/1915
> Purpose: Protects 800-year-old Sinagua cliff-dwellings.

Source: Thinkstock

49. Johnstown Flood National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 131,139
> Location: Pennsylvania
> Established: 8/31/1964
> Purpose: Memorializes victims of the town’s 1889 flood.

Source: Thinkstock

48. Lava Beds National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 131,625
> Location: California
> Established: 11/21/1925
> Purpose: Marks North America’s largest concentration of lava tube caves.

Source: Thinkstock

47. George Washington Birthplace National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 132,018
> Location: Virginia
> Established: 1/23/1930
> Purpose: Marks birthplace of America’s first president.

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Source: Thinkstock

46. Perry’s Victory & International Peace Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 135,530
> Location: Ohio
> Established: 6/2/1936
> Purpose: Commemorates U.S. naval victory and lasting peace between Britain, Canada, and U.S.

Source: Thinkstock

45. El Malpais National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 139,287
> Location: New Mexico
> Established: 12/31/1987
> Purpose: Marks volcanic area and protects nearby ancient structures.

Source: Thinkstock

44. Theodore Roosevelt Island
> Average annual visitors: 151,257
> Location: Virginia
> Established: 10/27/1967
> Purpose: Honors America’s 26th president.

Source: Thinkstock

43. Bandelier National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 155,013
> Location: New Mexico
> Established: 2/11/1916
> Purpose: Protects remains of Pueblo Indians’ cliff houses and villages from the 1200s.

Source: Thinkstock

42. Federal Hall National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 162,496
> Location: New York
> Established: 8/11/1955
> Purpose: Marks location of historical events including the drafting of the Bill of Rights.

Source: Thinkstock

41. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 166,427
> Location: Oregon
> Established: 10/26/1974
> Purpose: Protects a well-preserved fossil record of plants and animals.

Source: Thinkstock

40. Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 181,370
> Location: Arizona
> Established: 5/26/1930
> Purpose: Marks volcanic cinder cone created around 900 years ago.

Source: Thinkstock

39. Wupatki National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 203,440
> Location: Arizona
> Established: 12/9/1924
> Purpose: Protects red sandstone pueblos built between 1120 and 1250.

Source: Thinkstock

38. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 205,456
> Location: Arizona
> Established: 4/13/1937
> Purpose: Protects the only place in the U.S. where organ pipe cactus grows wild.

Source: Thinkstock

37. Craters of the Moon National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 211,684
> Location: Idaho
> Established: 5/2/1924
> Purpose: Marks a landscape shaped by 2,000 year-old lava flows.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

36. Fort Frederica National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 240,630
> Location: Georgia
> Established: 5/26/1936
> Purpose: Preserves British colonial fort that withstood a Spanish attack.

Source: Thinkstock

35. Dinosaur National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 266,640
> Location: Colorado
> Established: 10/4/1915
> Purpose: Protects fossils of Jurassic period dinosaurs.

Source: WIkimedia Commons

34. Fort Caroline National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 274,567
> Location: Florida
> Established: 9/21/1950
> Purpose: Memorializes two centuries of colonial rivalry between French and Spanish.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

33. LBJ Memorial Grove on the Potomac
> Average annual visitors: 278,430
> Location: Virginia
> Established: 9/27/1974
> Purpose: Honors America’s 36th president.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

32. Flight 93 National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 294,108
> Location: Pennsylvania
> Established: 12:00:00 AM
> Purpose: Memorializes victims of the fourth plane hijacked during the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Source: Thinkstock

31. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 307,119
> Location: Montana
> Established: 7/1/1940
> Purpose: Preserves site of Custer’s Last Stand.

Source: Thinkstock

30. De Soto National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 340,849
> Location: Florida
> Established: 3/11/1948
> Purpose: Commemorates landing of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and the first European exploration of the southern U.S.

Source: Thinkstock

29. Fort Pulaski National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 387,644
> Location: Georgia
> Established: 10/15/1924
> Purpose: Marks the first successful use of rifled cannons, which made brick fortifications obsolete in the Civil War.

Source: Thinkstock

28. Devils Tower National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 429,846
> Location: Wyoming
> Established: 9/24/1906
> Purpose: Marks a dramatic rising of igneous rock sacred to Lakota and other tribes.

Source: Thinkstock

27. Wright Brothers National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 445,554
> Location: Ohio
> Established: 3/2/1927
> Purpose: Marks location of first sustained heavier-than-air machine flight.

Source: Thinkstock

26. Montezuma Castle National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 448,356
> Location: Arizona
> Established: 12/8/1906
> Purpose: Preserves cliff-dwellings built by Sinagua people around 1400 AD.

Source: Thinkstock

25. Governors Island National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 448,563
> Location: New York
> Established: 1/19/2001
> Purpose: Protects two early 19th century forts which defended New York City.

Source: Thinkstock

24. Washington Monument
> Average annual visitors: 448,958
> Location: District of Columbia
> Established: 12:00:00 AM
> Purpose: Honors George Washington, America’s first president.

Source: Thinkstock

23. Colorado National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 460,838
> Location: Colorado
> Established: 5/24/1911
> Purpose: Protects unique landscapes, dinosaur fossils, and remains of prehistoric cultures.

Source: Thinkstock

22. White Sands National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 473,604
> Location: New Mexico
> Established: 1/18/1933
> Purpose: Protects a portion of the world’s largest gypsum dune field.

Source: Thinkstock

21. Fort Matanzas National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 556,533
> Location: Florida
> Established: 10/15/1924
> Purpose: Preserves the fort which guarded St. Augustine.

Source: Thinkstock

20. Arlington House The R.E. Lee Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 585,961
> Location: Virginia
> Established: 6/29/1955
> Purpose: Honors Robert E. Lee’s military and public leadership.

Source: Thinkstock

19. Cedar Breaks National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 629,583
> Location: Utah
> Established: 8/22/1933
> Purpose: Protects rock formations which create a natural amphitheater.

Source: Thinkstock

18. Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
> Average annual visitors: 690,190
> Location: Maryland
> Established: 8/11/1939
> Purpose: Marks the location of the battle which inspired “The Star Spangled Banner.”

17. Castillo de San Marcos National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 765,255
> Location: Florida
> Established: 10/15/1924
> Purpose: Preserves the oldest masonry fort in the United States.

Source: Thinkstock

16. Canyon de Chelly National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 825,319
> Location: Arizona
> Established: 4/1/1931
> Purpose: Protects ruins and canyons within the Navajo Nation.

Source: Thinkstock

15. Fort Sumter National Monument
> Average annual visitors: 836,830
> Location: South Carolina
> Established: 4/28/1948
> Purpose: Marks the location of first civil war engagement.

Source: Thinkstock

14. Cabrillo National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 884,538
> Location: California
> Established: 10/14/1913
> Purpose: Marks the landing of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European to set foot on what is now the U.S. west coast.

Source: Thinkstock

13. Muir Woods National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 994,582
> Location: California
> Established: 1/9/1908
> Purpose: Protects one of the last old growth redwood groves.

Source: Thinkstock

12. World War II Valor in the Pacific National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 1,685,423
> Location: Hawaii, Alaska, California
> Established: 12/5/2008
> Purpose: Preserves stories of the pacific front in World War II.

Source: Thinkstock

11. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 2,129,750
> Location: Missouri
> Established: 12/21/1935
> Purpose: Commemorates the Louisiana Purchase and the Western Expansion.

Source: Thinkstock

10. Mount Rushmore
> Average annual visitors: 2,201,854
> Location: South Dakota
> Established: 10/31/1941
> Purpose: Honors the four presidents representing the foundation, expansion, preservation, and unification of the U.S.

9. Thomas Jefferson Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 2,595,868
> Location: District of Columbia
> Established: 4/13/1943
> Purpose: Honors Thomas Jefferson, America’s third president.

Source: Thinkstock

8. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 2,828,043
> Location: District of Columbia
> Established: 5/2/1997
> Purpose: Honors FDR, America’s 32nd president.

Source: Thinkstock

7. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 3,032,777
> Location: District of Columbia
> Established: 8/28/2011
> Purpose: Honors Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership during the Civil Right’s Movement.

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Source: Thinkstock

6. Statue of Liberty
> Average annual visitors: 3,428,161
> Location: New York
> Established: 10/15/1924
> Purpose: Gift of friendship from people of France symbolizing freedom and democracy.

Source: Thinkstock

5. Korean War Veterans Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 3,478,991
> Location: District of Columbia
> Established: 7/27/1995
> Purpose: Honors veterans of the Korean War.

Source: Thinkstock

4. Castle Clinton National Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 3,750,928
> Location: New York
> Established: 6/20/1950
> Purpose: Preserve America’s first immigration station.

Source: Thinkstock

3. World War II Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 4,229,408
> Location: District of Columbia
> Established: 5/29/2004
> Purpose: Honors veterans of the Second World War.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aukirk/

2. Vietnam Veterans Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 4,517,560
> Location: District of Columbia
> Established: 11/13/1982
> Purpose: Honors veterans of the Vietnam War.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aukirk/

1. Lincoln Memorial
> Average annual visitors: 6,757,988
> Location: District of Columbia
> Established: 5/30/1922
> Purpose: Honors America’s 16th president.