“Monument” can be a confusing word when it comes to places people can visit. Monuments, as statues, have been in the news recently. Models of Confederate leaders, particularly generals, have been torn down across America. Some parts of the country have large collections of monuments. The best example of this may be the dozens of monuments scattered across Central Park in New York City.
The federal government has its own designation for national monuments. The first of these was created by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. It is known as Devil’s Tower and is in Wyoming. There are now 129 national monuments, operated by the U.S. Departments of the Interior, Defense, Energy, Agriculture and Commerce.
Some of these monuments cover vast areas, like Admiralty Island in Alaska. Others cover less than an acre, such as the African Burial Ground in New York City.
To identify the most popular national monument in 2020, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the year’s recreational visits published in the National Park Service’s annual visitation report. The NPS aggregates visitation data for various government land designations and visitation purposes. Only national monuments were considered in our analysis.
The NPS takes care of more than 85 million acres in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Though NPS locations are generally referred to as parks, there are several name designations. The NPS manages 84 national monuments.
Monuments in the west and southwest are the most visited, perhaps suggesting people living in those regions are the biggest fans of national monuments. Of the 30 most visited in 2020, six are in Arizona, four in California and three in New Mexico.
The most visited national monument in America is Cedar Breaks. Here are the details:
- Recreation visits in 2020: 845,867
- Share of all national monument recreation visits in 2020: 9.31%
- Location: Brian Head, Utah
Click here to see the 30 most popular national monuments in America.
Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts
Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.
It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.
We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today. Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
