The Worst National Monument Ever
Unless you really like adventure this drive isn't worth your time.
Want to see the worst National Monument on the whole list of 431 areas in the National Park System? We found it. I mean, we haven’t visited all of them yet, but I can’t imagine there is one worse than this. 😂
A little backstory, first.
I have a passport book, so I can stamp it and get a sticker at the National Park areas we visit. We were at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado recently, and they had a stamp for Yucca House National Monument. I hadn’t heard of it, so I looked it up and discovered it was only a few minutes from where we were staying! So I added that to our agenda and off we went the next day to check it out.
The drive there was beautiful, with amazing views, but it was strange. First off, there was a sign pointing down the road to the National Monument, but there was also a sign reading "No Trespassing-Private Property."
Sooooo which is it?? 🤷♀️
We ventured down the road and ended up right in front of someone’s house. They had a big barn over to the side with a huge driveway area and that was basically where you had to park — we guessed anyway. I kind of wish I’d taken pics of the area, but I was so caught off guard I didn’t even think about it. We felt like someone might come out and yell at us any minute to get off their property! lol!
We parked and got out, but they were watering their yard, and you had to walk through it and across this boardwalk to reach it. We didn’t want to start the day all drenched from a sprinkler system, so we opted NOT to go over there. 😉
It didn’t look like there was much there anyway. It was SO bizarre.
After the fact, I looked on Google and read these reviews:
“This place needs to be demoted. Probably the lamest NP site I’ve ever visited.”
“It’s basically in someone’s yard. Only a single wall uncovered and only one side of that. The most rinky dink of NPS units I’ve ever seen.”
“This has to be the strangest National Monument I’ve ever been to. It’s hidden in the middle of nowhere. When we first got to the destination we thought we were given the wrong directions since it led up to someones house dirt parking lot… But nope, it was correct. At the corner of the parking lot is a sign that points to a gate “Yucca House National Monument”. No park rangers, no visitor center and no sign of life.”
I was cracking up! These people posted exactly what we thought!!
Guess we should have read the reviews first and not wasted our time. But I got my stamp and we technically went to see it!!
Are you a National Park fanatic like we are? Have you had a bizarre experience anywhere like this? Share your story in the comments.