Phoenix Parks by Radius

National Park Service

Aztec Ruins National Monument
Aztec Ruins National Monument preserves structures and artifacts of Ancestral Pueblo people from the 1100's through 1200s.

Bryce Canyon National Park
At Bryce Canyon National Park, erosion has shaped colorful Claron limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into thousands of spires, fins, pinnacles, and mazes.

Cabrillo National Monument
The Cabrillo National Monument comemorates the first time a European, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, set foot on the west coast of the United States.

Canyon De Chelly National Monument
At the base of sheer red cliffs and in canyon wall caves are ruins of Indian villages built between AD 350 and 1300. Canyon de Chelly National Monument offers visitors the chance to learn about Southwestern Indian history from the earliest basketmakers to the Navajo Indians who live and farm here.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Casa Grande Ruins, in Arizona, the nation's first archeological preserve, protects the Casa Grande and other archeological sites within its boundaries.

Cedar Breaks National Monument
A huge natural amphitheater has been eroded out of the variegated Pink Cliffs (Claron Formation) near Cedar City, Utah. Millions of years of sedimentation, uplift and erosion have created a deep canyon of rock walls, fins, spires and columns, that spans some three miles, and is over 2,000 feet deep. The rim of the canyon is over 10,000 feet above sea level, and is forested with islands of Englemann spruce, subalpine fir and aspen; separated by broad meadows of brilliant summertime wild flowers.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area. The Chacoan cultural sites are fragile and irreplaceable and represent a significant part of America's cultural heritage. The sites are part of the sacred homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and the Navajo Indians of the Southwest..

Chiricahua National Monument
Twenty seven million years ago a volcanic eruption of immense proportions shook the land around Chiricahua National Monument. The Turkey Creek Caldera eruption eventually laid down two thousand feet of highly silicious ash and pumice. This mixture fused into a rock called rhyolitic tuff and eventually eroded into the spires and unusual rock formations of today. Chiricahua plants and animals represent one of the premier areas for biological diversity in the northern hemisphere.

Coronado National Memorial
Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first major European exploration of the American Southwest. The Memorial lies on the United States-Mexico border within sight of the San Pedro River Valley, through which the Coronado Expedition first entered the present U.S. in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.

Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park has more than 3.3 million acres of spectacular desert scenery, interesting and rare desert wildlife, complex geology, undisturbed wilderness, and sites of historical and cultural interest.

El Malpais National Monument
Historic and archeological sites provide reminders of past times. More than mere artifacts, these cultural resources are kept alive by the spiritual and physical presence of contemporary Indian groups, including the Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna,and Zuni, and the Ramah Navajo.

El Morro National Monument
Rising 200 feet above the valley floor, this massive sandstone bluff was a welcome landmark for weary travelers. A reliable waterhole hidden at its base made El Morro (or Inscription Rock) a popular campsite. Today, El Morro National Monument protects over 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs, as well as Ancestral Puebloan ruins

Fort Bowie National Historic Site
Fort Bowie commemorates in its 1000 acres, the story of the bitter conflict between the Chiricahua Apaches and the United States military. Apache resistance was finally crushed at Fort Bowie, and the result was the end of the Indian wars in the United States.

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived in the Gila Wilderness from the 1280s through the early 1300s.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
The recreation area stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs of southern Utah, encompassing scenic vistas, geologic wonders, and a panorama of human history.

Grand Canyon National Park
One of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world, Grand Canyon is unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers to visitors on the rim.

Hohokam Pima National Monument
Preserved here are the archeological remains of the Hohokam culture. Hohokam is a Pima Indian word meaning "those who have gone."

Hovenweep National Monument
Hovenweep National Monument protects five prehistoric, Puebloan-era villages spread over a twenty-mile expanse of mesa tops and canyons along the Utah-Colorado border.

Joshua Tree National Park
Two deserts, two large ecosystems whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation, come together at Joshua Tree National Park. The Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of the park and features natural gardens of creosote bush, ocotillo, and cholla cactus. The higher, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Joshua tree.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Three of America's four desert ecosystems--the Mojave, the Great Basin, and the Sonoran Deserts--meet in Lake Mead NRA. As a result, this seemingly barren area contains a surprising variety of plants and animals. Lake Mead caters to boaters, swimmers, sunbathers, and fishermen while its desert rewards hikers, wildlife photographers, and roadside sightseers.

Mesa Verde National Park
The archeological sites found in Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States. Mesa Verde National Park offers visitors a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people.

Mojave National Preserve
The Mojave National Preserve encompasses 1.6 million acres of mountains, jumble rocks, desert washes, and dry lakes.Plant and animal life varies by elevation.

Montezuma Castle National Monument
The five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling served as a "high-rise apartment building" for prehistoric Sinagua Indians over 600 years ago. Early settlers to the area assumed that the imposing structure was associated with the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but the castle was abandoned almost a century before Montezuma was born.

Natural Bridges National Monument
Natural Bridges protects some of the finest examples of ancient stone architecture in the southwest. Meandering streams cut through the canyon walls where three natural bridges formed: Kachina, Owachomo and Sipapu.

Navajo National Monument
Navajo National Monument preserves three of the most-intact cliff dwellings of the Anasazi.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
In this desert wilderness of plants and animals and dramatic mountains and plains scenery, you can drive a lonely road, hike a backcountry trail, camp beneath a clear desert sky, or just soak in the warmth and beauty of the Southwest. The Monument exhibits a collection of plants of the Sonoran Desert, including the organ pipe cactus, a large cactus rarely found in the United States.

Parashant National Monument
Parashant National Monument, located on the northern edge of the Grand Canyon, is a remote area of open, undeveloped spaces. It is an impressive and diverse landscape that includes an array of scientific and historic resources.

Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified Forest features one of the world's largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood. Also included are the multi-hued badlands of the Chinle Formation known as the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites and displays of 225 million-year-old fossils.

Petroglyph National Monument
Petroglyph National Monument protects a variety of cultural and natural resources including five volcanic cones, hundreds of archeological sites and an estimated 25,000 images carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers.

Pipe Spring National Monument
Pipe Spring National Monument is rich with American Indian, early explorer and Mormon pioneer history.

Rainbow Bridge National Monument
From its base to the top of the arch, it is 290 feet-nearly the height of the Statue of Liberty-and spans 275 feet across the river; the top of the arch is 42 feet thick and 33 feet wide. Rainbow Bridge National Monument preserve the "extraordinary natural bridge, having an arch which is in form and appearance much like a rainbow, and which is of great scientific interest as an example of eccentric stream erosion."

Saguaro National Park
This unique desert is home to the most recognizable cactus in the world, the majestic saguaro. Saguaro cacti provide their fruits to hungry desert animals. They also provide homes to a variety of birds. With an average life span of 150 years, a mature saguaro may grow to a height of 50 feet and weigh over 10 tons.

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Sunset Crater is the youngest volcano on the Colorado Plateau. The volcano's red rim and the dark lava flows seem to have cooled and hardened to a jagged surface.

Tonto National Monument
Well-preserved cliff dwellings were occupied by the Salado culture The people farmed in the Salt River Valley and supplemented their diet by hunting and gathering native wildlife and plants. The Salado were fine craftsmen, producing some of the most exquisite polychrome pottery and intricately woven textiles to be found in the Southwest. Many of these objects are on display in the Visitor Center museum.

Tumaccori National Historical Park
Tumaccori National Historical Park is comprised of the abandoned ruins of three ancient Spanish colonial missions.

Tuzigoot National Monument
Tuzigoot is an ancient village or pueblo built by a culture known as the Sinagua. The pueblo consisted of 110 rooms including second and third story structures.

Walnut Canyon National Monument
Walnut Canyon was carved by Walnut Creek over a period of 60 million years. The people that lived here moved on to become the modern pueblo people of today. Walnut Canyon is one of their ancestral homes.

Washington Monument
George Washington was unanimously elected the first President of the United States. Washington defined the Presidency and helped develop the relationships among the three branches of government. His leadership and service to the republic have been distinguished through the naming of the federal capital, universities, streets, counties, and a state; but none have captured the imagination of the people world-wide like the Washington Monument.

Wupatki National Monument
Wupatki is the only known location in the Southwest where physical evidence from at least three archeologically separate ancestral Puebloan cultures is found together in a number of archeological sites. Today, Wupatki National Monument protects 56 square miles of high desert directly west of the Little Colorado River and the Navajo Reservation.

Yucca House National Monument
Yucca House National Monument is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan surface site.

Zion National Park
Protected within the park's 229 square miles is a dramatic landscape of sculptured canyons and soaring cliffs.