Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument
Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Nature reserve and dark sky park in Mohave County, United States.
The monument stretches across one million acres of plateaus, canyons, and mountains, displaying diverse geological features from the Colorado Plateau to the Basin Range.
Designated in January 2000, this monument preserves archaeological sites, including structures and artifacts from Ancestral Puebloan civilizations who inhabited the region thousands of years ago.
The National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management cooperate to protect both natural landscapes and archaeological resources that document Native American presence in the area.
Visitors need high-clearance vehicles, navigation tools, and sufficient supplies as the monument contains no developed facilities, food services, or water sources.
The monument sits at the intersection of two geological provinces and two distinct ecosystems, creating a landscape where Mojave Desert meets Colorado Plateau vegetation.
Location: Mohave County
Inception: January 11, 2000
Operator: National Park Service;BLM
Website: https://nps.gov/para
GPS coordinates: 36.40000,-113.70000
Latest update: March 6, 2025 21:33
The southwestern United States encompasses desert landscapes, sandstone formations and archaeological sites from several pre-Columbian cultures. The region spans Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, featuring geological structures shaped over millions of years by wind and water erosion. National parks such as Canyonlands and Capitol Reef display canyons, mesas and rock spires in shades of red, orange and ochre. The area preserves evidence of the Ancestral Puebloans, who built cliff dwellings and communal structures between the 12th and 14th centuries. Sites like Bandelier National Monument and Gila Cliff Dwellings provide access to these habitations. Chaco Culture National Historical Park documents a pre-Hispanic trading center with multistory stone complexes. Petroglyphs at locations such as Three Rivers and the petrified trees of Petrified Forest National Park offer additional historical records. The Navajo Nation administers Monument Valley and the Navajo Zoo, while Hubbell Trading Post operates as a functioning 19th-century trading post. Volcanic features mark Sunset Crater and El Malpais, while White Sands covers more than 275 square miles (700 square kilometers) of gypsum dunes. Glen Canyon and the man-made Lake Cochiti provide water access in this largely arid region. Elevation differences range from the Organ Pipe Cactus Desert to Great Basin National Park with its ridges above 13,000 feet (3,900 meters).
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