Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

Established by presidential proclamation in November 2000, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument covers nearly 294,000 acres of northern Arizona, protecting the Paria Plateau, Vermilion Cliffs, Coyote Buttes, and Paria Canyon. The cliffs themselves — steep escarpments of sandstone, siltstone, limestone, and shale — rise as much as 3,000 feet above their bases. Human settlement here reaches back 12,000 years, and the monument holds one of the largest collections of rock art sites in any nationally protected area. California condors, reintroduced to this region in 1996, still fly here. Plan accordingly: most roads require high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicles.