Explore National Parks, Memorials, Monuments and Recreation Areas:
- Cabrillo National Monument, CA: Climbing out of his boat and onto shore in 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo stepped into history as the first European to set foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Cabrillo departed from the port of Navidad, Mexico, on June 27, 1542. Three months later he arrived at "a very good enclosed port," which is known today as San Diego Bay. Historians believe he anchored his flagship, the San Salvador, on Point Loma's east shore near Cabrillo National Monument.  Cabrillo later died during the expedition, but his crew pushed on, possibly as far north as Oregon, before thrashing winter storms forced them to back to Mexico. Cabrillo National Monument, established in 1913, commemorates Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's voyage of discovery.  A heroic statue of Cabrillo looks out over the bay that he first sailed into on September 28, 1542.  At the Visitor Center, the film "In Search of Cabrillo" and an exhibit hall present Cabrillo's life and times.  Ranger-led programs about Cabrillo are usually available on weekends and on many weekdays during summer months. In addition to telling the story of 16th century exploration, the park is home to a wealth of cultural and natural resources. www.nps.gov/cabr/
- Coronado National Memorial, AZ: Coronado National Memorial is the only unit in the National Park System that commemorates the Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Expedition of 1540-1542. When reporting to Congress in 1940 on the establishment of the Memorial, the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys noted that: “Coronado’s expedition was one of the outstanding achievements of a period marked by notable explorations.  It made known the vast extent and the nature of the country that lay north of central Mexico, and from the time of Coronado, Spaniards never lost interest in the country.  In no small measure their subsequent occupation of it was due to the curiosity so created.”The Memorial preserves and interprets the natural and human history of the area for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations." The creation of the Memorial provides visitors with an opportunity to reflect upon the impact the Coronado Entrada had in shaping the history, culture, and environment of the southwestern United States and its lasting ties to Mexico and Spain. The Memorial has two sister parks in Mexico. The location was chosen for the panoramic views of the US-Mexico border and the San Pedro River Valley, the route believed to have been taken by Coronado. It was hoped that this proximity to the border would strengthen bi-national amity and the bonds, both geographical and cultural, which continue to link the two countries. The Memorial, located near the center of the Sky Island bioregion (the juncture of four major biogeographic provinces: Madrean, Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Southern Rockies/Mogollon), preserves a rich biological and geological diversity. Visitors are able to enjoy recreational opportunities that foster a better understanding and appreciation of the natural and human history of the area. www.nps.gov/coro/
- El Morro National Monument, NM:  A reliable waterhole hidden at the base of a massive sandstone bluff made El Morro (the bluff) a popular campsite. Ancestral Puebloans settled on the mesa top over 700 years ago. Spanish and American travelers rested, drank from the pool and carved their signatures, dates and messages for hundreds of years. Today, El Morro National Monument protects over 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs, as well as Ancestral Puebloan ruins. 2006 is El Morro's 100-year anniversary as a National Monument—the nation’s second. We invite you to make El Morro a stopping point during your travels. www.nps.gov/elmo/
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area, CA (Photo at top, courtesy of National Park Service): Golden Gate National Parks chronicle two hundred years of history, from the Native American culture, the Spanish Empire frontier and the Mexican Republic, to maritime history, the California Gold Rush, the evolution of American coastal fortifications, and the growth of urban San Francisco. The park also includes the largest and most complete collection of military installations and fortifications in the country, dating from Spanish settlement in 1776 though the Nike missiles of the Cold War. www.nps.gov/goga/
- Pecos National Historical Park, NM: Pecos preserves 12,000 years of history including the ancient pueblo of Pecos, Colonial Missions, Santa Fe Trail sites, 20th century ranch history of Forked Lightning Ranch, and the site of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass. For several centuries the Upper Pecos Valley, is one of those rare places where the impact of geography on human experience is strikingly clear. www.nps.gov/peco
- Salinas Pueblo Missions, NM: Once, thriving American Indian trade communities of Tiwa and Tompiro speaking Puebloans inhabited this remote area of central New Mexico. Early in the 17th-century Spanish Franciscans visited the area and found it ripe for their missionary efforts. However by 1677 the entire Salinas District, was depopulated of both Indian and Spaniard alike. What remains today are austere yet beautiful reminders of the early contact between Pueblo Indians and Spanish Colonials. The ruins of four mission churches, at Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira and the partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas or, as it is known today, Gran Quivira. Established in 1980 through the combination of two New Mexico State Monuments and the former Gran Quivira National Monument, the present Monument comprises a total of 1,100 acres. www.nps.gov/sapu/
- Tumacácori National Historical Park, AZ, (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service: Tumacácori NHP protects three Spanish colonial mission ruins in the upper Santa Cruz River Valley in southern Arizona: Tumacácori, Guevavi, and Calabazas. The adobe structures are on three sites, with a visitor center at Tumacácori. These missions are among more than twenty established in the Pimería Alta by Father Kino and other Jesuits, and later expanded upon by Franciscan missionaries. Tumacácori NHP is part of the Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail. The Park represents Spanish mission frontier history, the impact of European colonization upon the Native American peoples, and the contributions of Spanish, Mexican, and Indian cultures to the heritage of the Southwest. www.nps.gov/tuma/