NATIONAL REGISTRY OF 

NATURAL LANDMARKS 

NATIONAL 

NATURAL 

LANDMARKS 

PROGRAM 

 June 2009 

NATIONAL REGISTRY

OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

INTRODUCTION 

NATIONAL REGISTRY OF NATURAL LANDMARKS

Summary: This publication lists all National Natural Landmarks (NNL) currently included on the 

National Registry of Natural Landmarks. This listing provides information on each landmark’s 

natural values, designation date, and ownership type. 

For Further Information Contact: Natural Resources Stewardship and Science, National Park 

Service, 1201 I Street N.W., Washington, D.C., 20005. 

Supplemental Information: The National Natural Landmarks Program was established by the 

Secretary of the Interior in 1962, under authority of the Historic Sites Act of 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 

et seq.) to identify and encourage the preservation of the full range of geological and biological 

features that are determined to represent nationally significant examples of the Nation’s natural 

heritage. Potential sites are evaluated by qualified scientists and, if determined nationally 

significant, recommended to the Secretary of the Interior for designation. Once a landmark is 

designated it is included on the National Registry of Natural Landmarks, which currently lists 

586 NNLs nationwide. 

The National Registry of Natural Landmarks includes nationally significant geological and 

biological features in 48 states, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. 

Of the 586 landmarks currently listed on the Registry approximately one-half are administered 

solely by public agencies (e.g., Federal, State, county, or municipal governments), nearly onethird are owned entirely by private parties and the remaining are owned or administered by a 

mixture of public and private owners. Because many natural landmarks are privately owned 

and/or not managed for public access, owner permission must be obtained prior to visitation. 

Designation in no way infers any right of public access. 

National Natural Landmark designation is not a land withdrawal, does not change the ownership 

of a site, and does not dictate use or activity. However, Federal agencies should consider the 

unique properties of these nationally significant areas in completing compliance under the 

National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and there may be State or local 

planning or land use implications. 

National Registry of Natural Landmarks

The following list contains all NNLs included on the National Registry of Natural Landmarks as 

of June 2009. The landmarks are arranged alphabetically by state and county. The number of 

landmarks in each state is enclosed in parentheses following each state’s name. A description 

of each landmark’s natural values, designation date, and ownership type is provided. 

Ownership categories include Federal, State, county, municipal, Indian Trust, and private. The 

order does not reflect the relative amount of land owned by any party. The information 

contained herein can also be found on the NNL website at http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/. 

NATIONAL REGISTRY 

OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

ALABAMA .................................................................................................................................... 1 

ALASKA ........................................................................................................................................ 3 

AMERICAN SAMOA.................................................................................................................... 6 

ARIZONA....................................................................................................................................... 6 

ARKANSAS................................................................................................................................... 8 

CALIFORNIA ................................................................................................................................ 9 

COLORADO ................................................................................................................................ 15 

CONNECTICUT .......................................................................................................................... 17 

FLORIDA ..................................................................................................................................... 18 

GEORGIA..................................................................................................................................... 22 

GUAM .......................................................................................................................................... 25 

HAWAII ....................................................................................................................................... 25 

IDAHO.......................................................................................................................................... 26 

ILLINOIS...................................................................................................................................... 29 

INDIANA ..................................................................................................................................... 32 

IOWA............................................................................................................................................ 37 

KANSAS....................................................................................................................................... 39 

KENTUCKY................................................................................................................................. 40 

MAINE ......................................................................................................................................... 41 

MARYLAND ............................................................................................................................... 44 

MASSACHUSETTS..................................................................................................................... 45 

MICHIGAN .................................................................................................................................. 47 

MINNESOTA............................................................................................................................... 49 

MISSISSIPPI ................................................................................................................................ 51 

MISSOURI ................................................................................................................................... 52 

MONTANA.................................................................................................................................. 54 

NEBRASKA................................................................................................................................. 56 

NEVADA...................................................................................................................................... 57 

NEW HAMPSHIRE ..................................................................................................................... 58 

NEW JERSEY .............................................................................................................................. 60 

NEW MEXICO............................................................................................................................. 62 

NEW YORK................................................................................................................................. 64 

NORTH CAROLINA................................................................................................................... 68 

NORTH DAKOTA....................................................................................................................... 70 

OHIO............................................................................................................................................. 71 

OKLAHOMA ............................................................................................................................... 75 

OREGON...................................................................................................................................... 76 

PENNSYLVANIA........................................................................................................................ 77 

PUERTO RICO ............................................................................................................................ 82 

RHODE ISLAND ......................................................................................................................... 83 

SOUTH CAROLINA.................................................................................................................... 83 

SOUTH DAKOTA ....................................................................................................................... 85 
NATIONAL REGISTRY 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TENNESSEE................................................................................................................................ 87 

TEXAS.......................................................................................................................................... 89 

UTAH ........................................................................................................................................... 94 

VERMONT................................................................................................................................... 95 

VIRGIN ISLANDS....................................................................................................................... 97 

VIRGINIA .................................................................................................................................... 98 

WASHINGTON ......................................................................................................................... 100 

WEST VIRGINIA ...................................................................................................................... 104 

WISCONSIN .............................................................................................................................. 106 

WYOMING ................................................................................................................................ 109 
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ALABAMA

ALABAMA (7) 

Baldwin County

MOBILE-TENSAW RIVER 

BOTTOMLANDS 

(extends into Mobile and Washington Counties) Mobile-Tensaw 

River Bottomlands is one of the most important wetlands in the 

nation. The site contains a variety of habitats, including mesic 

floodplains, freshwater swamps and brackish water marshes, and 

supports several rare and endangered species. Designation: 1974. 

Ownership: State, private. 

Franklin County

DISMALS The Dismals is a moist sandstone gorge cut by Dismals Branch. 

The site contains a rich diversity of native plant life, including a 

stand of virgin timber composed chiefly of hemlock, tulip poplar, 

sweetgum, and beech. Huge blocks of sandstone have broken 

away from the gorge walls and lie in haphazard fashion on the floor, 

producing many natural bridges and damp rockface microhabitats. 

Designation: 1974. Ownership: Private. 

Jefferson County

RED MOUNTAIN 

EXPRESSWAY CUT 

The Red Mountain Expressway Cut exhibits an unusual 

combination of stratigraphic and structural features that record the 

geological development of this part of the Southern Appalachian 

fold belt during Paleozoic time. In one location, because the strata 

are tilted, exposed rocks represent a 150 million-year geological 

record along a distance of only 650 feet. Additionally, the exposed 

rocks contain a rare Silurian trilobite species. Designation: 1987. 

Ownership: Municipal. 

Limestone County

BEAVERDAM CREEK 

SWAMP 

Beaverdam Creek Swamp, located within Wheeler National Wildlife 

Refuge, is a prime tupelo gum swamp. Occurring within the Interior 

Low Plateaus biophysiographic province, this habitat type is an 

unusual occurrence, as it is typically found farther south in the Gulf 

Coastal Plain biophysiographic province. Designation: 1974. 

Ownership: Federal. 
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ALABAMA

Madison County

SHELTA CAVE Developed in fossiliferous Warsaw Limestone of Mississippian Age, 

Shelta Cave contains a large underground lake deep within. The 

cave is noted for its diverse and complex aquatic fauna, including 

some species that are known to exist only in this cave. Designated: 

1971. Ownership: Private. 

Marshall County

CATHEDRAL CAVERNS Located within Cathedral Caverns State Park, Cathedral Caverns 

consists of a series of large chambers containing flowing 

underground streams and a variety of decorative speleothems, 

such as stalagmites, totem poles, dripstone slopes and walls. The 

huge entrance to the cave is 125 feet wide by 50 feet high and is 

spanned by a thin, almost flat arch. Designated: 1972. Ownership: 

State. 

Mobile County

MOBILE-TENSAW RIVER 

BOTTOMLANDS 

(see Baldwin County) 

Morgan County

NEWSOME SINKS KARST 

AREA 

Newsome Sinks Karst Area occupies a north-south trending karst 

valley about 4 miles long, 3/4 mile wide and 400 feet deep. Both 

ends of the drainage basin are higher in elevation than the valley 

floor, forcing water runoff to escape through subterranean 

passageways. The Newsome Sinks area is hollowed out by more 

than 40 caves, with over 50,000 feet of known passages. Most of 

the passages are dry, carrying water only during periods of heavy 

rainfall. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Washington County

MOBILE-TENSAW RIVER 

BOTTOMLANDS 

(see Baldwin County) 
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ALASKA

ALASKA (16) 

ANIAKCHAK CRATER Aniakchak Crater, located within Aniakchak National Monument, is 

one of the largest explosive craters in the world, averaging 6 miles 

wide and 2000 feet deep. The crater contains Surprise Lake, a 

warm springs fed lake that provides spawning grounds for a unique 

subspecies of salmon. The lake is the source of the Aniakchak 

River, which flows through a breach in the crater rim to the Pacific 

Ocean. The last eruption of this volcano was in 1931. Designated: 

1967. Ownership: Federal. 

ARRIGETCH PEAKS Located within Gates of the Arctic National Park, the Arrigetch 

Peaks have long been a landmark to the Nunamiut Eskimo people 

of northwest Alaska. Carved by glacial ice and running water, the 

conspicuous granite pinnacles rise thousands of feet above the 

surrounding glacial valleys of tundra and boreal forest. The 

Arrigetch Peaks illustrate several phases of alpine glacier activities 

and reveal abrupt transitions from metamorphic to granitic rock. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: Federal. 

BOGOSLOF ISLAND Located within Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Bogoslof 

Island, a product of several volcanic eruptions, is recognized by 

geologists to be a prime example of volcanism at work. The most 

recent eruption in 1992 added a new dome to the east end of the 

island. The island supports an important rookery and haulout for 

endangered Steller sea lions, and nesting grounds for over 50,000 

murres, kittiwakes and other sea birds. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: Federal. 

CLARENCE RHODE 

NATIONAL WILDLIFE 

RANGE 

Located within the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, the 

Clarence Rhode National Wildlife Range is an excellent example of 

coastal and upland tundra habitat; consisting of more than 50,000 

lakes and ponds, meandering streams, extensive tide flats and low 

shrub and sedge tundra. The site provides nesting grounds for 

most of the world's black brant, cackling and emperor geese, and 

numerous other waterfowl, shorebirds, and sandhill cranes. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

ILIAMNA VOLCANO Iliamna Volcano, located within Lake Clark National Park, is a 

broad, cone-shaped active stratovolcano that rises to a summit of 

10,016 feet. Most of the volcano is covered by snow and ice and 

at least 10 glaciers radiate from its summit. Its great height and 

proximity to Cook Inlet make it readily visible from the east side of 

the inlet and from Anchorage. Designated: 1976. Ownership: 

Federal. 
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ALASKA

LAKE GEORGE At the time of its designation, Lake George was the largest glacierdammed lake and one of the most consistent self-dumping lakes in 

North America. The lake emptied almost annually for 49 years 

before 1967. When the lake outlet was blocked by the Knik Glacier, 

the lake swelled with water until summer when the dam broke and 

the water dumped in a spectacular torrent into the Knik River. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

MALASPINA GLACIER Malaspina Glacier, located primarily within Wrangell-St. Elias 

National Park, is the largest piedmont glacier in North America and 

one of the largest outside the ice cap regions of the world. It 

provides classic examples of glacial mechanisms and fluctuations. 

This large body of ice has been noted by explorers concerned with 

navigation of the western coast of North America for more than two 

centuries. Designated: 1968. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

McNEIL RIVER STATE 

GAME SANCTUARY 

The McNeil River State Game Sanctuary contains a portion of the 

McNeil River with a series of low, shallow falls that afford easy 

wading and good visibility for brown bears fishing for salmon. The 

concentration of bears fishing at the falls provides a world 

renowned bear viewing opportunity. The site provides permanent 

protection for brown bear and other fish and wildlife populations and 

their habitats. Designated: 1968. Ownership: State. 

MOUNT VENIAMINOF An active volcano of great mass, Mount Veniaminof contains a 

cupped ice field of 25 square miles, the most extensive craterglacier in the nation. The caldera originated when the former 

summit collapsed. It is the only known glacier on the continent with 

an active volcanic vent in its center. Located within Alaska 

Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, Veniaminof is usually shrouded 

in fog and clouds, and local residents indicate that the entire 

volcano is visible only one or two days a year. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: Federal. 

REDOUBT VOLCANO An active stratovolcano, Redoubt Volcano is the second highest of 

the 76 major volcanoes of the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian 

Islands. Located within Lake Clark National Park, extensive 

glaciers and ice fields cover much of the volcano. There was a 

major eruption of Redoubt in 1989, with ash deposition as far north 

as central Alaska. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 

SHISHALDIN VOLCANO Located within Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Shishaldin 

Volcano is the highest volcano on Unimak Island. Used for 

centuries as a landmark, this explosive stratovolcano is primarily 

known for its remarkable form, a near perfect cone, which it has 

retained despite violent eruptions. Designated: 1967. Ownership: 

Federal. 
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ALASKA

SIMEONOF NATIONAL 

WILDLIFE REFUGE 

One of the islands in the Shumagin Island Group, Simeonof Island, 

within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, is an ancestral 

hauling ground for sea otters. The rich kelp and eel grass beds in 

tideland waters surrounding the island are rich in marine life 

providing ideal habitat for sea otters. Upland areas on the island 

support Arctic fox, ground squirrels, river otters, and various 

species of waterfowl, shorebirds and passerines. Designated: 

1968. Ownership: Federal. 

UNGA ISLAND Exposures of petrified logs and stumps along the shores of Unga 

Island are remnants of a sequoia or metasequoia forest buried as a 

result of volcanic activity in the Tertiary Period. The petrified forest 

remains hold scientific significance for the passage of species 

between Asia and America and help portray the climate and 

environment of the Aleutian Arc before humans inhabited Alaska. 

The site is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: State, private. 

WALKER LAKE Walker Lake, located within Gates of the Arctic National Park, is a 

striking and scenic example of the geological and biological 

relationships of a mountain lake at the northern limit of forest 

growth. It is typical of the glacial lakes formed in rock basins or 

behind moraine dams along both flanks of the Brooks Range. 

There is representation of a full range of ecological communities 

from white spruce forest on the shores to the barren talus slopes 

2000 feet above the lake. Designated: 1968. Ownership: Federal, 

State, private. 

WALRUS ISLANDS Walrus Islands are the southernmost primary haul-out area for bull 

walruses, and the only remaining area in the United States where 

they haul-out in appreciable numbers. Over 4,000 have been 

counted here during the summer. The landmark consists of seven 

islands that make up the Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: State. 

WORTHINGTON GLACIER As a typical small valley glacier, Worthington Glacier includes fine 

examples of most glacial features from accumulation areas to 

terminal moraines. Partially located within Worthington Glacier 

State Recreation Site, it is one of the most road accessible glaciers 

in Alaska. Visitors can park their vehicle nearby and then walk 

close to the face of the glacier. Designated: 1968. Ownership: 

State. 
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AMERICAN SAMOA - ARIZONA

AMERICAN SAMOA (7) 

AUNU’U ISLAND Aunu’u Island is the site of recent episodes of volcanism backed by 

a geologically recent tuff cone. Designated: 1972. Ownership: 

Communal Lands. 

CAPE TAPUTAPU Cape Taputapu is a natural exhibit of shoreline, offshore volcanic 

rocks, and blowholes sculptured by heavy sea wave action. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: Communal Lands. 

FOGAMA’A CRATER Fogama’a Crater is one of very few illustrations of the most recent 

episode of volcanism in American Samoa. Designated: 1972. 

Ownership: Communal Lands. 

LE’ALA SHORELINE Le’ala Shoreline is a young flow of basalt, inter-bedded with layers 

of tuff that illustrates erosion by wave action. The site is covered 

with dense tropical vegetation. Designated: 1972. Ownership: 

Communal Lands. 

MATAFAO PEAK Matafao Peak is one of five great masses of volcanic rocks that 

extruded as molten magma during the major episodes of volcanism 

that created Tutuila island. Matafao Peak is the highest peak on 

the Island. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Communal Lands. 

RAINMAKER MOUNTAIN Rainmaker Mountain, one of the same extrusions as Matafao Peak, 

is an outstanding example of several gigantic plugs that created 

Tutuila Island. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Communal Lands. 

VAI’AVA STRAIT Vai’ava Strait is a classic illustration of steep cliffs and erosionresistant outliers formed by wave action on a volcanic mass. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: Communal Lands. 

ARIZONA (9) 

Cochise County

RAMSEY CANYON Ramsey Canyon is a stream-cut, vertical-sided gorge. Cold air 

drainage from the upper canyon results in a well-defined 

microclimatic habitat that supports Mexican flora and fauna and 

plants that normally occur only at higher elevations. The site is also 

frequented by more species of hummingbirds than any other area in 

the United States. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Private. 
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ARIZONA

WILLCOX PLAYA Willcox Playa, the largest “dry lake” in Arizona, is a remnant of the 

pluvial Lake Cochise. Unlike similar dry lakes, the black mud below 

the surface contains a rich fossil pollen record of the pluvial periods 

of the Pleistocene. The site has become a night-time roosting area 

for 4,000-8,000 sandhill cranes and contains the greatest diversity 

of tiger beetles in the United States. Designated: 1966. 

Ownership: Federal. 

Coconino County

BARRINGER METEOR 

 CRATER 

Barringer Meteor Crater is the largest impact crater yet discovered 

in the United States. The impact occurred approximately 50,000 

years ago from a meteor weighing several hundred thousand tons. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: Private. 

KAIBAB SQUIRREL AREA The Kaibab Squirrel Area, located within portions of the Kaibab 

National Forest and Grand Canyon National Park, is illustrative of 

the habitat for the Kaibab squirrel. This rare and restricted species, 

represents a classic example of evolution through geographic 

isolation. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Federal. 

Mojave County

GRAPEVINE MESA 

JOSHUA TREES 

The Grapevine Mesa Joshua Trees forest contains the best existing 

display of Joshua trees in the United States. Additionally, the 

diversity and excellent condition of the associated flora makes this 

site a superb example of the Mojave Desert ecological unit. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: Federal, Indian Trust (Hualapai 

Tribe), private. 

Navajo County

COMB RIDGE Comb Ridge is the only known location for tritylodont fossils in 

North America. The close relationship between the specimen found 

here and those in South Africa, Argentina, and Eastern China 

provides support for the theory of continental drift. Designated: 

1976. Ownership: Indian Trust (Navajo Indian Nation). 

Santa Cruz County

CANELO HILLS CIENEGA Canelo Hills Cienega contains the least disturbed extensive 

southwestern desert wet grasslands (cienega) along the United 

States-Mexican border. The site supports one of two known 

populations of Canelo lady’s tresses, and is one of several areas 

that support the native, rare Gila chub and Gila sucker. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 
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ARIZONA - ARKANSAS

ONYX CAVE Onyx cave, located within Coronado National Forest, is considered 

to be the finest cave in Arizona. Helictites and speleothems, such 

as shields are numerous and beautifully developed. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: Federal. 

PATAGONIA-SONOITA 

CREEK SANCTUARY 

Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Sanctuary is a good example of a 

cottonwood-willow riparian forest and is one of the last permanent 

stream-bottom habitat areas in southern Arizona. The site retains a 

substantial part of the indigenous aquatic biota, including the 

endangered Gila topminnow. The birdlife includes several Mexican 

species and is the only known nesting site in the country for the 

rare rose-throated becard. Designated: 1970. Ownership: Private. 

ARKANSAS (5) 

Desha County

WHITE RIVER 

SUGARBERRY 

NATURAL AREA 

White River Sugarberry Natural Area contains a partially virgin 

forest with excellent examples of three bottomland hardwood forest 

types and wildlife populations typical of the forest types present. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 

Fulton County

MAMMOTH SPRING The third largest spring in the Ozark Mountains, Mammoth Spring is 

a classic example of a spring originating as a resurgent 

subterranean stream. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 

Mississippi County

BIG LAKE NATURAL 

AREA 

Big Lake Natural Area contains a significant amount of virgin forest, 

composed of a mix of southern, ozark, and midwestern flora. The 

site supports several threatened or endangered bird species. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 

Polk County

ROARING BRANCH 

RESEARCH NATURAL 

AREA 

Roaring Branch Research Natural Area includes a steep ravine with 

a virgin mesophytic forest representing a relict outlier of forests 

characteristic of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. The site also 

supports plant species that are rare in the Ouachita Mountains. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 
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ARKANSAS - CALIFORNIA

Saline County

LAKE WINONA 

RESEARCH NATURAL 

AREA 

Lake Winona Research Natural Area contains a large virgin 

shortleaf pine forest reminiscent of those that once covered large 

areas of Arkansas. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 

CALIFORNIA (35) 

Amador County

BLACK CHASM CAVE Black Chasm Cave is a small three-level cave containing an 

outstanding variety of speleothems and some of the best helictite 

formations in the West. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Private. 

Contra Costa County

MT. DIABLO STATE PARK Mt. Diablo State Park contains the best examples of diapiric 

(igneous intrusion) geologic processes in the South Pacific Border 

biophysiographic province. It is one of the few places in the region 

where geologic strata of Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary age can 

be seen in an aggregate thickness of 42,000 feet. The site also 

possesses a great diversity of native plant species and 

associations. Designated: 1982. Ownership: State. 

El Dorado County

EMERALD BAY A vividly colored oval embayment of Lake Tahoe, Emerald Bay was 

formed by moraines as parallel glaciers receded. The site is an 

outstanding example of glacial geology. Designated: 1968. 

Ownership: Federal, State. 

Imperial County

ANZA-BORREGO 

DESERT STATE PARK 

(see San Diego County) 

IMPERIAL SAND HILLS Imperial Sand Hills is one of the largest dune patches in the United 

States. It is an outstanding example of dune geology and ecology 

in an arid land. Designated: 1966. Ownership: Federal, private. 

SAN FELIPE CREEK 

AREA 

The San Felipe Creek Area is a marsh containing probably the last 

remaining perennial natural desert stream in the Colorado Desert 

region. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal, private. 
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CALIFORNIA

Inyo County

DEEP SPRINGS MARSH Deep Springs Marsh is an example of increasingly rare desert 

marsh and possibly the only area containing habitat for the black 

toad. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Private. 

EUREKA DUNES Eureka Dunes, located within Death Valley National Park, is an 

excellent example of eolian (wind) geological processes. It is the 

tallest dune complex in the Great Basin biophysiographic province 

of the United States. The site contains an endangered grass genus, 

one species of which is the only plant capable of surviving on and 

stabilizing the steep dune slopes. Designated: 1983. Ownership: 

Federal. 

FISH SLOUGH (extends into Mono County) Fish Slough is a large, essentially 

undisturbed desert wetland that provides habitat for the endangered 

Owens pupfish. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Federal, State, 

municipal, private. 

Kern County

SAND RIDGE 

WILDFLOWER 

PRESERVE 

Sand Ridge Wildflower Preserve is a remnant natural area 

displaying a great diversity of floral species, including the native 

Bakersfield cactus, a species becoming increasingly rare in this 

locality. Designated: 1984. Ownership: Private. 

SHARKTOOTH HILL Sharktooth Hill is one of the most abundant, diverse and wellpreserved fossil marine vertebrate sites in the world. Designated: 

1976. Ownership: Private. 

Los Angeles County

RANCHO LA BREA Rancho La Brea is the site of the world-famous natural asphalt tar 

pits in which Pleistocene animals became entrapped in their quest 

for fresh water. It is recognized for having the largest and most 

diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the 

world. Designated: 1964. Ownership: Municipal. 

Marin County

AUDUBON CANYON 

RANCH 

Audubon Canyon Ranch is the largest known nesting area for great 

blue herons and American egrets on the Pacific Coast. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: Private. 
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CALIFORNIA

Mendocino County

ELDER CREEK Elder Creek is a largely undisturbed watershed containing large old 

stands of Douglas fir, broadleaf evergreens, and deciduous trees. 

The site also supports a wide variety of wildlife. Designated: 1964. 

Ownership: Private. 

PYGMY FOREST Pygmy Forest is a unique forest of low, stunted trees and shrubs 

caused by a complex ecological condition associated with 

underlying wave terraces and their unusual soils. Designated: 

1969. Ownership: State. 

Mono County

FISH SLOUGH (see Inyo County) 

Monterey County

POINT LOBOS STATE 

RESERVE 

Point Lobos State Reserve is an outstanding example of terrestrial 

and marine environments in close association. It is the only known 

habitat of Monterey cypress and variegated brodiaea, and is one of 

only two or three areas containing the Gowan's cypress and sea 

otter. The site is a sanctuary for thousands of sea and shorebirds. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 

Orange County

IRVINE RANCH Irvine Ranch contains a remarkably complete stratigraphic 

succession ranging in age from late Cretaceous (80 million years 

ago) to the present. The primary biological features at the site 

include coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities, including 

rare Tecate cypress woodlands. Designated: 2006. Ownership: 

Federal, State, county, municipal, private. 

Riverside County

ANZA-BORREGO 

DESERT STATE PARK 

(see San Diego County) 

Sacramento County

AMERICAN RIVER 

BLUFFS AND PHOENIX 

PARK VERNAL POOLS 

American River Bluffs and Phoenix Park Vernal Pools contains 

outstanding examples of vernal pools, and blue oak woodlands, a 

rare plant community type. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal, 

county, private. 
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CALIFORNIA

COSUMNES RIVER 

RIPARIAN WOODLANDS 

Cosumnes River Riparian Woodlands is a small remnant of a 

rapidly disappearing riparian woodland community type that once 

formed a major part of the central California valley. Designated: 

1976. Ownership: Private. 

San Benito County

SAN ANDREAS FAULT Located along the San Andreas Fault at the Cienega Winery is one 

of the best illustrations of earth displacement caused by small 

crustal movements. One-half of the building has moved eight 

inches in nine years. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Private. 

San Bernardino County

AMBOY CRATER Amboy Crater is an excellent example of a recent volcanic cinder 

cone with an unusually flat crater floor. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Federal, private. 

CINDER CONE NATURAL 

AREA 

Cinder Cone Natural Area is a complex of over 20 large cinder 

cones of recent origin with extensive and continuous lava flows. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Federal, State. 

MITCHELL CAVERNS 

AND WINDING STAIR 

CAVE 

Mitchell Caverns and Winding Stair Cave, developed in the Bird 

Spring Formation of Permian age, are the most important solution 

caverns known in the Mohave Desert biophysiographic province. 

Several other caves are located within the landmark boundary. 

Designated: 1975. Ownership: State. 

RAINBOW BASIN Comprised of deep erosion canyons with rugged rims, Rainbow 

Basin is an outstanding example of geologic processes. The site 

contains significant fossil evidence of insects, larger Miocene 

mammals and mammal tracks. Designated: 1966. Ownership: 

Federal. 

TRONA PINNACLES Trona Pinnacles is a relict landform from the Pleistocene containing 

unique formations of calcium carbonate known as "tufa". 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: Federal. 

TURTLE MOUNTAINS 

NATURAL AREA 

Turtle Mountains Natural Area contains two mountain sections of 

entirely different composition. It illustrates past volcanic 

phenomena with superimposed sculpturing of mountain landforms 

by weathering and uplift. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Federal, 

State. 
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CALIFORNIA

San Diego County

ANZA-BORREGO 

DESERT STATE PARK 

(extends into Imperial and Riverside Counties) Anza-Borrego 

Desert State Park is the largest desert state park in the nation. The 

site contains some of the best examples of the various biotic 

communities and geological phenomena of the Colorado Desert 

region. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State, municipal, private. 

MIRAMAR MOUNDS Miramar Mounds contains unique soil features called "mima 

mounds," which are found in only three or four locations in the 

country. The site also contains rare vernal pools that are found 

only in California. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Federal. 

TIJUANA RIVER 

ESTUARY 

Tijuana River Estuary is one of the finest remaining saltwater 

marshes on the California coastline. The site supports three 

species of endangered birds and contains important habitat for 

other wildlife, especially waterfowl. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

Federal, State, municipal, private. 

TORREY PINES STATE 

RESERVE 

Torrey Pines State Reserve contains a unique and undisturbed 

biological community supporting endangered bird species. Torrey 

pine forests occur naturally only here and on Santa Rosa Island, 

175 miles to the northwest. High bluffs and sea cliffs found at this 

site are good examples of geological processes. Designated: 1977. 

Ownership: State. 

San Luis Obispo County

NIPOMO DUNES-POINT 

SAL COASTAL AREA 

(extends into Santa Barbara County) Nipomo Dunes-Point Sal 

Coastal Area contains the largest, relatively undisturbed coastal 

dune tract in California, and is one of the last remaining tracts of 

pristine rocky coastline in the South Coast Ranges. The site 

supports great species diversity, including rare and endangered 

plants and animals. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal, State, 

county, private. 

San Mateo County

ANO NUEVO POINT AND 

ISLAND 

Ano Nuevo Point and Island contains habitat for harbor seals and 

Steller and California sea lions and is the only mainland breeding 

ground for the northern elephant seal in the world. The processes 

of wave cutting, geologic uplift and sea level fluctuation are well 

represented along Ano Nuevo Point. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

CALIFORNIA

Santa Barbara County

NIPOMO DUNES-POINT 

SAL COASTAL AREA 

(see San Luis Obispo County) 

Shasta County

BURNEY FALLS Burney Falls, located within McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State 

Park, contains some of the best examples in the western United 

States of a river drainage regulated by stratigraphically-controlled 

springs, and of a waterfall formed by undercutting of horizontal rock 

layers. Designated: 1984. Ownership: State. 

Siskiyou County

MOUNT SHASTA One of the world's largest and most impressive stratovolcanoes, 

Mount Shasta contains five glaciers and consists of four distinct but 

overlapping cones. It is the second highest of the 15 main 

volcanoes in the Cascade range, only Mount Rainier is higher. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 

Solano County

DIXON VERNAL POOLS Dixon Vernal Pools represents the best example of the valley 

needlegrass grassland in the Great Central valley of the South 

Pacific Border biophysiographic province. There are only three 

valley needlegrass grassland sites remaining today. The site 

contains extensive stands of perennial needlegrass in a mosaic 

with claypan vernal pools, another critically rare natural community. 

The rolling hummocky topography results in a complex patchwork 

of grasses and native wildflowers. Designated: 1987. Ownership: 

Private. 

Tulare County

PIXLEY VERNAL POOLS The Pixley Vernal Pools is one of the few remaining natural vernal 

pools containing rare endemic plant species. Over 26 families and 

100 species are represented at this site. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 
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JUNE 2009 

COLORADO

COLORADO (11) 

Clear Creek County

SUMMIT LAKE The Summit Lake area is one of the best examples of Arctic tundra 

in the conterminous United States. Located within Summit Lake 

Park at nearly 13,000 feet elevation, this area provides habitat for a 

variety of rare alpine-arctic plants, some of which occur only here 

and at the Arctic Circle. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Municipal. 

Douglas County

ROXBOROUGH STATE 

PARK 

Roxborough State Park provides an excellent example of the titled 

and faulted sedimentary strata of the Colorado front range 

environment. The site contains significant fossil remains, fine 

exposures of hogbacks, unusual erosional patterns in Fountain 

sandstone, and atypical occurrences of at least two front-range 

plant communities. Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 

El Paso County

GARDEN OF THE GODS Garden of the Gods is an outstanding illustration of the lithologic 

character of sedimentary rocks, and of the vertical forces that 

produced the front range of the Rocky Mountains. Located within 

Garden of the Gods Park, the site contains the uncommon honey 

ant, and is one of the best sites in Colorado for observing whitethroated swifts, swallows, and canyon wrens. Designated: 1971. 

Ownership: Municipal. 

Fremont County

GARDEN PARK FOSSIL 

AREA 

Garden Park Fossil Area is an internationally known paleontological 

site that was one of the primary areas responsible for generating 

worldwide interest in dinosaurs during the late 1800's. Fifteen 

species of dinosaurs, nine of which were new, were recovered from 

here at that time. Fish, crocodile, turtle, and mammal fossils have 

also been recovered, making this site one of the oldest and richest 

fossil sites in the United States. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

Federal. 

INDIAN SPRINGS TRACE 

FOSSIL SITE 

Indian Springs Trace Fossil Site is considered the best trace fossil 

locality in North America for illustrating the markings and 

movements of ancient Ordovician animal life. Designated: 1979. 

Ownership: Private. 
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COLORADO

Hinsdale County

SLUMGULLION 

EARTHFLOW 

Slumgullion Earthflow is an excellent illustration of the geologic 

process of mass wasting. Seven hundred years ago, a huge mass 

of volcanic rock slumped from the mountainside and flowed into the 

main valley where it spread laterally to form Lake San Cristobal. 

The older flow is presently being overridden by a new flow moving 

up to 20 feet per year. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Federal, 

private. 

Huerfano County

SPANISH PEAKS (extends into Las Animas County) Spanish Peaks, located within 

the San Isabel National Forest, is one of the best known examples 

of exposed igneous dikes. Dikes are formed when molten igneous 

material is forced into a fracture or fault before becoming solidified. 

There may be over 500 such dikes in the area. Designated: 1976. 

Ownership: Federal, private. 

Jefferson County

LOST CREEK SCENIC 

AREA 

(see Park County) 

MORRISON FOSSIL AREA In the late 1800’s, the Morrison Fossil Area was the site of the first 

major discovery of giant dinosaur fossil bones in North America. 

Fossils from nine species of dinosaur were recovered, seven of 

which were newly discovered species. A new species of crocodile 

and turtle were also collected. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

County, private. 

Larimer County

SAND CREEK (see Albany County, Wyoming) 

Las Animas County

RATON MESA Raton Mesa illustrates a mesa preserved by a thick lava cap that 

has resisted destruction from weathering and erosion. It is the only 

significant reference available illustrating the magnitude of erosion 

involved in developing the land surface of the Great Plains adjacent 

to the lower foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: State, private. 

SPANISH PEAKS (see Huerfano County) 
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COLORADO - CONNECTICUT

Park County

LOST CREEK SCENIC 

AREA 

(extends into Jefferson County) Lost Creek Scenic Area illustrates 

unusual rock formations and underground stream channels 

resulting from weathering along joint planes. Located within Pike 

National Forest, the site contains spires, pinnacles, narrow ridges 

and steep, narrow gorges. Lost Creek disappears and reappears at 

the surface at least nine times, a drainage pattern atypical in 

granite. Designated: 1966. Ownership: Federal. 

Saguache County

RUSSELL LAKES The most extensive bulrush marsh in Colorado, Russell Lakes 

represents one of the few remaining large, high-altitude, alkaline 

marshes in the southern Rocky Mountains. The site supports large 

numbers of flora and fauna and is an outstanding resting and 

breeding site for waterfowl. Designated: 1975. Ownership: 

Federal, private. 

CONNECTICUT (8) 

Hartford County

DINOSAUR TRACKWAY At least three types of reptile have been identified from over 1,000 

fossilized tracks at Dinosaur Trackway, one of the largest known 

exposures of dinosaur tracks on a single bedding plane. Preserved 

in place and representing a single moment in time, this site affords 

a rare opportunity to study the life history of an ancient reptile 

community. Designated: 1968. Ownership: State. 

McLEAN GAME REFUGE 

NATURAL AREAS 

McLean Game Refuge Natural Areas consists of two separate land 

tracts, the Western Highlands and the Sand Plains, which 

encompass an unusually diverse forest flora. Occurring within the 

oak chestnut region of the eastern deciduous forest, kettlehole bogs 

and a mile-long esker are evidence of glacial activity. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: Private. 

Litchfield County

BARTHOLOMEW’S 

COBBLE 

(extends into Berkshire County, Massachusetts) Considered the 

greatest natural concentration of ferns in the country, 

Bartholomew’s Cobble supports 43 species, including several 

rarities restricted to limestone. Within this small area of diverse 

habitats, occurs a remarkable and well documented assemblage of 

plants and animals. Designated: 1971. Ownership: Private. 
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JUNE 2009 

CONNECTICUT - FLORIDA

BECKLEY BOG The most southerly sphagnum-heath-black spruce bog in New 

England, Beckley Bog possesses all principal elements of a boreal 

bog. It is a rare relic of the early post-Pleistocene. Peat moss 

underlies the quaking, floating bog mat to a maximum depth of 50 

feet. Designated: 1977. Ownership: Private. 

BINGHAM POND BOG Extremely rare in New England outside of Maine, Bingham Pond 

Bog is an undisturbed, cold northern spruce bog. It is atypical in 

the lack of sphagnum moss as a component of the floating bog mat. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

CATHEDRAL PINES Cathedral Pines is an old-growth, white pine and hemlock forest 

that is considered the largest stand identified in New England. 

Trees measure over 150 feet tall and 4 feet in diameter. The site 

exemplifies the old-growth, pine forest stage in New England forest 

succession. Designated: 1982. Ownership: Private. 

Middlesex County

CHESTER CEDAR 

SWAMP 

Chester Cedar Swamp is a wetland complex that contains relatively 

mature, second-growth forested swamp, a small pond, and 

bogland, bounded by upland forest. It is considered one of the 

finest Atlantic white cedar swamps in Connecticut. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: State, municipal, private. 

New London County

PACHAUG-GREAT 

MEADOW SWAMP 

Two wide streams, the Pachaug River and the Great Meadow 

Brook, flow through the Pachaug-Great Meadow Swamp, which is 

considered one of the finest and most extensive Atlantic white 

cedar swamps in Connecticut. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

State, private. 

FLORIDA (18) 

Alachua County

DEVIL’S MILLHOPPER Located within Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park, Devil’s 

Millhopper is an excellent example of karst topography in the 

Southeast and an important cultural and historic site in the Alachua 

area. The generally dry sink is an example of several ecosystems 

with many microhabitats and major plant associations that 

demonstrate vertical zonation. Designated: 1974. Ownership: 

State. 
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JUNE 2009 

FLORIDA

PAYNES PRAIRIE The largest and most diverse freshwater marsh in northern Florida, 

Paynes Prairie is a superlative example of prairie formation in a 

karst area. Located within Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, it is 

a major wintering ground for many species of waterfowl as well as 

providing habitat for other wildlife, including two endangered 

species. The site contains the Alachua sink, one of Florida's 

largest and most famous sinks. Designated: 1974. Ownership: 

State, private. 

SAN FELASCO 

HAMMOCK 

San Felasco Hammock is the largest remaining example of 

northern Florida's climax forest ecosystem, the upland mesic 

hammock. Located primarily within San Felasco Hammock 

Preserve State Park, the site contains an extraordinary diversity of 

botanical resources supporting high quality woodland wildlife 

habitat. This is the most complex, diverse and productive of north 

Florida's forests. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State, private. 

Baker County

OSCEOLA RESEARCH 

NATURAL AREA 

Osceola Research Natural Area, located within Osceola National 

Forest, includes an undisturbed mixed hardwood swamp with 

associated pine flatwoods and cypress swamp. The flatwoods are 

excellent wildlife habitat, and the presence of virgin cypress is a 

rare feature. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 

Collier County

BIG CYPRESS BEND Big Cypress Bend includes undisturbed virgin cypress, sawgrass 

prairie, and palmetto hammocks. Located within Fakahatchee 

Stand Preserve State Park, the site is probably the best sizeable 

example of a tropical swamp remaining in the Southeast. It 

contains the largest royal palm stand in the country. Designated: 

1966. Ownership: State. 

CORKSCREW SWAMP 

SANCTUARY 

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary contains a wide variety of habitats, 

including pond cypress, wet prairie, pineland, and the largest 

remaining stand of virgin bald cypress in North America. The 

sanctuary supports the largest wood stork rookery in the United 

States and is important for several other endangered species. 

Designated: 1964. Ownership: State, private. 
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JUNE 2009 

FLORIDA

Columbia County

ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS (extends into Suwanee County) Ichetucknee Springs is an 

illustration of a large artesian spring group and of the geologic 

history of the Floridian aquifer from which Florida's great springs 

emanate. Located within Ichetucknee Springs State Park, the site 

contains abandoned relict channels ancestral to the present 

underground solution channels. The artesian outflow aggregates 

250 to 470 cubic feet per second, making it the third largest spring 

group in Florida. Designated: 1971. Ownership: State. 

Highlands County

ARCHBOLD BIOLOGICAL 

STATION 

The Archbold Biological Station encompasses the largest known 

relatively undisturbed tract of contiguous natural communities 

characteristics of the Lakes Wales Ridge. The full range of 

moisture conditions (xeric-mesic-hydric) and most stages of plant 

succession are represented by high quality examples. Lake Annie 

is the highest quality water supply left in the system of valley sink 

lakes that extends northward from the site. A large number of 

endemic and rare species of plants and animals are located here. 

Designated: 1987. Ownership: Private. 

Jackson County

FLORIDA CAVERNS 

NATURAL AREA 

Florida Caverns Natural Area is a unique disjunct relict community 

from a former temperate hardwood forest that has remained intact 

and isolated since at least the end of the Wisconsin glacial period. 

Located within Florida Caverns State Park, the cave harbors three 

species of bats, including the endangered Indiana bat, which uses 

the cave for winter hibernation. Designated: 1977. Ownership: 

State. 

Lake County

EMERALDA MARSH (extends into Marion County) Emeralda Marsh is representative of 

a virtually undisturbed inland freshwater riverine sawgrass marsh. 

Located within the Emeralda Marsh Conservation Area, the bay 

hammock and surrounding aquatic vegetation provide an important 

fishery and nesting and feeding grounds for several species of 

waterfowl, including Florida and greater sandhill cranes, and bald 

eagles. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State, private. 
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FLORIDA

Levy County

MANATEE SPRINGS Manatee Springs, located within Manatee Springs State Park, ranks 

about sixth in size among the great artesian springs of Florida. It is 

in close proximity to karst sinkholes, with proven underground 

connections to the headspring and the Suwanee River. 

Designated: 1971. Ownership: State. 

WACCASASSA BAY 

STATE PRESERVE 

Waccasassa Bay State Preserve provides an extensive, 

undisturbed example of the coastal ecosystems that occur in 

northern Florida with the unique addition of the mangrove 

community. The entire transition from mangrove to saltmarsh to 

brackish marsh to freshwater marsh to hardwood hammock forest 

is superbly demonstrated here. Diversity of biota is very high and 

the area serves as habitat for at least three threatened or 

endangered species. Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 

Liberty County

TORREYA STATE PARK Located along the Apalachicola River, Torreya State Park contains 

high river bluffs, a wide range of soil, water and nutrient conditions, 

as well as a full spectrum of microclimates. This range of niches 

supports a significant number of unique plants, the combination of 

which can be found in no other place in the world. Rare plant 

species include the endangered stinking-cedar and the Florida yew. 

The steep slopes and ravines also contain a wide assemblage of 

northern affinity trees, shrubs and herbs. Designated: 1976. 

Ownership: State. 

Marion County

EMERALDA MARSH (see Lake County) 

RAINBOW SPRINGS Located within Rainbow Springs State Park, Rainbow Springs is 

ranked second of Florida's great artesian springs on the basis of its 

rate of discharge, and ranked first as a single outlet spring. 

Designated: 1971. Ownership: State. 

SILVER SPRINGS Silver Springs is a tight cluster of springs with an outflow ranging 

between 600 and 1,100 cubic feet per second. Located within 

Silver Springs nature theme park, the springs are ranked as the 

largest artesian spring group in the United States and one of the 

great groups in the world. Designated: 1971. Ownership: Private. 
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JUNE 2009 

FLORIDA - GEORGIA

Martin County

REED WILDERNESS 

SEASHORE 

SANCTUARY 

Encompassing the northern portion of Jupiter Island, the Reed 

Wilderness Seashore Sanctuary is an unaltered section of the east 

coast of Florida seashore. Located within Hobe Sound National 

Wildlife Refuge, the site includes semitropical plant associations of 

mangrove swamps, coastal strand and shell mound types, 

providing an increasingly rare nesting site for Atlantic loggerhead 

turtles. Designated: 1967. Ownership: Federal. 

Monroe County

LIGNUMVITAE KEY One of the highest keys in the Florida Keys chain, Lignumvitae Key 

provides a wide range of habitat, from wave-washed exposures of 

Key Largo limestone to mangrove swamp. Located within 

Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, the site is the largest and 

best example of tropical hammock forest known in the United 

States. Designated: 1968. Ownership: State. 

Suwanee County

ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS (see Columbia County) 

Wakulla County

WAKULLA SPRINGS One of the largest and deepest springs in Florida, Wakulla Springs 

is an independent freshwater ecosystem rich in aquatic vegetation, 

fish, turtles, alligators, and birds. Located within Edward Ball 

Wakulla Springs State Park, the site is lined with huge cypress 

trees and contains a well-developed hardwood hammock 

containing significant fossil evidence. Designated: 1966. 

Ownership: State. 

GEORGIA (10) 

Charlton County

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP (extends into Clinch and Ware Counties) Okefenokee Swamp, 

located within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, is one of 

the largest and most primitive swamps in the country. It contains a 

diversity of ecosystems and is a refuge for native flora and fauna 

including many uncommon, threatened, and endangered species. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 
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JUNE 2009 

GEORGIA

Chatham County

WASSAW ISLAND Wassaw Island is the only island of the Golden Isles with an 

undisturbed forest cover. Located primarily within the Wassaw 

Island National Wildlife Refuge, it is one of the few remaining sea 

island ecosystems where natural processes of succession, erosion 

and deposition, relatively unaffected by human activities, are 

demonstrated. The vast salt marsh that lies between the sea island 

and the mainland is rich in biological productivity, sustaining a wide 

array of unusual animals. Designated: 1967. Ownership: Federal, 

private. 

Clinch County

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP (see Charlton County) 

Columbia County

HEGGIE’S ROCK Heggie's Rock is the best example in eastern North America of the 

remarkable endemic flora restricted to granite outcrops. The site is 

the least disturbed of all the major outcrops and illustrates the best 

community zonation. Twelve of the nineteen endemic species, 

subspecies, and varieties associated with well-exposed granitic 

flatrocks occur at this site. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

Effingham County

EBENEZER CREEK 

SWAMP 

Ebenezer Creek Swamp is the best remaining cypress-gum swamp 

forest in the Savannah River basin. It illustrates the relationship 

and interactions between river and creek; providing spawning 

grounds for the anadromous striped bass and habitat for the 

American alligator. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Private. 

Emanuel County

CAMP E. F. BOYD 

NATURAL AREA 

The Camp E. F. Boyd Natural Area is one of the best 

representatives of the upland sand ridge ecosystem of the Coastal 

Plain, a rapidly disappearing flood plain. The site also provides 

habitat for several rare plants and endangered species. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 
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GEORGIA

Floyd County

MARSHALL FOREST Marshall Forest is a loblolly pine-shortleaf pine forest believed to 

have originated following an intense fire at about the time the 

Cherokee Indians were forcibly removed to Oklahoma. The site 

has a ten-acre stand of virgin yellow poplar. Designated: 1966. 

Ownership: Private. 

Harris County

CASON J. CALLAWAY 

MEMORIAL FOREST 

The Cason J. Callaway Memorial Forest is an outstanding example 

of transitional conditions between eastern deciduous and southern 

coniferous forest types. Several plants reach northern and 

southern limits here. The assemblage of species is among the 

most interesting and unique in the southeastern United States, with 

species such as mountain-laurel and titi occurring together. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: Private. 

McIntosh County

LEWIS ISLAND TRACT One of the most extensive bottomland hardwood swamps in 

Georgia, the Lewis Island Tract contains stands of virgin bald 

cypress and associated swamp hardwood species. Located within 

the Lewis Island Natural Area, the site also supports several 

uncommon wildlife species. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

Rockdale County

PANOLA MOUNTAIN Located within Panola Mountain State Park, Panola Mountain is the 

most natural and undisturbed monadnock of exposed granitic rock 

in the Piedmont biophysiograpic province. Successional plant 

communities from base rock to oak-hickory forest are present here. 

There are a number of characteristic granite outcrop plants, 

including granite stonecrop, a rare endemic species. Designated: 

1980. Ownership: State. 

Tattnall County

BIG HAMMOCK NATURAL 

AREA 

Big Hammock Natural Area contains a great diversity of ecosystem 

types with an associated diversity of species. Of prime importance 

is the relatively undisturbed broadleaf evergreen hammock forest, 

which covers most of the tract and includes certain rare and 

endangered species, most notably the largest known population of 

Georgia plume. Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

GEORGIA - GUAM - HAWAII

Ware County

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP (see Charlton County) 

GUAM (4) 

FACPI POINT Facpi Point contains pillow lavas, intersecting dikes, and a massive 

sea stack of black coralline limestone. It is an illustration of the 

major episode of volcanism that created Guam Island. Designated: 

1972. Ownership: Government of Guam. 

FOUHA POINT Fouha Point contains exposures of volcanic rock with a nearby 

intertidal platform of two levels of coralline limestone. Designated: 

1972. Ownership: Government of Guam. 

MOUNT LAMLAM Mount Lamlam is a remnant of a great caldera. It is the third key 

site on Guam disclosing the major volcanism that created the 

island. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Government of Guam. 

PUNTAN DOS AMANTES Puntan dos Amantes illustrates the limestone deposition and 

subsequent subterranean erosion phases of Guam's geologic 

history. The site contains a 370-foot high cliff exposure of massive 

limestone. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Government of Guam. 

HAWAII (7) 

Island of Hawaii

MAKALAWENA MARSH Makalawena Marsh is one of two remaining ponds on the island of 

Hawaii that supports a resident population of the endangered, nonmigratory Hawaiian stilt, a nesting site for the Hawaiian coot, and 

the only known breeding site of the black-crowned night heron. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: Private. 

MAUNA KEA Mauna Kea is an exposed portion of the highest insular mountain in 

the United States. It contains the highest lake in the country and 

evidence of glaciation above the 11,000-foot level. It is the most 

majestic expression of shield volcanism in the Hawaiian 

Archipelago, if not the world. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 
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HAWAII - IDAHO

Island of Maui

IAO VALLEY Iao Valley and the volcanic rocks on its enclosing slopes illustrate 

the major episode of volcanism that created the western portion of 

the island of Maui. Erosion of the volcanic rocks has resulted in an 

amphitheater shaped valley. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State, 

private. 

KANAHA POND Kanaha Pond provides the most important waterbird habitat in 

Hawaii. It is one of the few remaining brackish-water ecosystems, 

providing refuge for both resident and migratory bird populations. 

Designated: 1971. Ownership: State. 

Island of Molokai

NORTH SHORE CLIFFS North Shore Cliffs provides the finest exposures of ancient volcanic 

rocks resulting from the major episode of volcanism creating 

Molokai Island. It is among the most ancient in the Hawaiian Island 

chain. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State, private. 

Island of Oahu

DIAMOND HEAD Diamond Head is one of the best exposed and preserved examples 

of a typical volcanic cone of altered basaltic glass. It shows the 

bedding structure of the cone and the character of the rock. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: Federal, State. 

KOOLAU RANGE PALI The Koolau Range Pali is to the island of Oahu what the Great 

Western Divide is to Sequoia National Park. Faulting and stream 

erosion are among the principal processes which give the cliffs their 

configuration. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Private. 

IDAHO (11) 

Adams County

SHEEP ROCK Sheep Rock, located within the Payette National Forest, provides 

the best view of the horizontally layered lavas that represent 

successive flows on the Columbia River Basalt Plateau. The two 

contrasting series of volcanic rocks separated by a major 

unconformity provides an unobstructed view of an important 

geologic phenomenon. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 
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IDAHO

Bingham County

HELL’S HALF ACRE 

LAVA FIELD 

(extends into Bonneville County) Hell’s Half Acre Lava Field is a 

complete, young, unweathered, fully exposed pahoehoe lava flow, 

lava whose surface is frequently molded smooth into forms 

representing huge rope coils. The site also provides an 

outstanding example of pioneer vegetation establishing itself on a 

lava flow. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal, State. 

Blaine County

GREAT RIFT SYSTEM (extends into Minidoka and Power Counties) The Great Rift 

System represents a tensional fracture in the Earth's crust that may 

extend to the crust-mantle interface. It also illustrates primary 

vegetation succession on very young lava flows. The Great Rift 

System is unique in North America and has few counterparts in the 

world. Designated: 1968. Ownership: Federal. 

Bonneville County

HELL’S HALF ACRE 

LAVA FIELD 

(see Bingham County) 

Butte County

BIG SOUTHERN BUTTE The view from the Big Southern Butte illustrates the scope and 

dimensions of Quaternary volcanism in the western United States. 

It is the largest area of volcanic rocks of young age in the United 

States. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 

Cassia County

CASSIA SILENT CITY OF 

ROCKS 

Cassia Silent City of Rocks contains monolithic landforms created 

by exfoliation processes on exposed massive granite plutons. It is 

the best example of bornhardts (weather-resistant rock left standing 

after erosion of surrounding rock) in the country. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

Elmore County

CRATER RINGS Crater Rings are two adjacent and symmetrical pit craters that are 

among the few examples of this type of crater in the continental 

United States. The pit craters, which are volcanic conduits in which 

the lava column rises and falls, were formed by explosions followed 

by collapse. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 
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IDAHO

Fremont County

BIG SPRINGS Big Springs is the only first-magnitude spring in the country that 

issues forth from rhyolitic lava flows. It is the source of the South 

Fork of the Henrys Fork River. Designated: 1980. Ownership: 

Federal. 

Gooding County

NIAGARA SPRINGS Niagara Springs is the least developed of the large springs 

discharging into the Snake River from the Snake River plain aquifer 

system. It is outstandingly illustrative of the enormous volume of 

water transmitted through this aquifer. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Private. 

Jefferson County

MENAN BUTTES (extends into Madison County) Menan Buttes contains outstanding 

examples of glass tuff cones, which are found in only a few places 

in the world. Their large size and unusual composition make them 

particularly illustrative of an unusual aspect of basaltic volcanism. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal, private. 

Madison County

MENAN BUTTES (see Jefferson County) 

Minidoka County

GREAT RIFT SYSTEM (see Blaine County) 

Power County

GREAT RIFT SYSTEM (see Blaine County) 

Shoshone County

HOBO CEDAR GROVE 

BOTANICAL AREA 

Hobo Cedar Grove Botanical Area is an outstanding example of 

pristine western red cedar forest. Two communities are 

represented: cedar/Oregon boxwood on the uplands and cedar/fern 

on the lowlands. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 
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JUNE 2009 

IDAHO - ILLINOIS

Twin Falls County

HAGERMAN FAUNA 

SITES 

Located in Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Hagerman 

Fauna Sites is of international significance, as it contains the 

world's richest deposits of Upper Pliocene age terrestrial fossils. 

Designated: 1975. Ownership: Federal, State. 

ILLINOIS (18) 

Alexander County

HORSESHOE LAKE 

NATURE PRESERVE 

Horseshoe Lake Nature Preserve contains diverse aquatic and 

terrestrial flora and fauna and mature stands of bald cypress. The 

site is on the migration corridor of many waterfowl, as well as being 

an overwintering site for thousands of Canada geese. Designated: 

1972. Ownership: State. 

Carroll County

MISSISSIPPI PALISADES Mississippi Palisades illustrates topography containing deep Vshaped valleys, caves and sinks, and massive cliffs along the 

Mississippi River. The site supports numerous species of plant and 

animal life. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 

Cook County

BUSSE FOREST NATURE 

PRESERVE 

Situated on the flood plain and morainal uplands along Salt Creek, 

Busse Forest Nature Preserve, is one of the best remaining 

examples of mesic and dry-mesic upland forest in the eastern 

Central Lowlands biophysiographic province. The area has been 

protected for so long that there is no evidence of past logging 

throughout most of the site. Designated: 1980. Ownership: 

County. 

MARKHAM PRAIRIE Markham Prairie is the largest and highest quality prairie in Illinois 

and in large parts of adjacent states. As a mesic prairie 

intergrading between sand prairie and typical tall-grass prairie on 

loamy soil, it is a remnant of a distinct and formerly widespread 

biotic community type of the Central Lowlands biophysiographic 

province. The site is also an excellent example of undeveloped 

lakebed and beach ridge topography. Designated: 1987. 

Ownership: Federal, State, private. 
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JUNE 2009 

ILLINOIS

Jackson County

LITTLE GRAND CANYON 

AREA 

The Little Grand Canyon Area is an exceptional example of a large 

box canyon with vertical overhanging walls. The site contains a 

great diversity of ecosystems, including sandstone outcrops and 

overhangs, ravine slope forest, dry site oak-hickory forest, and hill 

prairies. The ravine is nationally known as a seasonal haven for a 

great variety of snakes that hibernate there. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Federal. 

Johnson County

LOWER CACHE RIVER 

SWAMP 

(extends into Pulaski County) Lower Cache River Swamp is an 

outstanding remnant of the swampy flood plain forest and open 

swamp that once covered an extensive area at the junction of the 

Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. The site has many large trees 

including three trees larger than any on record for the species in the 

nation. Designated: 1980. Ownership: State, private. 

HERON POND-LITTLE 

BLACK SLOUGH 

NATURAL AREA 

Heron Pond-Little Black Slough Natural Area is the largest 

remaining cypress-tupelo swamp in Illinois. The site contains a 

heron rookery and the valley is an outstanding example of alluvial, 

colluvial, and lacustrine sedimentation within an entrenched 

meandering valley system. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State, 

private. 

Lake County

ILLINOIS BEACH NATURE 

PRESERVE 

Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, located within Illinois Beach State 

Park, is an area of beach ridges that supports a great diversity of 

ecosystems, including sand savanna, sand prairie, wetland, and 

beach communities. The site supports over 60 species of animals 

and plants that are threatened or endangered in Illinois. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 

VOLO BOG NATURE 

PRESERVE 

The Volo Bog Nature Preserve contains many unusual or rare 

plants that are characteristic of the classic northern quaking bog. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 

WAUCONDA BOG 

NATURE PRESERVE 

Wauconda Bog Nature Preserve contains a mature bog with bog 

vegetation at their farthest southern extension in Illinois. This type 

of biotic community is unusual for this region. Designated: 1972. 

Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

ILLINOIS

McLean County

FUNKS GROVE Funks Grove provides a rare example of the virgin forests once 

isolated on the prairies of the Midwest. The site illustrates a 

transition between the oak-hickory association of the region and the 

western mesophytic association to the east. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: State, private. 

Monroe County

FULTS HILL PRAIRIE 

NATURE PRESERVE 

Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve contains the largest complex of 

the highest quality, essentially undisturbed loess hill prairies along 

the Mississippi River in Illinois, including the largest single prairie 

opening. Designated: 1986. Ownership: State. 

Piatt County

ALLERTON NATURAL 

AREA 

Allerton Natural Area provides an example of the rapidly 

disappearing Illinois stream valley ecosystem. The site contains 

relatively undisturbed examples of bottomland and upland forests. 

Designated: 1970. Ownership: State. 

Pope County

BELL SMITH SPRINGS Bell Smith Springs, located within the Shawnee National Forest, is 

a fragile area containing some of the best examples of ecosystems 

typical of sharply dissected sandstone substrates. The site also 

contains fine examples of landforms created by stream erosion and 

mass wasting. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal, private. 

LUSK CREEK CANYON Lusk Creek Canyon is an excellent example of a gorge-like valley 

formed by mass wasting and stream erosion in lower 

Pennsylvanian sandstones. The site also contains good examples 

of two major forest ecosystems and ten endangered or threatened 

Illinois plant species. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal, 

State. 

Pulaski County

LOWER CACHE RIVER 

SWAMP 

(see Johnson County) 
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JUNE 2009 

ILLINOIS - INDIANA

Union County

GIANT CITY 

GEOLOGICAL AREA 

Located within Giant City State Park, Giant City Geological Area is 

an exceptional example of gravity sliding, consisting of massive 

joint-bounded sandstone blocks of Pennsylvanian age. The site 

supports a rich flora including xeric oak woodlands, oak-hickory and 

mesic forests dominated by sugar maple. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: State. 

LaRUE-PINE HILLS 

ECOLOGICAL AREA 

LaRue-Pine Hills Ecological Area, located within the Shawnee 

National Forest, contains one of the finest assemblages of diverse 

vegetation in the Midwest. The site represents species of northern, 

southern, eastern, and western affinities, including 40 species rare 

in Illinois. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

Wabash County

FOREST OF THE 

WABASH 

Forest of the Wabash, located within the Beall Woods Nature 

Preserve, contains essentially undisturbed upland and bottomland 

forests lying along the Wabash River. The upland stands are 

probably the finest remaining oak-hickory forest in this part of the 

country. Designated: 1965. Ownership: State. 

INDIANA (30) 

Crawford County

MARENGO CAVE A textbook example of a cave in its middle stage of development, 

Marengo Cave is the most profusely decorated cave known in the 

Interior Lowlands biophysiographic province, with cave features of 

the highest quality. The cave is the location where five organisms 

were first identified and has had an extensive and continuous 

history of research and protective custody over the last century. 

Designated: 1984. Ownership: Private. 

WYANDOTTE CAVE Wyandotte Cave, located within the Harrison-Crawford State 

Forest, has 23 miles of explored passageways, vertical relief 

encompassing several levels, huge rooms, gigantic domepits, 

rubble breakdown and stalagmites. It is one of the great cave 

systems within the karst region of the east-central United States. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 
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INDIANA

Fayette County

SHRADER-WEAVER 

WOODS 

An outstanding pre-settlement beech-maple forest, ShraderWeaver Woods contains unusually large trees, such as a 56-inch 

diameter burr oak and a 34-inch diameter black maple. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

Floyd County

OHIO CORAL REEF 

(FALLS OF THE OHIO) 

(extends into Jefferson County, Kentucky) Within the Ohio River, 

the Ohio Coral Reef is a classic example of a Silurian and Devonian 

coral community. The site is the type locality for a number of coral 

species and nearly 900 nominal species have been founded on 

specimens collected here. Designated: 1966. Ownership: State. 

Fountain County

PORTLAND ARCH 

NATURE PRESERE 

Portland Arch Nature Preserve contains massive crossbedded 

sandstone cliffs and a seven-foot high natural bridge. The site has 

many plant species unknown elsewhere in Indiana, some of which 

are relicts occurring due to the unusual climate created by the 

canyon. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

Gibson County

HEMMER WOODS Illustrating the transition from lowland to upland forest, Hemmer 

Woods contains one of the best mixed lowland stands remaining in 

Indiana, the largest known specimens of tulip tree in the state, and 

a great abundance of wildflowers. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

State, private. 

Harrison County

HARRISON SPRING The largest spring in Indiana, Harrison Spring is one of the best 

examples of alluviated cave springs in the United States due to its 

location in an abandoned meander loop, and the natural levee 

around its periphery. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

Jefferson County

OFFICER’S WOODS Officer’s Woods is one of the finest remnants of beech-maple forest 

south of the Wisconsin-age glacial boundary in Indiana. The site 

contains two stands with slightly different composition, one of which 

contains an exceptionally high density of black gum. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: Private. 
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JUNE 2009 

INDIANA

Lagrange County

TAMARACK BOG 

NATURE PRESERVE 

Tamarack Bog Nature Preserve, located within Pigeon River State 

Game Preserve, contains the largest, well-developed tamarack 

swamp-bog forest in Indiana. The site supports six distinct 

vegetation types and more than 34 mammal species. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: State. 

Lake County

HOOSIER PRAIRIE Hoosier Prairie is the last large tract of prairie near the eastern 

margin of the "Prairie Peninsula." The site contains a great 

diversity of community types, with nearly 300 vascular plant species 

identified here. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

La Porte County

PINHOOK BOG Located within Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Pinhook Bog is 

a living demonstration of the textbook description of ecological 

succession from pond to woodland. The site lies within a bowlshaped depression likely to be a glacial kettle, and is surrounded by 

wooded hills. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Federal. 

Lawrence County

DONALDSON CAVE 

SYSTEM AND WOODS 

Located within Spring Mill State Park, Donaldson Cave System and 

Woods is a tract containing 80 acres of prime virgin forest and a 

cave system associated with the Indiana karst region. Donaldson 

Cave includes three separate units that are interconnected by 

underground passageways. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 

Montgomery County

CALVERT AND PORTER 

WOODS NATURE 

PRESERVE 

Calvert and Porter Woods Nature Preserve contains one of the 

finest near-virgin remnant forests in the Tipton Till Plain of central 

Indiana. The site contains a great diversity of tree species due to a 

pronounced moisture gradient producing different habitats, and a 

great blue heron rookery. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

PINE HILLS NATURAL 

AREA 

Sharply dissected by deep, stream-carved canyons that have left 

narrow rock ridges or backbones, the Pine Hills Natural Area is 

probably the most remarkable example of incised meanders in the 

eastern United States. The site contains a variety of habitats and a 

number of plant species considered to be Pleistocene relicts. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

INDIANA

Orange County

PIONEER MOTHER’S 

MEMORIAL FOREST 

Pioneer Mother’s Memorial Forest, located within Hoosier National 

Forest, is one of the best examples of an original, undisturbed presettlement forest in Indiana. The site contains the finest examples 

of forest-grown walnut trees in the United States. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: Federal. 

RISE AT ORANGEVILLE The Rise at Orangeville is the second largest spring in Indiana and 

the clearest illustration of subterranean stream resurgence in the 

famed Lost River karst area. Designated: 1972. Ownership: 

Private. 

TOLLIVER 

SWALLOWHOLE 

Tolliver Swallowhole is an extraordinary example of the 

disappearing stream aspect of karst topography. The site contains 

an elongated channel with a small opening at the bottom of the 

west end of the channel that opens into a segment of the Lost River 

underground. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Private. 

WESLEY CHAPEL GULF Probably the largest sinkhole in Indiana, Wesley Chapel Gulf is the 

most significant and spectacular feature of the Lost River Basin, 

one of the world's great karst areas. The site is a classic illustration 

of a uvula, a feature formed by the coalescence of a series of 

sinkholes. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Federal. 

Owen County

HOOT WOODS Hoot Woods is a relatively undisturbed, isolated beech-maple forest 

in which near climax conditions prevails. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 

Parke County

ROCKY HOLLOW-FALLS 

CANYON NATURE 

PRESERVE 

Rocky Hollow-Falls Canyon Nature Preserve, located within Turkey 

Run State Park, contains forested areas of virgin beech-maple 

stands, steep sandstone gorges that harbor virgin boreal relict 

populations of eastern hemlock and Canada yew, and some of the 

largest black walnut in the Midwest. Designated: 1974. Ownership: 

State. 

Porter County

COWLES BOG Located within Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Cowles Bog 

illustrates marsh and bog habitat, as well as transition to swamp. 

The site includes flora common to these habitats. Designated: 

1965. Ownership: Federal. 
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JUNE 2009 

INDIANA

DUNES NATURE 

PRESERVE 

The Dunes Nature Preserve, located within Indiana Dunes State 

Park, is the best remaining example of undeveloped and relatively 

unspoiled dune landscape along the southern shore of Lake 

Michigan, a portion of which is known as the "Birthplace of 

American Ecology." The site also contains Ancient Pines Nature 

Area, a prehistoric forest now exposed by dune blowouts. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

Putnam County

BIG WALNUT CREEK Big Walnut Creek is a branch of the Eel River formed as a result of 

glacial melt and postglacial water erosion. The site contains one of 

the few stands in Indiana where beech, sugar maple, and tulip 

poplar grow on alluvial Genesee soil and includes relict species of a 

postglacial forest that occupied the area 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: State, private. 

FERN CLIFF Fern Cliff contains exceptional occurrences of mosses and 

liverworts, including a noteworthy number of rare species. The site 

is one of the best areas for bryophytes in the central states. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

Randolph County

CABIN CREEK RAISED 

BOG 

Elevated some 10 feet above the general flood plain level of Cabin 

Creek, Cabin Creek Raised Bog is a fen (alkaline bog) that 

supports a very rich flora, including many species at or near their 

range limits. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 

DAVIS-PURDUE 

AGRICULTURAL 

CENTER FOREST 

The Davis-Purdue Agricultural Center Forest is the best old growth 

oak-hickory forest on the Tipton Till Plain and possibly one of the 

finest such forests in the eastern United States. The site contains 

exceptionally large individuals of several tree species. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: State. 

Shelby County

MELTZER WOODS A pre-settlement forest now in dynamic equilibrium, Meltzer Woods 

contains a juxtaposition of two contrasting forest types (beechmaple and lowland mixed forests) and exceptionally large 

individuals of several tree species. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

Private. 
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JUNE 2009 

INDIANA - IOWA

Spencer County

KRAMER WOODS Kramer Woods is the only example of a Shumard's red oak-pin oakhickory dominated stand of lowland mixed forest of any size in 

Indiana. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

Vanderburgh County

WESSELMAN PARK 

WOODS 

Wesselman Park Woods is one of the finest remaining large tracts 

of pre-settlement lowland mixed forest in Indiana. The site contains 

a number of exceptionally large trees and is unusual in that sweet 

gum and tulip tree are the dominant species. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Municipal. 

Wabash County

HANGING ROCK AND 

WABASH REEF 

Hanging Rock and Wabash Reef consists of two, one-acre sites 

along the south bank of the Wabash River. Both contain natural 

exposures of limestone reef deposits characteristic of Silurian rocks 

of the midwestern United States, most of which are exposed only in 

quarries. Hanging Rock is an impressive natural exposure of an 

exhumed reef that rises 75 feet above the Wabash River. Wabash 

Reef, one of the best known fossil reefs in the world, has been the 

subject of numerous studies responsible for the development of 

modern reef theory. Designated: 1986. Ownership: Private. 

IOWA (7) 

Clay County

DEWEY’S PASTURE AND 

SMITH’S SLOUGH 

(extends into Palo Alto County) Dewey’s Pasture and Smith’s 

Slough includes a section of pothole lakes created during the last 

glacial epoch. The site contains considerable habitat diversity 

including wetlands, tallgrass prairie, and woodland, and supports a 

significant waterfowl population. Designated: 1975. Ownership: 

State. 

Dickinson County

CAYLER PRAIRIE Cayler Prairie is an example of the increasingly rare virgin prairie 

grassland. The site provides a unique outdoor laboratory. 

Designated: 1965. Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

IOWA

Dubuque County

WHITE PINE HOLLOW 

PRESERVE 

White Pine Hollow Preserve contains the only known remaining 

white pine tract in Iowa. Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 

Hamilton County

ANDERSON GOOSE 

LAKE 

Anderson Goose Lake is one of the few essentially natural glacial 

pothole lakes remaining in Iowa. The site provides important 

waterfowl habitat. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Private. 

Harrison County

LOESS HILLS (see Monona County) 

Howard County

HAYDEN PRAIRIE A true prairie remnant, Hayden Prairie is where Iowa State 

University conducted research demonstrating that prairie 

communities decline when the quantity of litter exceeds annual 

herbage yield. Research has resulted in management to maintain 

the integrity of the prairie plant community. Designated: 1965. 

Ownership: State. 

Monona County

LOESS HILLS (extends into Harrison County) Comprised of the Turin and Little 

Sioux/Smith Lake sites, Loess Hills represents the best examples of 

loess topography (wind-blown silt) in the Missouri River Bluffs 

region. It is in this region of the United States where the deepest 

loess has accumulated, presenting the best example of this unusual 

type of landscape. Together, these sites express the 

representative landforms and native vegetation of classic loess 

deposits. The only known comparable area is located along the 

Yellow River in northern China. Designated: 1986. Ownership: 

State, private. 

Palo Alto County

DEWEY’S PASTURE AND 

SMITH’S SLOUGH 

(see Clay County) 
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JUNE 2009 

IOWA - KANSAS

Winneshiek County

COLD WATER CAVE Cold Water Cave is an exceptional example of an extensive cave 

system well decorated with speleothems. It contains numerous 

vertical shafts and an unusually large, meandering underground 

stream that courses along most of the approximately 7.3 miles of 

cave passageways. Relatively young in geologic terms, the cave 

appears to be enlarging more rapidly than most caves in the United 

States. The cave atmosphere is also unusual for its typically low 

oxygen content and extremely high carbon dioxide content. 

Designated: 1987. Ownership: Private. 

KANSAS (5) 

Clark County

BIG BASIN PRESERVE Big Basin Preserve contains excellent examples of collapse 

features formed by groundwater geological processes. The site is 

also illustrative of a bluestem-grama prairie, which is intensively 

grazed elsewhere in the central Great Plains. Designated: 1979. 

Ownership: State. 

Douglas County

BAKER UNIVERSITY 

WETLANDS 

The Baker University Wetlands is an example of undisturbed 

wetland prairie. The site also provides breeding grounds for 

pintails, mallards and Canada geese. Designated: 1969. 

Ownership: Private. 

BALDWIN WOODS Baldwin Woods is a unique remnant oak-hickory stand approaching 

climax condition. The site is located at the western edge of the 

eastern deciduous forest. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

Gove County

MONUMENT ROCKS 

NATURAL AREA 

Monument Rocks Natural Area includes pinnacles, small buttes, 

and spires of chalk of the Niobrara formation, and erosional 

remnants of sediments deposited in the ancient Kansas Sea of 

Cretaceous time. The site is a rich source of fossils of Cretaceous 

marine animals. Designated: 1968. Ownership: Private. 
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JUNE 2009 

KANSAS - KENTUCKY

Ottawa County

ROCK CITY Rock City is a unique cluster of about 200 great spherical 

sandstone concretions occurring in the midst of rolling farmland. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: Private. 

KENTUCKY (6) 

Boone County

BIG BONE LICK Big Bone Lick, located within Big Bone Lick State Park, is unique in 

the Interior Low Plateaus physiographic province for its combination 

of salt springs and associated Late Pleistocene bone beds. Big 

Bone Lick has been referred to as the birthplace of vertebrate 

paleontology in North America. Designated: 2009. Ownership: 

State. 

Henderson County

HENDERSON SLOUGHS Henderson Sloughs is one of the largest wetlands remaining in 

Kentucky and an important habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife. 

The area is the “home” of John James Audubon. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: Federal, State. 

Jefferson County

OHIO CORAL REEF 

(FALLS OF THE OHIO) 

(see Floyd County, Indiana) 

Laurel County

ROCK CREEK 

RESEARCH NATURAL 

AREA 

Rock Creek Research Natural Area, located within the Daniel 

Boone National Forest, harbors one of the few virgin hemlockhardwood forests remaining in Kentucky. Designated: 1975. 

Ownership: Federal. 

Letcher County

LILLEY CORNETT 

WOODS 

Lilley Cornett Woods is probably the only surviving virgin tract of 

any size in the Cumberland Mountains section of the mixed 

mesophytic forest. Designated: 1971. Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

KENTUCKY - MAINE

Menifee County

RED RIVER GORGE (extends into Powell and Wolfe Counties) Red River Gorge, 

located within the Daniel Boone National Forest, contains examples 

of many geological formations, including 41 natural bridges. The 

site also supports an extremely diverse flora, including endemic, 

rare and relict species. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal, 

private. 

Powell County

RED RIVER GORGE (see Menifee County) 

Russell County

CREELSBORO NATURAL 

BRIDGE 

Creelsboro Natural Bridge is the longest natural bridge, or natural 

tunnel, in the Highland Rim section of the Interior Low Plateaus 

biophysiographic province. The occasional diversion of Jim Creek 

through the tunnel into the Cumberland River is an outstanding 

illustration of subterranean stream diversion. This is the process 

that formed and continues to form the bridge. Designated: 1987. 

Ownership: Private. 

Union County

HENDERSON SLOUGHS (see Henderson County) 

Wolfe County

RED RIVER GORGE (see Menifee County) 

MAINE (14) 

Aroostook County

CRYSTAL BOG Crystal Bog, an undisturbed, sphagnum bog is considered one of 

the largest and finest in Maine. Geologic features, including several 

eskers are characteristic examples of glacial formations in the state. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Cumberland County

NEW GLOUCESTER 

BLACK GUM STAND 

New Gloucester Black Gum Stand is a small, remnant, forested 

swamp dominated mostly by virgin black gum and occurs at the 

northernmost limit for this species. Designated: 1975. Ownership: 

Private. 
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JUNE 2009 

MAINE

Franklin County

BIGELOW MOUNTAIN (extends into Somerset County) In terms of size, condition and lack 

of disturbance, Bigelow Mountain possesses one of the best alpine 

vegetation zones among New England’s 4,000-foot peaks. It is 

exceptionally scenic and wild, with some of the best summit views 

in the eastern United States. Designated: 1975. Ownership: State. 

Kennebec County

COLBY-MARSTON 

PRESERVE 

The northern sphagnum bog within the Colby-Marston Preserve 

has distinct and well-defined vegetation zones and is highly valued 

for teaching and research purposes. Located in a deep kettle hole, 

the sphagnum mat exceeds a depth of 40 feet. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 

PENNEY POND-JOE 

POND COMPLEX 

Within an intertwining network of eskers, the Penney Pond-Joe 

Pond wetland complex consists of kettle hole bogs and ponds. It is 

part of the outwash plain of the Belgrade esker and supports a 

diversity of vegetative communities. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 

APPLETON BOG 

ATLANTIC WHITE 

CEDAR STAND 

The Appleton Bog Atlantic White Cedar Stand is a large peatland 

with continuous forest cover and well developed hummock-andhollow topography. The site supports large stands of virgin Atlantic 

white cedar, the most extensive growth of this species at the 

northeastern limit of its range. Designated: 1984. Ownership: 

Private. 

Lincoln County

MONHEGAN ISLAND The coastal and island flora on Monhegan Island is considered the 

only sizeable example in near virgin condition in the northeastern 

United States. The site supports dense, almost pure stands of red 

spruce, over 400 species of wildflower, and a variety of bird 

species. Designated: 1966. Ownership: Private. 

Penobscot County

ORONO BOG Occurring in a glacial depression, Orono Bog is a classic, northern 

sphagnum bog and illustrates zonation of flora from lowland and 

bog to upland forest. It is uniquely accessible to the public and for 

teaching and research purposes. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

State, municipal, private. 
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JUNE 2009 

MAINE 

PASSADUMKEAG MARSH 

AND BOGLANDS 

One of the largest, unspoiled wetlands in the state of Maine, 

Passadumkeag Marsh and Boglands contains a unique blend of 

bog and marsh communities. The marsh is partially bounded by 

eskers, including the classic Passadumkeag Esker, or Enfield 

Horseback, known world-wide as an example of glacial geology. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Piscataquis County

GULF HAGAS Gulf Hagas is a steep-walled, youthful gorge, cut by a wild river 

through folded and tilted slates and siltstones. The site illustrates 

the successive processes of sedimentation, rock formation, and 

erosion. Waterfalls, cliffs, and growth of spruce-fir forest on the 

gorge walls give the site unusual scenic beauty. Designated: 1968. 

Ownership: Federal. 

MOUNT KATAHDIN Mount Katahdin’s kames, eskers, drumlins, kettleholes, moraines, 

and erratics provide a complete illustration of glacial geology. 

Virgin forests, alpine-tundra ecosystems, and unaltered lakes and 

streams add to the scenic and scientific value. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: State. 

THE HERMITAGE The Hermitage contains one of the few undisturbed, old-growth 

white pine stands remaining in New England. Trees reach 36 

inches in diameter and 120 feet in height. Designated: 1977. 

Ownership: Federal. 

Somerset County

BIGELOW MOUNTAIN (see Franklin County) 

NO. 5 BOG AND JACK 

PINE STAND 

The No. 5 Bog and Jack Pine Stand contains a large peatland that 

exhibits a diversity of boreal vegetation associations and welldefined, surficial glacial features. A mature stand of jack and red 

pine occurs adjacent to the peatland. It is the only large, 

intermontane peatland and one of the few expansive, virgin 

landscapes in the northeastern United States. Designated: 1984. 

Ownership: State, private. 

Washington County

CARRYING PLACE COVE 

BOG 

The coastal, raised plateau bog at Carrying Place Cove Bog, is one 

of only six such fully-featured peatlands in the United States. It is a 

tombollo that has been eroded by the sea from the north, resulting 

in a vertical erosion face. This cross-section exposes the entire 

developmental history of the peatland. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: State. 
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MARYLAND 

MARYLAND (6)

Baltimore County

LONG GREEN CREEK 

AND SWEATHOUSE 

BRANCH 

Long Green Creek and Sweathouse Branch, located within 

Gunpowder Falls State Park, contains a maturing beech-tulip 

poplar-white oak forest, which will ultimately represent a climax 

mesic forest. The site also contains an outstanding rich 

herbaceous flora. Designated: 1977. Ownership: State. 

Calvert County

BATTLE CREEK 

CYPRESS SWAMP 

Battle Creek Cypress Swamp is one of the most northerly cypress 

swamps in the country. The site also contains a wide range of plant 

and animal life. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Private. 

Cecil County

GILPIN’S FALLS Gilpin’s Falls is probably the best outcrop of undeformed early 

Paleozoic metavolcanic pillow basalts in the Middle Atlantic states. 

It is also a prime example of a fall zone stream. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Private. 

Frederick County

SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN (extends into Montgomery County) Sugar Loaf Mountain provides 

evidence regarding age and structural relationships of rocks in the 

Piedmont biophysiographic province. The site appears to be either 

an outlier to the east of the main mass of the Catoctin Mountain, or 

a root remnant of the ancient Appalachia land mass. Designated: 

1969. Ownership: Private. 

Garrett County

CRANESVILLE SWAMP 

NATURE SANCTUARY 

(extends into Preston County, West Virginia) Cranesville Swamp 

Nature Sanctuary occupies a natural bowl where cool, moist 

conditions yield plant and animal communities more common in 

northern latitudes. Designated: 1964. Ownership: Private. 

Montgomery County

SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN (see Frederick County) 
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JUNE 2009 

MARYLAND - MASSACHUSETTS 

Prince Georges County

BELT WOODS Belt Woods is one of the few remaining old-growth upland forests in 

the Atlantic Coastal Plain biophysiographic province. It is an 

example of upland hardwood forest dominated by tulip poplar and 

white oak. The woods support a diverse bird population, including 

neotropical migrants. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

MASSACHUSETTS (10) 

Berkshire County

BARTHOLOMEW’S 

COBBLE 

(see Litchfield County, Connecticut) 

COLD RIVER VIRGIN 

FOREST 

The hemlock-northern hardwood forest within the Cold River Virgin 

Forest is considered a climax association and the only virgin stand 

in New England. As the steep topography prohibits logging, 

hemlocks and sugar maples exceed 400 years in age and average 

three feet in diameter. Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 

MT. GREYLOCK OLD 

GROWTH SPRUCE 

The Mt. Greylock Old Growth Spruce site contains potentially virgin, 

pure stands of old-growth red spruce. Occurring on the steep, 

northwest slopes of Mt. Greylock, the highest mountain in 

Massachusetts, they are the only old-growth, red spruce stands 

known to occur in southern New England. Designated: 1987. 

Ownership: State. 

Bristol County

ACUSHNET CEDAR 

SWAMP 

Acushnet Cedar Swamp contains dense, nearly pure stands of 

Atlantic white cedar, forming one of the largest, wildest and most 

impenetrable swamps in Massachusetts. The wetland complex 

contains swamp, bog, pond and adjacent upland forest. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 

Dukes County

GAY HEAD CLIFFS The colorful Gay Head Cliffs, resting upon the continental shelf, yet 

detached from the mainland, rise to 150 feet above sea level and 

provide a cross-section of pre-glacial sediments overlain by fossilbearing sands. It is the most extensive and scenic exposure of 

Cretaceous and Tertiary formations on the New England islands 

and Cape Cod. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Indian Trust 

(Wampanoag Tribe). 
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JUNE 2009 

MASSACHUSETTS

Essex County

LYNNFIELD MARSH (extends into Middlesex County) An inland, fresh-water marsh, 

Lynnfield Marsh is dominated by cattail and bisected by the Saugus 

River. The marsh provides habitat for numerous and rare bird 

species and affords much opportunity and value for public 

appreciation. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Municipal, private. 

Franklin County

HAWLEY BOG Hawley Bog, a cold, northern sphagnum-heath bog, occupies an 

old and shallow glacial lake basin. All major vegetation zones that 

demonstrate bog succession are present, from the central open 

water pond to the surrounding spruce-fir forest. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: Private. 

Hampden County

FANNIE STEBBINS 

REFUGE 

The Fannie Stebbins Refuge is a wetland complex containing 

mature, mixed-hardwood, floodplain forest, tree and shrub 

swamplands, cattail marshes, open meadow, and a few small 

ponds. A varied avifauna is supported by the diverse habitat within 

this floodplain of the Connecticut River. Designated: 1972. 

Ownership: Municipal, private. 

Middlesex County

LYNNFIELD MARSH (see Essex County) 

Nantucket County

MUSKEGET ISLAND An isolated, sandy island, Muskeget Island, is part of the terminal 

moraine marking the maximum extent of the last glacial ice sheet to 

reach the northeastern coast. It is the only known locality where 

the Muskeget vole is found and is considered the southernmost 

breeding area for grey seal. Designated: 1980. Ownership: 

Municipal, private. 

Plymouth County

NORTH AND SOUTH 

RIVERS 

North and South Rivers is a large and diverse estuarine wetland 

system containing salt, brackish, and fresh water marshes. The 

two rivers are classic examples of drowned, river-mouth estuaries 

and support many bird and fish species. Designated: 1977. 

Ownership: State, municipal, private. 
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MASSACHUSETTS - MICHIGAN

Worcester County

POUTWATER POND Poutwater Pond is an undisturbed, sphagnum-heath bog that 

illustrates ecological succession from open water in a glacial 

depression to upland forest. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 

MICHIGAN (12)

Bay County

TOBICO MARSH Tobico Marsh, located within Tobico Marsh State Game Area, is a 

relatively undisturbed area with three distinct habitats: a wide 

expanse of open water, marshland, and a mixed hardwood forest. 

The site is used by large numbers of migrating waterfowl. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 

Berrien County

GRAND MERE LAKES Surrounded by a buffer zone of dunes, Grand Mere Lakes is a 

unique ecological area containing four low areas created during the 

evolution of postglacial ancestors of Lake Michigan. The site 

illustrates the evolution of aquatic to terrestrial communities and 

supports many rare relict species. Designated: 1968. Ownership: 

State, private. 

WARREN WOODS 

NATURAL AREA 

Warren Woods Natural Area is the last known stand of virgin 

beech-maple forest in southern Michigan. The site contains 

outstanding individual specimens of sycamore, beech, maple, and 

other northern hardwoods. Designated: 1967. Ownership: Private. 

Cass County

NEWTON WOODS Newton Woods is one of the last remaining old-growth, oak-mixed, 

hardwood stands on Michigan's lower peninsula. Designated: 

1976. Ownership: State. 

Gogebic County

PORCUPINE MOUNTAIN (see Ontonagon County) 

Ingham County

TOUMEY WOODLOT Toumey Woodlot, located within the Michigan State University 

campus, is an extremely rare example of a virgin stand of beechmaple forest. The site is an important area for ecological research. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

MICHIGAN

Jackson County

BLACK SPRUCE BOG 

NATURAL AREA 

Black Spruce Bog Natural Area is a boreal bog forest illustrating the 

climax stage of succession in a sphagnum bog ecosystem. The 

site contains an excellent stand of black spruce. Designated: 1976. 

Ownership: State. 

Marquette County

DUKES RESEARCH 

NATURAL AREA 

Located within the Upper Peninsula Experimental Forest, the Dukes 

Research Natural Area is an undisturbed white cedar and mixed 

conifer swamp containing old-growth hardwood stands. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 

Missaukee County

DEAD STREAM SWAMP (extends into Roscommon County) Dead Stream Swamp, located 

within Houghton Lake State Forest, is a large example of a northern 

white cedar swamp, which is considered a climax stage in bog 

forest development. Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 

Oakland County

HAVEN HILL STATE 

NATURAL AREA 

Haven Hill State Natural Area, located within Highland State 

Recreation Area, contains all of southern Michigan's principal forest 

types in one small tract. The site supports 17 mammal and over 

100 bird species. Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 

Ontonagon County

PORCUPINE MOUNTAIN (extends into Gogebic County) Porcupine Mountain contains a 

large tract of white pine with the best and largest stand of virgin 

northern hemlock in the lake states and the largest relatively 

undisturbed northern hemlock hardwood forest west of the 

Adirondacks. The site contains excellent examples of wave-cut 

beaches marking former glacial lake shorelines. Designated: 1984. 

Ownership: State. 

Roscommon County

DEAD STREAM SWAMP (see Missaukee County) 

ROSCOMMON VIRGIN 

PINE STAND 

Roscommon Virgin Pine Stand contains one of the best old-growth 

red-pine stands in the Central Lowlands biophysiographic province. 

Documented history of fires in 1798, 1888, and 1928 adds to the 

significance of the site. Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

MICHIGAN - MINNESOTA

Schoolcraft County

STRANGMOOR BOG Located within Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Strangmoor Bog is 

one of the most southern, undisturbed patterned or stringed bogs in 

the country. The site is a result of the underlying arrangement of 

sand knolls or extinct dunes on a sloping sand plain. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: Federal. 

MINNESOTA (8) 

Anoka County

CEDAR CREEK NATURAL 

HISTORY AREAALLISON SAVANNA 

(extends into Isanti County) Cedar Creek Natural History AreaAllison Savanna is a relatively undisturbed area where three 

biomes meet (tall grass prairie, eastern deciduous forest and boreal 

coniferous forest.) Supporting 61 species of mammals and 183 

species of birds, the site is a nationally and internationally famous 

research center. Designated: 1975. Ownership: State, private. 

Beltrami County

UPPER RED LAKE 

PEATLAND 

One of the largest peatlands remaining in the conterminous United 

States, Upper Red Lake Peatland illustrates a variety of geological 

features and plant associations, especially the dominant and rare 

string bog. The site provides outstanding habitat for wildlife 

including endangered species. Designated: 1975. Ownership: 

Federal, State, Indian Trust (Red Lake Tribe), private. 

Big Stone County

ANCIENT RIVER WARREN 

CHANNEL 

(extends into Traverse County, Minnesota and Roberts and Grant 

Counties, South Dakota) A channel cut by the Ancient River 

Warren during the Ice Age, Ancient River Warren Channel contains 

the Hudson Bay-Gulf of Mexico divide. A lake on each side of the 

channel provides evidence of the irregularities in Ice Age 

sedimentation. Designated: 1966. Ownership: State, private. 

Cass County

PINE POINT RESEARCH 

NATURAL AREA 

Located within the Chippewa National Forest, Pine Point Research 

Natural Area contains undisturbed stands of red and mixed pine 

that have been protected for over 70 years. The site provides 

nesting habitat for the bald eagle and osprey. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Federal. 
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JUNE 2009 

MINNESOTA

Clearwater County

ITASCA NATURAL AREA Itasca Natural Area, located within Itasca State Park, contains 

some of the finest remaining stands of virgin red pine, sprucebalsam fir, and maple-basswood-aspen forest. The site supports 

53 species of mammal and 141 bird species, including bald eagles. 

Designated: 1965. Ownership: State. 

Isanti County

CEDAR CREEK NATURAL 

HISTORY AREAALLISON SAVANNA 

(see Anoka County) 

Koochiching County

LAKE AGASSIZ 

PEATLANDS NATURAL 

AREA 

Lake Agassiz Peatlands Natural Area is an example of the 

extensive peatlands occupying the bed of ancient glacial Lake 

Agassiz, illustrating the process of peat accumulation over about 

11,000 years. The site contains Myrtle Lake Bog, which developed 

contrary to the usual successional process of lake filling, and is an 

excellent example of both raised and string bogs. Designated: 

1965. Ownership: State. 

Lake County

KEELEY CREEK 

NATURAL AREA 

Keeley Creek Natural Area, located within Superior National Forest, 

contains a large tract of undisturbed mixed pine and black spruce 

forest with rare mature jack pine stands and significant upland 

bogs. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

St. Louis County

LAC LA CROIX 

RESEARCH NATURAL 

AREA 

Located within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Lac La Croix 

Research Natural Area consists of old-growth virgin pine forests. 

The site contains most of the physiographic and ecological features 

characteristic of the Boundary Waters region. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Federal. 

Traverse County

ANCIENT RIVER WARREN 

CHANNEL 

(see Big Stone County) 
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JUNE 2009 

MISSISSIPPI

MISSISSIPPI (5) 

Calhoun County

CHESTNUT OAK 

DISJUNCT 

Chestnut Oak Disjunct is an isolated stand well removed from the 

established normal range of chestnut oak. Few, if any, chestnut 

oaks occur within the intervening 50 to 60 miles to the border of its 

normal range. This is the southwestern-most location known in 

Mississippi, and thus, the southwestern-most state within the tree’s 

range. Designated: 1966. Ownership: Private. 

Madison County

MISSISSIPPI PETRIFIED 

FOREST 

Mississippi Petrified Forest is a relatively undisturbed accumulation 

of ancient fir and maple driftwood that was buried in Tertiary sands 

and covered with loess. Surface water has since eroded gullies, 

exposing the ancient logs. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Private. 

Scott County

BIENVILLE PINES SCENIC 

AREA 

Bienville Pines Scenic Area, located within the Bienville National 

Forest, is one of the largest protected old-growth loblolly pine 

stands in the region, and is one of the best examples of this 

ecosystem type. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 

HARRELL PRAIRIE HILL Harrell Prairie Hill is a tall grass prairie located within the Bienville 

National Forest. It is one of the last and most representative 

remnants of the Jackson Prairie, a disjunct of the Black Belt region 

in Mississippi and Alabama. Designated: 1976. Ownership: 

Federal. 

Sharkey County

GREEN ASH-OVERCUP 

OAK-SWEETGUM 

RESEARCH NATURAL 

AREAS 

Green Ash, Overcup Oak, and Sweetgum Research Natural Areas 

are located within the Delta National Forest, in the Mississippi River 

delta region. They consist of three noncontiguous remnants of very 

rare virgin bottomland hardwood forest. Some of the oldest 

sweetgum stands are 250 to 300 years old. Designated: 1976. 

Ownership: Federal. 
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JUNE 2009 

MISSOURI

MISSOURI (16) 

Barton County

GOLDEN PRAIRIE Golden Prairie is an example of an essentially virgin tall grass 

prairie ecosystem. The site provides habitat for many species of 

flora and fauna, including a large population of greater prairie 

chicken. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Private. 

Callaway County

TUCKER PRAIRIE Tucker Prairie is a virgin tall grass prairie occurring within the 

transition zone between the oak-hickory forest and typical tall grass 

prairie. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Private. 

Camden County

CARROLL CAVE Carroll Cave contains a dendritic system of subsurface karst 

streams and tributaries. Designated: 1977. Ownership: Private. 

Clay County

MAPLE WOODS 

NATURAL AREA 

Maple Woods Natural Area contains a nearly virgin sugar maple 

and mockernut hickory forest. The combination of these two forest 

species is rare in this region. Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 

Crawford County

ONONDAGA CAVE Onondaga Cave contains an unusually large and varied number of 

speleothems and a ponded stream with a mean flow of about a 

million gallons per day. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

Marion County

MARK TWAIN AND 

CAMERON CAVES 

Located on either side of Cave Hollow (a small valley), Mark Twain 

and Cameron Caves are exceptionally good examples of the maze 

type of cavern development. Designated: 1972. Ownership: 

Private. 

Mississippi County

BIG OAK TREE Located within Big Oak Tree State Park, the Big Oak Tree site is 

the only sizable known tract of essentially virgin wet-mesic 

bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the northern Mississippi 

Alluvial Plain section of the Gulf Coastal Plain biophysiographic 

province. Designated: 1986. Ownership: State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 53

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MISSOURI

Oregon County

GRAND GULF A spectacular dolomite chasm, Grand Gulf formed by the roof 

collapse of a 3/4-mile long cave passage as a result of coalescence 

of adjacent sinkholes. The site illustrates a variety of karst 

topography development processes, including subterranean stream 

piracy. Designated: 1971. Ownership: Private. 

GREER SPRING Greer Spring is the second largest spring in the Ozarks that 

discharges into a high quality, cascading stream. A very diverse 

forest surrounds the spring and river. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Private. 

Phelps County

MARAMEC SPRING Maramec Spring, located within Maramec Spring Park, is one of the 

largest springs in the Missouri Ozarks. The spring was a source of 

waterpower from 1826 to 1877 for an ironworks, the ruins of which 

are still visible. Designated: 1971. Ownership: Private. 

Ripley County

CUPOLA POND Located within Mark Twain National Forest, Cupola Pond is one of 

the most ancient sinkhole ponds in the Ozark plateaus. The site 

also contains a nearly pure stand of disjunct water tupelo. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 

St. Clair County

TABERVILLE PRAIRIE Taberville Prairie is one of the largest remaining virgin tall grass 

prairies containing typical prairie flora and fauna. Designated: 

1975. Ownership: State. 

Ste. Genevieve County

PICKLE SPRINGS A deep, forested gorge, Pickle Springs contains one of the finest 

Pleistocene relict habitats in Missouri. The site supports numerous 

relict herbaceous plant species, including one rare moss of tropical 

affinity and several species characteristic of the Appalachian 

Mountains. Designated: 1975. Ownership: State. 

Stone County

MARVEL CAVE Marvel Cave has a dome-shaped sinkhole entrance with giant 

dome-pits below. The site includes one of the greatest dripstone 

units of all the Ozark caves. Designated: 1972. Ownership: 

Private. 
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MISSOURI - MONTANA

Taney County

TUMBLING CREEK CAVE A large, fragile, varied cave, Tumbling Creek Cave contains the 

most diverse fauna known for any cave west of the Mississippi 

River including a large colony of the endangered gray bat. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

Warren County

WEGENER WOODS Wegener Woods is a rare, essentially virgin oak-hickory-dominated 

forest in a condition of gradual change to a sugar maple-dominated 

forest. The site offers an opportunity to study the composition and 

dynamics of pre-settlement condition eastern deciduous forests. 

Designated: 1975. Ownership: Private. 

MONTANA (10) 

Beaverhead County

RED ROCK LAKES 

NATIONAL WILDLIFE 

REFUGE 

Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge contains a series of 

relatively undisturbed, high-altitude ecosystem types representative 

of pre-European settlement conditions. The site represents an 

outstanding waterfowl production area, provides habitat for several 

uncommon species, and is instrumental in the survival of the 

trumpeter swan. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 

Big Horn County

CLOVERLY FORMATION 

SITE 

The Cloverly Formation Site contains early Cretaceous vertebrate 

fossils. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Indian Trust (Crow Tribe), 

private. 

Carbon County

BRIDGER FOSSIL AREA The Bridger Fossil Area contains fossils of Deinonychus 

antirrhopus, a new genus and species of carnivorous dinosaur that 

was only about three feet tall and eight feet in length. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: Federal. 

Carter County

CAPITOL ROCK Capitol Rock, located within the Custer National Forest, is a 

remnant of the once continuous blanket of Tertiary deposits that 

covered much of the Great Plains. Late Cretaceous, Paleocene, 

Oligocene, and Miocene strata are well displayed. Designated: 

1976. Ownership: Federal. 
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MONTANA

Chouteau County

SQUARE BUTTE Rising 2,500 feet above the valley bottom, Square Butte is a good 

example of a laccolith, an igneous rock instrusion between 

sedimentary beds. It provides one of the best examples of banded 

magmatic rock in the United States. Additionally, the butte’s flat 

crest supports relatively undisturbed prairie grassland communities. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal, private. 

Gallatin County

MIDDLE FORK CANYON Middle Fork Canyon illustrates rocks deformed by the crustal 

movements that created the Rocky Mountains. It is an outstanding 

example of a canyon cut across the grain of the geologic structure 

by a superposed stream. Few places more clearly illustrate the 

effects of erosion and stream superposition. Designated: 1977. 

Ownership: Federal, private. 

Garfield County

HELL CREEK FOSSIL 

AREA 

The Hell Creek formation and valley is the type locality for 

Tyrannosaurus rex, Ankylosaurus magniventris, and

Brachychampsa fontana, the oldest known true alligator. The Hell 

Creek Fossil Area has also produced several specimen of 

Triceratops prorsus and is where over 95% of T. rex museum 

specimens have come from. Designated: 1966. Ownership: 

Federal, State, private. 

McCone County

BUG CREEK FOSSIL 

AREA 

Located primarily within Charles M. Russell National Wildlife 

Refuge, the Bug Creek Fossil Area has produced abundant 

remains of small, Cretaceous mammals, including the type locality 

for five species new to science. Some of the fossils excavated 

provide evidence contradicting the belief that there was a sudden 

explosion of mammal species at the beginning of the Paleocene. 

Designated: 1966. Ownership: Federal, private. 

Sanders County

GLACIAL LAKE 

MISSOULA 

Glacial Lake Missoula was the largest of several lakes impounded 

by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the Quaternary Period. The site 

contains the best examples of giant flood ripples in the North 

American continent. Ripples appear as ridges 15 to 20 feet high, 

100 to 250 feet wide, and from 300 feet to one-half mile long. 

Designated: 1966. Ownership: Private. 
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MONTANA - NEBRASKA

Sheridan County

MEDICINE LAKE SITE Medicine Lake Site, located within the Medicine Lake National 

Wildlife Refuge, is an exceptional example of the processes of 

continental glaciation, including till, outwash, eskers, kames, and 

terrace deposits. A variety of grassland plant and animal species 

are found here. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

NEBRASKA (5) 

Antelope County

ASHFALL FOSSIL BEDS Ashfall Fossil Beds, located within Ashfall Fossil Beds State 

Historical Park, is one of the only locations where large numbers of 

fossil mammals have been found as whole, three-dimensionally 

preserved skeletons. The thick bed of volcanic ash at the site 

contains hundreds of extraordinarily complete skeletons of extinct 

rhinos, camels, three-toed horses and other vertebrates still lying in 

their death poses. Designated: 2006. Ownership: State. 

Cherry County

VALENTINE NATIONAL 

WILDLIFE REFUGE 

Valentine National Wildlife Refuge is one of the few remaining 

examples of the sandhill tall grass prairie ecosystem unique to the 

central Great Plains. The site provides habitat for many rare 

species. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 

Grant County

NEBRASKA SAND HILLS Nebraska Sand Hills is the largest sand dunes complex in the 

Western Hemisphere. The site differs from other large dunes of the 

world because it is almost completely stabilized by vegetation. 

Designated: 1984. Ownership: State, private. 

Lincoln County

DISSECTED LOESS 

PLAINS 

Dissected Loess Plains contains loess (wind blown silt) deposits 

that are among the thickest (200+ feet) in North America. Eroded 

canyons and deep valleys that occur at this site reveal the 

geological history of the Loess Plains better than any other place in 

the Great Plains. Designated: 1987. Ownership: Private. 
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NEBRASKA - NEVADA 

Sarpy County

FONTENELLE FOREST The largest virgin forest in Nebraska, Fontenelle Forest also 

contains high bluffs, river flood plain of the Missouri River and 20 

acres of true prairie. Designated: 1964. Ownership: Private. 

NEVADA (6)

Clark County

VALLEY OF FIRE Valley of Fire is an outstanding example of thrust faulting. A great 

fold has been exposed by erosion, revealing huge rock formations, 

deep canyons, and a great variety of colors. The site also supports 

gila monsters at the northern extreme of their range. Designated: 

1968. Ownership: State. 

Elko County

RUBY MARSH (extends into White Pine County) Ruby Marsh, located within Ruby 

Lake National Wildlife Refuge, is one of the largest and finest 

natural wetlands in Nevada. It is a stopover and nesting area for 

many migratory birds, including the greater sandhill crane and 

trumpeter swan. Designated: 1972. Ownership: Federal. 

Nye County

HOT CREEK SPRINGS 

AND MARSH 

Hot Creek Springs and Marsh supports the White River springfish, 

a relict species that is found in large numbers at this site. The site 

is outstanding both as a spring and a wetland area. Designated: 

1972. Ownership: State. 

ICHTHYOSAUR SITE Ichthyosaur Site, located within Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, is the 

only known site containing fossil remains of 37 of the largest forms 

of Ichthyosaur; some up to 45 feet in length. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

LUNAR CRATER Lunar Crater is a 400-acre depression (maar) that is thought to 

have been formed by a past volcanic explosion. It is one of two 

maars in the volcanic field of the Pancake Range. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: Federal. 
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NEVADA - NEW HAMPSHIRE 

TIMBER MOUNTAIN 

CALDERA 

Timber Mountain Caldera, located within Nellis Air Force Gunnery 

Range and Nevada Test Site, is a restricted area containing a 

remnant of an elliptical caldera developed in the late Miocene and 

early Pliocene. It covers eight to ten miles and is surrounded by a 

moat-like depression extending to the rim of an older caldera. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Federal. 

White Pine County

RUBY MARSH (see Elko County) 

NEW HAMPSHIRE (11) 

Carroll County

HEATH POND BOG Heath Pond Bog provides a classic example of bog succession 

from open water to sphagnum-heath-black spruce bog. It contains 

an exceptionally large number of plant species and has great value 

for scientific study. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 

NANCY BROOK VIRGIN 

SPRUCE FOREST AND 

SCENIC AREA 

(see Grafton County) 

MADISON BOULDER Measuring 83 feet long, 37 feet wide and 23 feet high, Madison 

Boulder, a rectangular granite boulder is the largest known glacial 

erratic in North America. It illustrates the power of an ice sheet to 

move large blocks of fractured bedrock over substantial distances. 

Designated: 1970. Ownership: State. 

WHITE LAKE PITCH PINE White Lake Pitch Pine contains a mature, undisturbed pitch pine 

and bear-oak forest unique in the height, diameter, and straightness 

of its trees. Comprising 90% of the canopy, the pitch pine grows 

straight, tall and up to 20 inches in diameter. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: State. 

Cheshire County

MOUNT MONADNOCK Mount Monadnock, a prominent, isolated, relict mountain, is the 

type locality of a monadnock. The mountain also exhibits 

conspicuous effects of Pleistocene glacial erosion including 

striations, roche moutonnées or sheepbacks, and an oversteepened profile resulting from glacial plucking. Designated: 1987. 

Ownership: State, municipal, private. 
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OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

RHODODENDRON 

NATURAL AREA 

Rhododendron Natural Area is considered the largest, thriving 

stand of rhododendron in central and southern New England. The 

site is located at the northern limit of this species’ range, where 

rhododendron is rare and localized. Designated: 1982. Ownership: 

State. 

Coos County

EAST INLET NATURAL 

AREA 

East Inlet Natural Area contains a black spruce-tamarack bog and a 

virgin, balsam fir-red spruce forest. It provides the opportunity for 

study of edaphic influences on the environment. Designated: 1972. 

Ownership: Private. 

FLOATING ISLAND Floating Island, a floating heath bog, is surrounded by mixed bog 

swamp forest and an intricate complex of meandering river, oxbows 

and ponds. It is considered one of the finest wildlife areas in 

northern New England, providing critical habitat for species 

including osprey and bald eagle. Designated: 1972. Ownership: 

Federal. 

PONDICHERRY WILDLIFE 

REFUGE 

Within Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge are two shallow, warm water 

ponds, surrounded by marsh, bog and forest that support an 

abundance of submerged, floating, and emergent vegetation, and a 

great variety of birds. The wetland complex is the type locality for a 

species of pondweed and spike-rush. Designated: 1972. 

Ownership: State, private. 

Grafton County

FRANCONIA NOTCH A deep, steep-sided mountain pass, Franconia Notch is an old 

stream valley, ground to a u-shape by glacial movement. Natural 

erosional features, including landslide scars, stream-cut gorges, 

and one of the most extensive talus slopes in the eastern United 

States illustrate land-shaping processes. Designated: 1971. 

Ownership: State. 

NANCY BROOK VIRGIN 

SPRUCE FOREST AND 

SCENIC AREA 

(extends into Carroll County) The montane stand of red spruce 

within Nancy Brook Virgin Spruce Forest and Scenic Area, may be 

the largest virgin forest tract in the northeastern United States. The 

diverse landscape includes classic high elevation ponds, landslides, 

steep valley walls, cascades, boulder streams, beaver clearings, 

mountain slopes, ridges, summits, and distant views. Designated: 

1987. Ownership: Federal. 
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OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NEW HAMPSHIRE – NEW JERSEY

Strafford County

SPRUCE HOLE BOG Spruce Hole Bog, a true, kettle hole bog, is the last known to exist 

in southern New Hampshire. It illustrates characteristics of a typical 

sphagnum-heath bog, localized in a specialized geologic setting. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: Municipal. 

NEW JERSEY (11) 

Bergen County

PALISADES OF THE 

HUDSON 

(extends into Rockland County, New York) Palisades of the 

Hudson is the best example of a thick diabase sill formation known 

in the United States. Columnar jointing, an olivine zone and 

thermal metamorphic effects are attributes found in rare 

combination at this site. The glaciated crest provides impressive 

evidence of the Pleistocene glacier. Designated: 1983. Ownership: 

State. 

Cape May County

STONE HARBOR BIRD 

SANCTUARY 

Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary is managed exclusively as a 

sanctuary for birds and is probably the greatest single influence 

increasing the heron populations in New Jersey. Designated: 1965. 

Ownership: Municipal. 

Essex County

RIKER HILL FOSSIL SITE Riker Hill Fossil Site is one of only two known localities of major 

size along the Northeastern coast where large numbers of dinosaur 

footprints are preserved in-situ. Designated: 1971. Ownership: 

County. 

Middlesex County

PIGEON SWAMP Pigeon Swamp contains a complex of habitats ranging from open 

ponds to upland hardwood forest. It is significant because it 

contains a sizeable example of mature inner coastal plain lowland 

hardwood forest. Designated: 1976. Ownership: State, private. 

Morris County

GREAT SWAMP Great Swamp, located within Great Swamp National Wildlife 

Refuge, contains a unique blend of unspoiled forest, swamp, and 

marshland that provides habitat for a variety of wildlife species. 

Designated: 1966. Ownership: Federal. 
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OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NEW JERSEY

TROY MEADOWS Troy Meadows contains the last unpolluted freshwater marsh of 

large size in the region. It is an important habitat for a variety of 

bird and animal species. Designated: 1967. Ownership: State, 

private. 

Ocean County

MANAHAWKIN 

BOTTOMLAND 

HARDWOOD FOREST 

Manahawkin Bottomland Hardwood Forest is a mature bottomland 

hardwood forest dominated by sweetgum, red maple and black 

gum. It is one of the finest remaining examples of bottomland 

hardwood forest in the northern Atlantic Coastal Plain 

biophysiographic province. Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 

Passaic County

GREAT FALLS OF 

PATERSON-GARRETT 

MOUNTAIN 

Great Falls of Paterson-Garrett Mountain provides an excellent 

illustration of the jointed basaltic lava flow that began a period of 

extrusion and intrusion throughout eastern North America in the 

early Mesozoic, influencing present day landforms in this region. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: State, municipal. 

Somerset County

WILLIAM L. HUTCHESON 

MEMORIAL FOREST 

William L. Hutcheson Memorial Forest is a virgin mixed oak upland 

forest dominated by white, red, and black oaks. It is probably the 

best remaining example of an old growth mixed forest in New 

Jersey. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Private. 

MOGGY HOLLOW 

NATURAL AREA 

Moggy Hollow Natural Area contains a 90-foot gorge, which was 

the outlet for ancient glacial Lake Passaic. It is a superlative 

illustration of a phase of Ice Age glaciation. Designated: 1970. 

Ownership: Private. 

Warren County

SUNFISH POND Located within Worthington State Forest, Sunfish Pond is a springfed mountain lake surrounded by a hardwood forest. It is an 

outstanding illustration of glacial sculpture. 

Designated: 1970. Ownership: State. 
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OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NEW MEXICO

NEW MEXICO (12) 

Chaves County

BITTER LAKE GROUP Located within the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, the Bitter 

Lake Group contains more than 30 natural sinkhole depressions 

formed by solution of gypsum-bearing rocks. The highly saline 

artesian lakes provide habitat for the only inland occurrence of a 

marine alga and two rare fish species. The site offers one of the 

best examples of undisturbed shrub-grassland and the process of 

succession and restoration to natural conditions following a 

disturbance. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

MATHERS RESEARCH 

NATURAL AREA 

Mathers Research Natural Area contains the best example of a 

shinnery oak-sand prairie community in the southern Great Plains 

biophysiographic province. The site nears the western edge of 

shinnery oak distribution. Designated: 1982. Ownership: Federal. 

MESCALERO SANDS 

SOUTH DUNE 

Mescalero Sands South Dune is the best example of an active sand 

dune system in the southern Great Plains biophysiographic 

province. A variety of successional stages from active dunes to a 

climax shinnery oak-sand prairie community are represented. 

Designated: 1982. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

Dona Ana County

KILBOURNE HOLE Kilbourne Hole is an example of an uncommon volcanic feature 

known as a maar. A maar is a depression caused by a volcanic 

explosion that emits little volcanic material except gas. Additionally, 

the olivine and enstatite inclusions have been used in studies of the 

upper mantle. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Federal. 

Harding County

BUEYEROS 

SHORTGRASS PLAINS 

Bueyeros Shortgrass Plains is an example of the blue gramabuffalograss prairie of the Great Plains and is considered to be 

representative of the pre-cattle grazing era. Two of the three 

dominant natural grazing animals, antelope and prairie dogs, are 

still in the area. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

Lincoln County

BORDER HILLS 

STRUCTURAL ZONE 

Border Hills Structural Zone is one of several buckles on the Pecos 

slope located in otherwise gently dipping Permian strata. It is a rare 

example of wrench faulting found outside the Pacific Coast region. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal, private. 
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OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NEW MEXICO

FORT STANTON CAVE Fort Stanton Cave is characterized by very long and large open 

passages containing distinctive examples of selenite needles, 

starbursts, and velvet flowstone. Designated: 1974. Ownership: 

Federal. 

TORGAC CAVE Torgac Cave contains abundant and intricate gypsum speleothems. 

The branching stalactites and helictites are so distinctive that the 

cave is the type site of Torgac-type helictites. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: Federal. 

Rio Arriba County

GHOST RANCH Ghost Ranch has yielded an abundance of well-preserved 

Coelophysis skeletons within exposures of the Upper Triassic 

Chinle Formation. This reptile, one of the oldest and most primitive 

carnivorous dinosaurs, was known only from scanty fossil evidence 

until the 1947 discovery and excavation at this site. This discovery 

is considered by some paleontologists as one of the most important 

single fossil finds in the American Triassic. Designated: 1976. 

Ownership: Private. 

VALLES CALDERA (extends into Sandoval County) The Valles Caldera is a large 

circular depression, 12 to 15 miles in diameter, with scalloped walls 

rising from a few hundred to more than 2,000 feet above the 

present floor. Located primarily within the Valles Caldera National 

Preserve, the site is one of the largest calderas in the world and is 

an excellent example of a caldera advanced in history but still 

retaining the essential structures. Designated: 1975. Ownership: 

Federal. 

Sandoval County

VALLES CALDERA (see Rio Arriba County) 

San Juan County

SHIP ROCK Towering 1,400 feet above the surrounding plain, Ship Rock is an 

outstanding example of an exposed volcanic neck accompanied by 

radiating dikes. There are few such clear displays of the internal 

structure of a volcano. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Indian Trust 

(Navajo Tribe). 
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OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NEW MEXICO – NEW YORK

Valencia County

GRANTS LAVA FLOW Grants Lava Flow is one of the best examples of recent extrusive 

volcanism. Located within portions of the El Malpais National 

Monument and El Malpais National Conservation Area, it is about 

32 miles long and 18 miles wide at its widest point. Its gigantic 

pressure ridges, collapse depression ponds, and lava tubes are 

outstanding. Designated: 1969. Ownership: Federal, Indian Trust 

(Acoma Pueblo), private. 

NEW YORK (25) 

Albany County

BEAR SWAMP Bear Swamp is a low, swampy woodland consisting of red maple, 

yellow birch, black ash, white elm, white pine, and hemlock trees. 

The most outstanding features at the site are the relict stands of 

great laurel covering approximately 60 acres of the swamp. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Allegany County

MOSS LAKE BOG Moss Lake Bog is a classic example of a postglacial sphagnum bog 

invading and filling a small kettle lake. The various stages of bog 

succession are well illustrated here. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 

Cattaraugus County

DEER LICK NATURE 

SANCTUARY 

Deer Lick Nature Sanctuary contains a gorge that clearly illustrates 

exposed stratifications of the Onondaga escarpment. The site also 

supports a mature northern hardwood forest. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: Private. 

Clinton County

CHAZY FOSSIL REEF (see Grand Isle County, Vermont) 

Dutchess County

THOMPSON POND The Thompson Pond site contains sharply defined, well-developed 

ecosystems, from open pond to mountain cliffs, which illustrate 

great ecological diversity in a small area. The glacially-created 

pond, consisting of 75 acres of open water and a water depth of 

four feet, is fringed by cattail marshes, and reeds and water lilies in 

deeper water. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 65

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JUNE 2009 

NEW YORK

Genesee County

BERGEN-BYRON SWAMP The Bergen-Byron Swamp encompasses diverse forest and 

wetland habitats that is unusually rich in plant and animal life. 

Designated: 1964. Ownership: Private. 

FOSSIL CORAL REEF Fossil Coral Reef is an exposed fossil site in an abandoned 

limestone quarry surrounded by woodland. The reef is the finest 

display of Devonian coral reef in New York, and includes core, 

flanking, and off-reef deposits. Designated: 1967. Ownership: 

Private. 

OAK ORCHARD CREEK 

MARSH 

(extends into Orleans County) Located within Iroquois National 

Wildlife Refuge, Oak Orchard Creek Marsh is a relatively 

undisturbed marsh, an ecosystem that is rare for this part of New 

York. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Federal. 

Herkimer County

MOSS ISLAND Moss Island is part of an uplifted fault block of ancient crystalline 

rock. It contains the best exposure of glacial age potholes eroded 

by meltwater floods in the eastern United States. Designated: 

1976. Ownership: State. 

Jefferson County

DEXTER MARSH Dexter Marsh is a relatively undisturbed, extensive example of a 

large bay-head marsh complex at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

IRONSIDES ISLAND (extends into St. Lawrence County) Ironsides Island is a glaciallyscoured granite knoll. The site’s most significant feature is the 

breeding colony of great blue herons. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: Private. 

LAKEVIEW MARSH AND 

BARRIER BEACH 

Lakeview Marsh and Barrier Beach is one of the best and most 

extensive marshlands that lie in protected bays and behind barrier 

beaches along eastern Lake Ontario. The marsh-swamp-pond 

complex demonstrates great wetlands diversity. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: State. 
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OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NEW YORK

Livingston County

FALL BROOK GORGE Fall Brook Gorge represents one of the nation's finest exposures of 

Upper and Middle Devonian Age strata with significant fossil 

remains and a cap-rock waterfall. The gorge possesses a series of 

ecological communities in a small area that illustrate the response 

of plant and animal life to sharply contrasting microclimates. 

Designated: 1970. Ownership: Private. 

Monroe County

HART’S WOODS Hart’s Woods is a rare remnant of the original beech-maple forest 

that once occupied a large glaciated area extending from 

southeastern Wisconsin to north-central New York. Designated: 

1972. Ownership: Municipal. 

MENDON PONDS PARK Mendon Ponds Park contains a unique complex of glacial features 

including kames, eskers, esker fans, kettle holes, erratics, bogs, 

and ponds. Designated: 1967. Ownership: County. 

Onondaga County

ROUND LAKE Round Lake, located within Green Lakes State Park, is one of 11 

meromictic lakes reported in the United States. The site also 

contains about 20 acres of outstanding virgin mesophytic forest 

adjoining the lake. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

Orleans County

OAK ORCHARD CREEK 

MARSH 

(see Genesee County) 

Rockland County

HOOK MOUNTAIN AND 

NYACK BEACH STATE 

PARK 

Hook Mountain and Nyack Beach State Park contains a portion of 

the Palisade sill. The site contains geological deposits that are 

characteristic of the filling of basins during the rifting and opening of 

the North Atlantic Basin 180-200 million years ago. Designated: 

1980. Ownership: State. 

PALISADES OF THE 

HUDSON 

(see Bergen County, New Jersey) 

IONA ISLAND MARSH Iona Island Marsh is a brackish estuarine marsh in a near natural 

state that fringes the Hudson River. The site also contains many 

rare plants. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 67

OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NEW YORK

St. Lawrence County

IRONSIDES ISLAND (see Jefferson County) 

Saratoga County

PETRIFIED GARDENS Petrified Gardens includes one of the best exposures of fossil reefs 

made up of calcareous algae, known as cryptozoon. These types 

of algae represent a milestone in the evolution of plant life. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: Private. 

Seneca County

MONTEZUMA MARSHES Montezuma Marshes, located within the Montezuma National 

Wildlife Refuge, is a marsh dominated by broad-leaved cattail. A 

small, 100-acre area within the site, is one of the best examples of 

undisturbed swamp woodlands in New York or New England. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Federal. 

Suffolk County

BIG REED POND Big Reed Pond, located within Theodore Roosevelt County Park, is 

a shallow freshwater pond surrounded by brackish marshes and 

ponds with natural dunes at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The 

environment supports deer and other wildlife. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: County. 

LONG BEACH, ORIENT 

STATE PARK 

Long Beach, Orient State Park is one of the finest remaining 

examples in New York of a sand-gravel spit illustrating succession 

from salt marsh to maritime forest. The site contains a breeding 

colony of common and roseate terns, species which are becoming 

scarce in other North Atlantic breeding grounds. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: State. 

Tompkins County

McLEAN BOGS McLean Bogs includes two spring-fed bogs, one acidic and one 

alkaline. The site also contains rare plant species and one of the 

best examples of a northern deciduous forest in New York. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Ulster County

ELLENVILLE FAULT-ICE 

CAVES 

The Ellenville Fault-Ice Caves, located within Sam’s Point Preserve, 

contains the largest known exposed fault system in the United 

States, along with a series of ice caves formed from fault debris. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: Private. 
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JUNE 2009 

NEW YORK – NORTH CAROLINA

Wayne County

ZURICH BOG Zurich Bog is a good example of northern sphagnum bog and bog 

forest vegetation, both of which are uncommon in north-central New 

York. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Westchester County

MIANUS RIVER GORGE The Mianus River Gorge contains an excellent climax hemlock 

forest and presents an exceptional illustration of piedmont 

physiography and geomorphology. Designated: 1964. Ownership: 

Private. 

NORTH CAROLINA (13) 

Alleghany County

STONE MOUNTAIN (extends into Wilkes County) Stone Mountain, located within Stone 

Mountain State Park, is the best example of a monadnock in 

massive granite in North Carolina. Unique, endemic plants persist 

on the granite outcrops. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

Ashe County

LONG HOPE CREEK 

SPRUCE BOG 

(extends into Watauga County) Long Hope Creek Spruce Bog is 

one of the rarest plant communities in North Carolina and the 

Southeast, including plant species such as American yew and 

buckbean. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 

MOUNT JEFFERSON 

STATE NATURAL AREA 

Mount Jefferson State Natural Area contains virtually undisturbed 

northern red oak forests, and represents one of the best remaining 

examples of oak-chestnut forest in the Southeast. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: State. 

Beaufort County

GOOSE CREEK STATE 

PARK NATURAL AREA 

Goose Creek State Park Natural Area is an excellent example of a 

gently sloping mainland undergoing rapid ocean transgression. 

The site contains several diverse ecological communities including: 

brackish creeks and marshes, marsh transition areas, river swamp 

forest, and pine forest. Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 69

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JUNE 2009 

NORTH CAROLINA

Brunswick County

GREEN SWAMP Green Swamp is the largest and most unique mosaic of wetland 

communities in the Carolinas and is a refuge for rare plant and 

animal species. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 

SMITH ISLAND (extends into New Hanover County) Smith Island, located within 

Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, is a barrier island complex 

representing one of the least disturbed areas remaining on the 

Atlantic Coast. The site contains one of the best unaltered 

examples of sand strand forest in existence, and a system of sand 

dunes. Salt marshes, tidal creeks, bays, and mudflats are used 

extensively by aquatic birds, and island beaches provide breeding 

habitat for loggerhead turtles. Designated: 1967. Ownership: 

State. 

Dare County

NAGS HEAD WOODS 

AND JOCKEY’S RIDGE 

Nags Head Woods and Jockey’s Ridge illustrates the entire series 

of dune development and plant succession, from shifting open 

dunes to forested stabilized dunes. Designated: 1974. Ownership: 

State, county, municipal, private. 

Davie County

ORBICULAR DIORITE The Orbicular Diorite site contains an unusual plutonic igneous rock 

consisting of hornblende, pyroxene, and feldspars. Designated: 

1980. Ownership: Private. 

Hyde County

SALYER’S RIDGE 

NATURAL AREA 

Salyer’s Ridge Natural Area, located within the Mattamuskeet 

National Wildlife Refuge, contains a rare example of mature loblolly 

pine forest in process of succession towards a deciduous forest. 

Designated: 1983. Ownership: Federal. 

New Hanover County

SMITH ISLAND (see Brunswick County) 

Onslow County

BEAR ISLAND Bear Island, located within Hammocks Beach State Park, contains 

one of the largest and best examples of coastal eolian landforms in 

the Atlantic Coastal Plain biophysiographic province. Dune 

movement has created a dynamic landscape of outstanding scenic 

beauty. Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 70

OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NORTH CAROLINA – NORTH DAKOTA

Surry County

PILOT MOUNTAIN Pilot Mountain, located within Pilot Mountain State Park, is a classic 

monadnock that harbors disjunct vegetation from the Blue Ridge 

region. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

Wake County

PIEDMONT BEECH 

NATURAL AREA 

Piedmont Beech Natural Area, located within William B. Umstead 

State Park, is one of the best examples of mixed mesophytic forest 

in the eastern Piedmont of North Carolina. Portions of the site 

contain unusual examples of good, maturing stands of beech. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

Watauga County

LONG HOPE CREEK 

SPRUCE BOG 

(see Ashe County) 

Wilkes County

STONE MOUNTAIN (see Alleghany County) 

Yancey County

MOUNT MITCHELL STATE 

PARK 

Mount Mitchell, located within Mount Mitchell State Park, is the 

highest mountain in the eastern half of the United States at 6,684 

feet. The site supports the most extensive stand of Fraser fir 

remaining in the country. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

NORTH DAKOTA (4) 

Billings County

TWO-TOP MESA AND BIG 

TOP MESA 

Located one mile apart, Two-Top Mesa and Big Top Mesa are in a 

badlands terrain of sandstones, siltstones and clay. The mesas are 

characterized by an unbroken cover of grass on flat relief. 

Designated: 1965. Ownership: Federal. 

Cavalier County

RUSH LAKE A large shallow, essentially undisturbed prairie pothole lake, Rush 

Lake is an important staging area for waterfowl. Designated: 1975. 

Ownership: Private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 71

OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

NORTH DAKOTA - OHIO

Kidder County

SIBLEY LAKE A large, permanent alkaline lake, Sibley Lake provides a breeding 

and resting area for one of the largest and most diverse waterbird 

populations found in pothole lakes in North Dakota. Designated: 

1975. Ownership: State, private. 

Stutsman County

FISCHER LAKE Fischer Lake is highly representative of the glacial moraine and 

pitted outwash plain surface of North Dakota. The site contains 

relatively undisturbed grassland and lush prairie woodlands. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: State, private. 

OHIO (23) 

Adams County

BUZZARDROOST ROCKLYNX PRAIRIE-THE 

WILDERNESS 

Buzzardroost Rock-Lynx Prairie-The Wilderness consists of four 

areas that contain a number of different plant associations, 

including relict tall grass prairie, mixed mesophytic forest, relict 

boreal coniferous forest, and xeric mixed-oak forest. The site 

supports many rare or uncommon species and it has an almost 50-

year history of scientific observations. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: Private. 

SERPENT MOUND 

CRYPTOEXPLOSIVE 

STRUCTURE 

(extends into Highland and Pike Counties) Serpent Mound 

Cryptoexplosive Structure is a structure of undetermined origin 

exposed by differential erosion. It is the smaller of two such 

outstanding cryptoexplosive structures in the Interior Low Plateaus 

biophysiographic province and is the classic American example. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

Ashland County

CLEAR FORK GORGE Located within Mohican State Park, Clear Fork Gorge is a 

geologically significant area of the Mohican River valley. The site 

clearly illustrates evidence of stream reversal due to the Wisconsin 

glacier. Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 

CRALL WOODS Crall Woods is a near-virgin remnant of maple-basswood-beech 

forest-type representing the original vegetation found in Ohio's 

glaciated till plain. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 72

OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

OHIO

Belmont County

DYSART WOODS Dysart Woods contains one of the finest remaining examples of the 

once superb white oak forests of eastern Ohio. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: State. 

Butler County

HUESTON WOODS (extends into Preble County) Hueston Woods, located within 

Hueston Woods State Park, is a noteworthy example of beechmaple climax forest that has never been cut. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: State. 

Champaign County

CEDAR BOG Located within Cedar Bog State Memorial, Cedar Bog is an 

excellent example of a marl swamp. The site contains a white 

cedar stand preserved in virgin condition. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: State, private. 

Cuyahoga County

ARTHUR B. WILLIAMS 

MEMORIAL WOODS 

The Arthur B. Williams Memorial Woods contains a remarkably 

pristine remnant beech-maple forest. The site is among the finest 

timber stands remaining in Ohio. Designated: 1974. Ownership: 

Municipal. 

TINKERS CREEK GORGE Tinkers Creek Gorge contains a virgin oak-hickory and beechmaple-hemlock virgin forest. Designated: 1967. Ownership: 

Municipal. 

Delaware County

HIGHBANKS NATURAL 

AREA 

(extends into Franklin County) A forested bluff overlooking the 

Olentangy River, the Highbanks Natural Area includes a healthy 

herbaceous layer as well as outstanding examples of oak-hickory, 

beech-maple, and flood plain hardwood forests. The bluffs are 

crested with a disjunct acid xeric community of lichens and mosses. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: County. 

Erie County

GLACIAL GROOVES 

STATE MEMORIAL 

Glacial Grooves State Memorial, located on Kelleys Island, is made 

up of very large limestone glacial grooves that measure several feet 

in depth. Designated: 1967. Ownership: Private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 73

OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

OHIO

Fairfield County

BLACKLICK WOODS Blacklick Woods is an outstanding example of relatively 

undisturbed, old-growth beech-maple and swamp forest 

communities of the type that once covered the flat till plain of 

central Ohio. Designated: 1974. Ownership: County. 

Franklin County

HIGHBANKS NATURAL 

AREA 

(see Delaware County) 

Fulton County

GOLL WOODS Goll Woods, located within Goll Woods State Park Forest, is one of 

the best remaining examples of an oak-hickory dominated forest in 

Ohio. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

Geauga County

HOLDEN NATURAL 

AREAS 

(extends into Lake County) Holden Natural Areas is a complex of 

three natural areas. Steblins Gulch possesses geological 

formations of Chardon, Brea sandstone, Bedford and Cleveland 

types. Bole Forest is a northern hardwood virgin forest, and 

Hanging Rock Farm is a stand of northern hardwoods. The three 

areas serve as a unique control for arboretum lands abutting this 

landmark. Designated: 1967. Ownership: Private. 

WHITE PINE BOG 

FOREST 

White Pine Bog Forest is the only remaining near-virgin remnant 

white pine boreal bog in Ohio. Designated: 1976. Ownership: 

Municipal, private. 

Greene County

CLIFTON GORGE Clifton Gorge is exemplary of interglacial and postglacial canyoncutting into the dolomites of the Niagara Escarpment. Designated: 

1967. Ownership: State. 

GLEN HELEN NATURAL 

AREA 

Yellow Spring Creek, which flows through Glen Helen Natural Area, 

has deeply incised the dolomitic base rock of the area. Old-growth 

hardwoods dominate the valley area. Another significant feature 

along the creek is a waterfall that carved a large travertine bowl 

around its pool. Designated: October 1965. Ownership: Private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 74

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JUNE 2009 

OHIO

Hamilton County

HAZELWOOD 

BOTANICAL PRESERVE 

The Hazelwood Botanical Preserve is considered an ecological 

benchmark because of John G. Segelken’s highly detailed study of 

the site’s plant ecology, which was published in 1929. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: State. 

Highland County

FORT HILL STATE 

MEMORIAL 

Fort Hill State Memorial possesses excellent outcrops of Silurian, 

Devonian, and Mississippian sedimentary bedrock and a natural 

bridge. The site is also an example of glacial stream reversal. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 

SERPENT MOUND 

CRYPTOEXPLOSIVE 

STRUCTURE 

(see Adams County) 

Lake County

HOLDEN NATURAL 

AREAS 

(see Geauga County) 

MENTOR MARSH Mentor Marsh consists of marsh vegetation, aquatic plants, swamp 

and bottomland forest, and upland forest. As a migration stopover 

and year-around habitat for birds and mammals, the site is a rarity 

in heavily populated northern Ohio. Designated: 1964. Ownership: 

State, private. 

Licking County

CRANBERRY BOG The only known bog of its type in existence, Cranberry Bog is a 

"floating island" in Buckeye Lake. The vegetation in this cranberry 

sphagnum bog represents a relict of post-glacial time. Designated: 

1968. Ownership: State. 

Pike County

SERPENT MOUND 

CRYPTOEXPLOSIVE 

STRUCTURE 

(see Adams County) 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 75

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JUNE 2009 

OHIO - OKLAHOMA

Portage County

MANTUA SWAMP Mantua Swamp contains many different wetland communities 

including a flood-plain swamp forest, cattail marshes, a beaver 

pond, and a relict boreal bog. Designated: 1976. Ownership: 

State, private. 

Preble County

HUESTON WOODS (see Butler County) 

Wayne County

BROWN’S LAKE BOG Brown’s Lake Bog is one of the few well-preserved, virgin boreal 

acid bogs remaining in a region where wetlands have been drained 

for agricultural use. Designated: 1967. Ownership: Private. 

OKLAHOMA (3) 

Alfalfa County

SALT PLAINS NATIONAL 

WILDLIFE REFUGE 

Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge contains the largest inland 

saline basin in the Central Lowlands biophysiographic province. 

The salt plains provide an important area for study of selenite 

crystal formation and is one of the few remaining nesting sites for 

inland least tern, snowy plover, and avocets in the southern Central 

Lowlands. The refuge is used heavily during migration by 

thousands of waterfowl and by the endangered whooping crane. 

Designated: 1983. Ownership: Federal. 

Canadian County

DEVIL’S CANYON Devil’s Canyon is a deeply eroded box canyon supporting many 

disjunct mesic plant species whose natural ranges reach their 

western extremity about 200 miles east of this area. The close 

proximity of the mesic flora of the canyon bottom and the two more 

western plant communities of the canyon rim, is unusual. Nowhere 

else in Oklahoma is there such a quick transition from eastern 

deciduous forest type vegetation to an oak woodland-tall grass 

prairie. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 76

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JUNE 2009 

OKLAHOMA - OREGON

McCurtain County

McCURTAIN COUNTY 

WILDERNESS AREA 

McCurtain County Wilderness Area is one of the last undisturbed 

parts of the Oklahoma oak-pine forest. The site’s overall size and 

high degree of integrity make it a classic example of a xeric upland 

oak-pine forest. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

OREGON (7) 

Benton County

WILLAMETTE 

FLOODPLAIN 

Willamette Floodplain represents the largest remaining native 

unplowed example of bottomland interior valley grassland in the 

North Pacific Border biophysiographic province. All of these 

grassland and shrubland communities have become exceedingly 

rare as most have been cultivated or converted to pastureland. 

Designated: 1987. Ownership: Federal. 

Deschutes County

HORSE RIDGE NATURAL 

AREA 

Horse Ridge Natural Area is distinguished by a high quality 

example of western juniper woodland in vigorous condition. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: Federal. 

NEWBERRY CRATER Newberry Crater, located within the Deschutes National Forest, is a 

basin at the top of a dormant, though young, volcano. It is the 

largest Pleistocene volcano east of the Cascade Range. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 

Grant County

JOHN DAY FOSSIL BEDS Sheep Rock is an icon of North American Tertiary vertebrate 

paleontology. Located within John Day Fossil Beds National 

Monument, the peak and surrounding badlands contains a 

remarkable sequence of very diverse fossils including early horses, 

rhinoceroses, canids, and over 30 other mammalian families 

entombed in reworked volcanic sediments. Designated: 1966. 

Ownership: Federal, private.

Lake County

FORT ROCK STATE 

MONUMENT 

Fort Rock State Monument is a striking example of a circular, fortlike volcanic outcrop. Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 77

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JUNE 2009 

OREGON - PENNSYLVANIA

Multnomah County

CROWN POINT Crown Point is a promontory rising nearly vertically about 725 feet 

above the Columbia River. It provides a strategic vantage point for 

observing a classic illustration of riverine processes. Designated: 

1971. Ownership: State. 

Wasco County

LAWRENCE MEMORIAL 

GRASSLAND 

PRESERVE 

The Lawrence Memorial Grassland Preserve is an excellent 

illustration of "biscuit and scabland" topography within the Columbia 

Plateau. It was formed by frost action during the Wisconsin 

glaciation period of the Pleistocene. The site is also known for its 

diverse plant communities. Designated: 1984. Ownership: Private. 

PENNSYLVANIA (27) 

Berks County

HAWK MOUNTAIN 

SANCTUARY 

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary offers an outstanding vantage point for 

observation of concentrated hawk migrations along the Kittanny 

Ridge. The site also contains an excellent illustration of geology 

and ecology of the eastern Appalachian region. Designated: 1965. 

Ownership: Private. 

Bucks County

MONROE BORDER 

FAULT 

The Monroe Border Fault illustrates an episode of orogenic 

compression in which Precambrian rocks were thrust northward 

over lower Paleozoic deposits. Designated: 1980. Ownership: 

State, private. 

Carbon County

HICKORY RUN BOULDER 

FIELD 

Located within Hickory Run State Park, the Hickory Run Boulder 

Field is a geologically significant field of unsorted, loosely packed 

boulders resulting from periglacial conditions. The large size of the 

boulders and the low (one percent) gradient of the field make it 

nationally unique. Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 78

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JUNE 2009 

PENNSYLVANIA

Centre County

BEAR MEADOWS 

NATURAL AREA 

Bear Meadows Natural Area, located within Rothrock State Forest, 

includes a shallow peat bog surrounded by a buffer zone of typical 

Appalachian forest. The vast accumulation of pollen and spores in 

the peat has aided research and understanding of vegetation and 

climatic changes in the region. Designated: 1965. Ownership: 

State. 

Chester County

NOTTINGHAM PARK 

SERPENTINE BARRENS 

Nottingham Park Serpentine Barrens support unique serpentine 

grasslands, pitch pine, and open savanna communities that are 

especially adapted to the shallow and highly metallic soils and are 

maintained by frequent fires and other disturbances. The site 

contains many rare and endemic species, including one of the 

northernmost occurrences of fame flower and one of the largest 

populations in the world of the serpentine aster. Designated: 2009. 

Ownership: County. 

Clarion County

COOK FOREST (extends into Forest County) Cook Forest, located within Cook 

Forest State Park, is a relict of the forest type that once covered 

northern Pennsylvania. The forest is predominately comprised of 

Eastern white pine along with Eastern hemlocks and mixed 

hardwood tree species. Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 

Cumberland County

FLORENCE JONES 

REINEMAN WILDLIFE 

SANCTUARY 

(extends into Perry County) The Florence Jones Reineman Wildlife 

Sanctuary is a large, protected ecological community that illustrates 

the process of succession and restoration to natural conditions 

following disruptive change. The sanctuary also lies on the 

migration route of various hawk species. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 

Erie County

PRESQUE ISLE Located within Presque Isle State Park, Presque Isle is a peninsula, 

or "flying spit", formed by sands carried by the currents of Lake 

Erie. It is an impressive illustration of this type of formation and is 

the largest in the Great Lakes region. Designated: 1967. 

Ownership: State. 
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JUNE 2009 

PENNSYLVANIA

TITUS AND WATTSBURG 

BOGS 

Titus and Wattsburg Bogs is comprised of two different bogs 

representative of their ecosystem types; acid kettle hole bog and 

alkaline streamside fen. The bogs are noted for the rare and 

unusual species among their rich and divergent floras. Designated: 

1977. Ownership: Private. 

Fayette County

FERNCLIFF PENINSULA 

NATURAL AREA 

Located within Ohiopyle State Park, the Ferncliff Peninsula Natural 

Area is one of the best examples of a typical late-succession forest 

in the Allegheny Mountains. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

Forest County

COOK FOREST (see Clarion County) 

Lackawanna County

NAY AUG PARK GORGE 

AND WATERFALL 

Nay Aug Park Gorge and Waterfall illustrates active landscapeforming processes from erosion of differentially resistant rocks. The 

sedimentary rock units are important secondary features that 

demonstrate sedimentary processes, environments, and events in 

the history of the earth. Designated: 1989. Ownership: Municipal. 

Lancaster County

FERNCLIFF 

WILDFLOWER AND 

WILDLIFE PRESERVE 

The vegetation within the Ferncliff Wildflower and Wildlife Preserve 

is an excellent example of a mixed mesophytic forest that occupies 

the valleys and ravines of the oak-chestnut forest region. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: Private. 

Lawrence County

McCONNELL’S MILL 

STATE PARK 

McConnell’s Mill State Park is an outstanding geological example of 

land and watershed formation indirectly resulting from glacial 

diversion of a stream. An important secondary characteristic at this 

site is the surrounding old growth forest. Designated: 1972. 

Ownership: State. 

Luzerne County

THE GLENS NATURAL 

AREA 

(extends into Sullivan County) The Glens Natural Area, located 

within Ricketts Glen State Park, is a relict eastern deciduous forest 

containing examples of stream erosion and spectacular waterfalls. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 80

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JUNE 2009 

PENNSYLVANIA

Lycoming County

REYNOLDS SPRING AND 

ALGERINE SWAMP 

BOGS 

(see Tioga County) 

McKean County

TIONESTA SCENIC AND 

RESEARCH NATURAL 

AREAS 

(extends into Warren County) The Tionesta Scenic and Research 

Natural Areas, located within the Allegheny National Forest, is the 

largest virgin forest in the hemlock-white pine/northern hardwood 

forest regions of North America. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

Federal. 

Monroe County

TANNERSVILLE 

CRANBERRY BOG 

Tannersville Cranberry Bog is one of the best developed boreal 

bogs in Pennsylvania and perhaps the most southern black sprucetamarack bog along the Eastern Seaboard. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: Private. 

Perry County

BOX HUCKLEBERRY 

SITE 

Located within Tuscarora State Forest, the Box Huckleberry site is 

one of the few localities where the unusual box huckleberry plant is 

found. Box huckleberry is one of the oldest living organisms in the 

world. Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 

FLORENCE JONES 

REINEMAN WILDLIFE 

SANCTUARY 

(see Cumberland County) 

HEMLOCKS NATURAL 

AREA 

Hemlocks Natural Area, located within Tuscarora State Forest, 

contains a virgin forest that has more resemblance to the hemlocknorthern hardwood forests than to the oak-chestnut forests in which 

it is located. Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 

SUSQUEHANNA WATER 

GAPS 

The Susquehanna Water Gaps represents an exceptional viewshed 

of a geological process resulting in what is known as water gaps. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: State. 

Philadelphia County

JOHN HEINZ NATIONAL 

WILDLIFE REFUGE AT 

TINICUM 

The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum contains a 

portion of the largest freshwater tidal wetland in Pennsylvania, 

including representative tidal marsh flora and fauna. Designated: 

1965. Ownership: Federal. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 81

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JUNE 2009 

PENNSYLVANIA

WISSAHICKON VALLEY Located within Fairmont Park, the Wissahickon Valley is a symbol 

of natural area preservation within a vast urban complex. The site 

provides value in the study of natural landscape evolution from late 

Tertiary times to the present. Designated: 1964. Ownership: 

Municipal. 

Snyder County

SNYDERMIDDLESWARTH 

NATURAL AREA 

The Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area, located within Bald Eagle 

State Forest, is an outstanding example of a relict forest composed 

predominantly of hemlock, birch, and pine, with scattered oaks. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 

Sullivan County

THE GLENS NATURAL 

AREA 

(see Luzerne County) 

Tioga County

PINE CREEK GORGE Pine Creek Gorge contains superlative scenery, geological and 

ecological value, and is one of the finest examples of a deep gorge 

in the eastern United States. Designated: 1968. Ownership: State, 

private. 

REYNOLDS SPRING AND 

ALGERINE SWAMP 

BOGS 

(extends into Lycoming County) Reynolds Spring and Algerine 

Swamp Bogs contains one of the finest and most representative 

high mountain bogs in the Allegheny Mountains section of 

Pennsylvania. The site is located primarily within Tioga State 

Forest. Designated: 1974. Ownership: State, private. 

Warren County

HEARTS CONTENT 

SCENIC AREA 

Located within the Allegheny National Forest, the Hearts Content 

Scenic Area is a virgin forest site, consisting of white pine over 400 

years old and hemlocks over 450 years old. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Federal. 

TAMARACK SWAMP Tamarack Swamp is an outstanding example of a large headwater 

swamp occurring in a glacially blocked stream valley. The two 

bogs, rich in wetland vegetation and including rare species, are the 

finest examples of acid kettle hole bogs in glaciated northwestern 

Pennsylvania. Designated: 1977. Ownership: State. 

TIONESTA SCENIC AND 

RESEARCH NATURAL 

AREAS 

(see McKean County) 
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JUNE 2009 

PENNSYLVANIA – PUERTO RICO

Wayne County

LAKE LACAWAC Lake Lacawac is one of the southernmost lakes of glacial origin in 

the northeastern United States. The site contains a mixture of 

northern and southern forests and a portion of relict forest. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: Private. 

PUERTO RICO (5) 

BANO DE ORO NATURAL 

AREA 

Containing virgin forest, Bano de Oro Natural Area is the only 

contiguous area in Puerto Rico that contains subtropical wet forest, 

rain forest, dwarf forest, and Pterocarpus. Located within the 

Caribbean National Forest, the site also supports many endemic 

plant and animal species. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

CABO ROJO The scenic Cabo Rojo site is an excellent example of a tombolo 

(tied island) with two sand spits. The landform resembles a large 

letter Y with a bar across the top. Enclosed within the Y is a salt 

water lagoon. Located within the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife 

Refuge, the site includes mangroves, beaches, reddish cliffs, xeric 

vegetation and seabird nesting habitat. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Federal. 

MONA AND MONITA 

ISLANDS 

The Mona and Monita Islands consists of two separate islands in 

the Caribbean, west of the main island of Puerto Rico. The sea 

caves on these islands are some of the largest, most extensive and 

most unusual in the world. The islands harbor a significant 

endemic biota and provide important seabird rookery areas. 

Designated: 1975. Ownership: Federal, Commonwealth of Puerto 

Rico. 

PUERTO MOSQUITO Puerto Mosquito is a deep inlet in the cliffed southern coast of 

Vieques Island. The most important element of the fauna that gives 

the bay uniqueness is the high permanent concentrations of 

dinoflagellates, in particular the luminescent Pyrodinium 

bahamanse. The bay has the highest concentrations of 

bioluminescent dinoflagellates of the three luminescent bays in 

Puerto Rico and is considered the best example of a 

bioluminescent bay in the United States. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Federal, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, municipal. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 83

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JUNE 2009 

PUERTO RICO – RHODE ISLAND- SOUTH CAROLINA

RIO ABAJO FOREST The Rio Abajo Forest is an excellent example of karst topography 

with numerous sinkholes and well-developed tower karst. Located 

within the Rio Abajo Forest Reserve, it is the only place in Puerto 

Rico where the great Eocene-Oligocene unconformity can be 

clearly seen. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico. 

RHODE ISLAND (1) 

Washington County

ELL POND The kettle hole pond and floating, sphagnum-ericaceous bog mat 

found at Ell Pond are bounded by red maple-Atlantic white cedar 

swamp and steep, glacially-abraded, granitic monadnocks. The 

presence of both hydric and xeric plant communities provides 

opportunity for ecological research and education. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: State, private. 

SOUTH CAROLINA (6) 

Beaufort County

ST. PHILLIPS ISLAND Approximately four miles in length and two miles wide, St. Phillips 

Island is unique among the barrier islands of Georgia, South 

Carolina and northern Florida, because it exists in a nearly 

undisturbed state with minimal development and past consumptive 

use. The site is also unique to the entire Atlantic Coast for it’s 

pronounced multiple vegetated beach dune ridges. Designated: 

1986. Ownership: Private. 

Berkeley County

FRANCIS BEIDLER 

FOREST 

(extends into Dorchester County) The Francis Beidler Forest 

harbors one of the last large virgin stands of bald cypress-tupelo 

gum swamp in the United States. A significant number of rare, 

unusual or range extensions for plants and animals occurs in this 

unique natural area. Its five major community types provide habitat 

for an extremely rich diversity of species. Designated: 1979. 

Ownership: Private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 84

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JUNE 2009 

SOUTH CAROLINA

Dorchester County

FRANCIS BEIDLER 

FOREST 

(see Berkeley County) 

Lancaster County

FLAT CREEK NATURAL 

AREA AND 40 ACRE 

ROCK 

Located within the Forty Acre Rock Heritage Preserve, Flat Creek 

Natural Area and 40 Acre Rock contains the largest remaining 

undisturbed granitic flat-rock outcrop in the Carolina Piedmont. The 

flat-rock vegetation includes 13 rare or endemic species and 20 

other species characteristic of these outcrops. Chestnut, oak, 

mockernut, hickory, sweetgum and pignut hickory trees abound on 

the southeast facing slopes. Flat Creek Dike is one of the thickest 

in eastern North America (1,123 feet). Taken together, these 

geological and biological features in such close proximity represent 

an unusual outdoor laboratory. Designated: 1984. Ownership: 

State. 

McCormick County

JOHN DE LA HOWE 

FOREST 

The John De La Howe Forest is an old-growth stand of oak-pine 

forest protected against fire and timbering since 1797. It is one of 

the best remaining examples of this forest type in the Piedmont. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 

STEVENS CREEK 

NATURAL AREA 

Located within the Steven’s Creek Heritage Preserve, Stevens 

Creek Natural Area is a Pleistocene relict ecosystem that harbors a 

flora considered extraordinary for its combination of plants one 

would expect to find either in mountain coves or in more southern 

localities. The old growth forest dominating the area is also 

unusual in the Piedmont biophysiographic province, a region with a 

long history of human development. Designated: 1979. 

Ownership: State. 

Richland County

CONGAREE RIVER 

SWAMP 

The Congaree River Swamp is the most extensive, mature cypressgum swamp and bottomland hardwood forest complex in South 

Carolina. Located within Congaree National Park, the site provides 

a sanctuary for wildlife. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 85

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JUNE 2009 

SOUTH DAKOTA

SOUTH DAKOTA (12) 

Brule County

RED LAKE One of the largest remaining natural and unmanipulated prairie 

pothole lakes, Red Lake is a valuable waterfowl breeding and 

resting area. Designated: 1975. Ownership: State. 

Charles Mix County

BIJOU HILLS Bijou Hills is an excellent example of an erosional remnant of soft 

clays and shales capped by a channel sandstone and quartzite. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: Private. 

Custer County

CATHEDRAL SPIRES 

AND LIMBER PINE 

NATURAL AREA 

Cathedral Spires and Limber Pine Natural Area, located within 

Custer State Park, is an excellent, rare example of joint-controlled 

weathering of granite. The site also supports a disjunct relict stand 

of limber pine. Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 

Fall River County

MAMMOTH SITE OF HOT 

SPRINGS 

Mammoth Site of Hot Springs contains one of the largest 

concentrations of mammoth remains in the United States. The site 

also contains bones of other vertebrates including peccary, bear, 

coyote, camel, and rodents. Designated: 1980. Ownership: 

Private. 

Grant County

ANCIENT RIVER WARREN 

CHANNEL 

(See Big Stone County, Minnesota) 

Gregory County

FORT RANDALL EAGLE 

ROOST 

Located on the Missouri River, the Fort Randall Eagle Roost is a 

prime winter roosting area for bald and golden eagles. Designated: 

1967. Ownership: Federal, private. 

Harding County

THE CASTLES Steep-walled, flat-topped buttes standing 200 to 400 feet above the 

surrounding prairie, The Castles contains exposed rock of Upper 

Cretaceous, Paleocene, Oligocene, and Miocene Ages. 

Cretaceous and Tertiary beds contain a variety of flora and fauna 

fossils. Designated: 1976. Ownership: Federal. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 86

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JUNE 2009 

SOUTH DAKOTA 

Jackson County

SNAKE BUTTE Snake Butte illustrates one of two types of sand calcite deposits in 

the world. Designated: 1967. Ownership: Indian Trust (Oglala 

Sioux Tribe). 

Kingsbury County

LAKE THOMPSON The largest natural lake bed in South Dakota, Lake Thompson 

contains a large undisturbed and unmanipulated marsh. The site is 

an outstanding waterfowl breeding and resting area. Designated: 

1975. Ownership: State. 

Lake County

BUFFALO SLOUGH Buffalo Slough provides excellent examples of a prairie pothole (a 

product of glacial activity) with native emergent vegetation, and a 

native bluestem prairie. The site is used extensively by many 

species of waterfowl and small mammals. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: State. 

Marshall County

SICA HOLLOW (extends into Roberts County) Sica Hollow displays many facets of 

natural history, including the glacial story of the River Warren, 

pothole lakes on the upland of Coteau, grasslands and prairie, and 

ravines where eastern deciduous forests grow. The site includes 

the eastern face of the escarpment of the Coteau des Prairies. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 

Meade County

BEAR BUTTE A cone-shaped mass of igneous rock standing alone 1,300 feet 

above the surrounding plains, Bear Butte illustrates the geological 

processes of igneous intrusion, folding and faulting, and exposure 

by differential erosion. Designated: 1965. Ownership: State. 

Roberts County

ANCIENT RIVER WARREN 

CHANNEL 

(see Big Stone County, Minnesota) 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 87

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JUNE 2009 

SOUTH DAKOTA - TENNESSEE 

COTTONWOOD SLOUGHDRY RUN 

Cottonwood Slough-Dry Run is a glaciated finger outlet of the 

world's largest Pleistocene glacial lake. The site contains a 

completely undisturbed wetland complex including potholes, 

streams, shallow open water, lakes, and marsh. Designated: 1975. 

Ownership: State, private. 

SICA HOLLOW (see Marshall County) 

TENNESSEE (13) 

Coffee County

ARNOLD ENGINEERING 

DEVELOPMENT 

CENTER NATURAL 

AREAS 

The Arnold Engineering Development Center Natural Areas 

consists of two non-contiguous tracts containing an extremely rare 

virgin swamp forest and a pristine example of an open marsh. Both 

tracts contain disjunct plant species whose distribution is normally 

confined to the Atlantic Coastal Plain biophysiographic province. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 

MAY PRAIRIE May Prairie is the largest and best relict prairie remaining in 

Tennessee. Such relict communities are critical to understanding 

the complex natural history of the eastern deciduous forest biome. 

Many regionally rare species occur here. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: State. 

Cumberland County

GRASSY COVE KARST 

AREA 

The Grassy Cove Karst Area is one of the nation's best illustrations 

of karst development and underground drainage, containing several 

smaller caves within the area. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

Private. 

Franklin County

DICK COVE Dick Cove contains a near virgin forest and is one of the few such 

areas in Tennessee. Since the forest exists at the eastern 

boundary of the western mesophytic forest region, it is important for 

the study of forest relationships between the mixed mesophytic and 

western mesophytic regions. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

Private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 88

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JUNE 2009 

TENNESSEE

Grundy County

CONLEY HOLE Conley Hole is one of the most spectacular and outstanding 

examples of a pit cave in the United States. The cave is 

dangerous, and entrance is limited to adequately equipped, 

experienced speleologists. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

SAVAGE GULF Located within Savage Gulf State Natural Area, Savage Gulf 

contains the best and largest virgin forest left in the mixed 

mesophytic region of the eastern deciduous forest. Designated: 

1971. Ownership: State. 

Hardeman County

McANULTY’S WOODS McAnulty’s Woods is the only known example in western 

Tennessee of the upland forests of the Mississippi Embayment 

section of the western mesophytic forest region. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 

Lake County

REELFOOT LAKE (extends into Obion County) Reelfoot Lake is an area of cypress 

swamps, sawgrass jungles, water lily glades and scattered bodies 

of open water. This mosaic of habitats was formed in the winter of 

1811-12 as a result of shocks known as the New Madrid 

earthquake, the most severe of any recorded in the country. 

Located within the Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge and Reelfoot 

Lake State Natural Area, the site contains domes, sunken lands, 

fissures, sinks, sand blows and large landslides. Designated: 1966. 

Ownership: Federal, State. 

Monroe County

LOST SEA (CRAIGHEAD 

CAVERNS) 

The Lost Sea cavern system includes the largest known 

underground lake in the country, an abundance of crystal clusters 

called anthodites, stalactites, stalagmites, and a waterfall. The site 

once yielded bones and footprints of a giant Pleistocene jaguar. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: Private. 

Obion County

REELFOOT LAKE (see Lake County) 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 89

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JUNE 2009 

TENNESSEE - TEXAS

Rhea County

PINEY FALLS Piney Falls, located within Piney Falls State Natural Area, contains 

a rare virgin mixed mesophytic forest stand representative of the 

primeval eastern deciduous forest biome. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: State. 

Van Buren County

BIG BONE CAVE Big Bone Cave is significant primarily because of the discoveries of 

giant ground sloth bones in the cave passages. Scarcely less 

significant are discoveries of the bones of an herbivore about the 

size of a bear, and other animals. Located within Big Bone Cave 

State Natural Area, artifacts of the War of 1812 and Civil War 

saltpeter mining operations are also remarkably well preserved in 

the cave. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

Warren County

CUMBERLAND CAVERN 

(HIGGINBOTHAM AND 

HENSHAW CAVES) 

Cumberland Cavern, known to be at least 27 miles in extent, is one 

of the longer cave systems in the country. Two interconnecting 

caves contain stalagmites, stalactites, helictites, flowstone, cave 

pearls, botryoidal coral, gypsum flowers, needles, and pure white 

gypsum snow, as well as a wide variety of cave life. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: Private. 

Wilson County

CEDAR GLADES 

NATURAL AREA 

Cedar Glades Natural Area, located within Cedars of Lebanon 

State Forest, represents the largest and best remaining example of 

the cedar glade community. Thousands of acres of this plant 

community type, once common in central Tennessee, have been 

destroyed, endangering the endemic flora of this community type. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

TEXAS (20) 

Anderson County

CATFISH CREEK Catfish Creek is one of the few remaining undisturbed riparian 

habitats in the western Gulf Coastal Plain biophysiographic 

province. Located primarily within the Gus Engeling Wildlife 

Management Area, the site supports several wildlife species that 

are rare in the state. Designated: 1983. Ownership: State, private. 
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TEXAS

Armstrong County

PALO DURO CANYON 

STATE PARK 

(extends into Randall County) Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon cut 

by waters of a fork of the Red River. This spectacular canyon 

contains cross-sectional views of sedimentary rocks representing 

four geological periods and is an excellent example of a landform 

that has been created by running water. Triassic and Pliocene 

vertebrate fossils have been found in the area. Designated: 1976. 

Ownership: State. 

Bailey County

MULESHOE NATIONAL 

WILDLIFE REFUGE 

Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge contains shallow, flat-bottomed 

depressions, called saline lake beds, and shortgrass grama 

grasslands characteristic of the high plains. The lake beds attract 

enormous seasonal concentrations of waterfowl, including the 

largest concentration of wintering cranes in the United States. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

Bandera County

LOST MAPLES STATE 

NATURAL AREA 

(extends into Real County) Lost Maples State Natural Area is an 

excellent illustration of Edwards Plateau flora and fauna, including a 

relict population of bigtooth maple. It contains the largest known 

nesting population of the endangered golden-cheeked warbler. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 

Blanco County

LITTLE BLANCO RIVER 

BLUFF 

Little Blanco River Bluff is an unspoiled example of the natural 

assemblage of flora characterizing the limestone bluff communities 

of the Edwards Plateau. The site supports diverse flora, including 

an estimated 250 species in 25 families. Designated: 1982. 

Ownership: Private. 

Burnet County

LONGHORN CAVERN Located within Longhorn Cavern State Park, Longhorn Cavern was 

formed in limestone of Ordovician Age at least 450 million years 

old. Unsurpassed as a natural exhibit of features such as calcite 

crystals, potholes, solution domes, channels and pits, the cave is 

an outstanding example of features formed during the phreatic 

(groundwater) phase of development. Designated: 1971. 

Ownership: State. 
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TEXAS

Cameron County

BAYSIDE RESACA AREA Bayside Resaca Area, located within Laguna Atascosa National 

Wildlife Refuge, contains an excellent example of a resaca, 

(meandering channel) that supports a variety of vegetation, 

including several types of coastal salt marsh communities. The site 

provides habitat for a number of rare and unusual bird species that 

enter the United States only at the southern tip of Texas. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

Colorado County

ATTWATER PRAIRIE 

CHICKEN PRESERVE 

Attwater Prairie Chicken Preserve, located within Attwater Prairie 

Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, contains the only significant 

segment of gulf coastal prairie. The area provides habitat for the 

endangered Attwater’s prairie chicken. Designated: 1968. 

Ownership: Federal. 

Comal County

NATURAL BRIDGE 

CAVERNS 

Natural Bridge Caverns is among the top two or three noteworthy 

caves of the Balcones Fault and Edwards Plateau area of Texas. A 

multilevel cavern system, it contains beautiful and unusual “fried 

egg” speleothems and intricate helictites. Designated: 1971. 

Ownership: Private. 

Ector County

ODESSA METEOR 

CRATER 

Odessa Meteor Crater is one of only two known meteor sites in the 

country. It contains two meteorite impact craters, with the larger of 

the two measuring 550 feet in diameter. Meteorites of nickel-iron 

composition have been found in the craters and within a two square 

mile north and northwest of the area. Designated: 1965. 

Ownership: County. 

Edwards County

DEVIL’S SINK HOLE Devil’s Sink Hole is a deep, bell-shaped, collapsed limestone sink 

with cave passages extending below the regional water table. 

Located within Devil’s Sinkhole State Natural Area, it is the best 

example of a collapsed sink along the Balcones Fault and within the 

Edwards Plateau region of Texas. The sinkhole provides habitat for 

a colony of bats estimated to number in the several millions. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: State. 
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TEXAS

Gillespie County

ENCHANTED ROCK (extends into Llano County) Enchanted Rock, located within 

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, is one of the largest rock 

mountains in the United States. It is a classic illustration of a 

batholith and of the exfoliation process. The coarse-grained pink 

granite is massive and uniform in composition and texture, and is 

some of the oldest igneous rock known in North America. 

Designated: 1971. Ownership: State. 

Hays County

EZELL’S CAVE Ezell’s Cave is biologically significant because it houses at least 36 

species of cave fauna, including six endemic aquatic species and 

one major order of small crustaceans formerly thought to have been 

restricted to the Mediterranean area. Designated: 1971. 

Ownership: Private. 

Hidalgo County

SANTA ANA NATIONAL 

WILDLIFE REFUGE 

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a living museum of the 

lowland forested area of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The 

refuge’s jungle-like vegetation provides habitat for over 400 species 

of birds and about one half of all butterfly species found in the 

United States. Designated: 1966. Ownership: Federal. 

Kendall County

CAVE WITHOUT A NAME Cave Without A Name contains rare and nationally outstanding 

examples of speleothems, one of the more important faunas in the 

Hill Country area, including a species of state-wide significance, 

and regionally important paleontological deposits that are 

potentially of state or national importance. Designated: 2009. 

Ownership: Private. 

Llano County

ENCHANTED ROCK (see Gillespie County) 

Montague County

GREENWOOD CANYON Greenwood Canyon, located along a tributary of the Braden 

Branch, is a rich source of early Cretaceous mammalian fossils. 

The site has produced specimans of several new taxa. Designated: 

1975. Ownership: Private. 
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TEXAS

Randall County

HIGH PLAINS NATURAL 

AREA 

High Plains Natural Area, located within Buffalo Lake National 

Wildlife Refuge, is one of the best developed, least disturbed 

natural shortgrass climax communities remaining in the Great 

Plains biophysiographic province. Designated: 1980. Ownership: 

Federal. 

PALO DURO CANYON 

STATE PARK 

(see Armstrong County) 

Real County

LOST MAPLES STATE 

NATURAL AREA 

(see Bandera County) 

Somervell County

DINOSAUR VALLEY Dinosaur Valley, located within Dinosaur Valley State Park, 

contains the only known source of distinct and full-grown sauropod 

footprints. The trackways are among the first clearly defined for 

sauropods in North America. These tracks provided evidence 

relating to locomotion and foot structure for these large dinosaurs. 

Designated: 1968. Ownership: State. 

Sutton County

CAVERNS OF SONORA Caverns of Sonora contains unusual formations, such as bladed 

helictites and coralloid growths, and is of exceptional beauty. 

Designated: 1965. Ownership: Private. 

Tarrant County

FORT WORTH NATURE 

CENTER AND REFUGE 

Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge contains outstanding 

examples of the unique oak-hickory forest associations called cross 

timbers. The site also has good examples of prairie, riparian 

forests, marshes and limestone ledges. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Municipal. 
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UTAH

UTAH (4) 

Emery County

CLEVELAND-LLOYD 

DINOSAUR QUARRY 

The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry has provided more than 

10,000 fossil bones from at least seven different genera of the 

Jurassic Period, representing more than 60 individual animals. The 

unique predator trap is unduplicated in any other classic dinosaur 

beds known anywhere in the world. Designated: 1965. Ownership: 

Federal. 

Garfield County

LITTLE ROCKIES The Little Rockies exhibits excellent exposures of intrusive plugs or 

stocks with associated sills, dikes and laccoliths, all of which were 

first studied, described and named there. The mountains have 

figured prominently in development of the concept of forceful 

igneous emplacement in relatively flat-lying sediments. It 

represents the classic site of such formations to geologists around 

the world. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Federal, State. 

Salt Lake County

NEFFS CANYON CAVE Neffs Canyon Cave, located within the Wasatch National Forest, is 

an extremely dangerous cave with no significant horizontal 

passages. Most passages dip steeply at a 45-60 degree gradient. 

The site is an excellent example of a cave formed by the capture of 

a surface stream. Designated: 1977. Ownership: Federal. 

Washington County

JOSHUA TREE NATURAL 

AREA 

Joshua Tree Natural Area is the only Joshua tree forest in Utah and 

the northernmost stand of tree yuccas in the country. The site 

clearly illustrates the flora and fauna of the Joshua tree association 

and includes a number of plants and animals that reach the 

northern edge of their range. Designated: 1966. Ownership: 

Federal. 
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VERMONT

VERMONT (12) 

Addison County

BATTELL BIOLOGICAL 

PRESERVE 

The virgin hemlock-northern hardwood stand within Battell 

Biological Preserve illustrates a pristine, climax, New England 

forest. Hemlocks reach a diameter of 30 to 40 inches and heights 

over 100 feet. Located on a steep, rocky mountain slope, the 

undisturbed site is used primarily for educational purposes. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: Private. 

CORNWALL SWAMP Cornwall Swamp, a forested wetland, is considered to be the 

largest, unbroken red maple swamp in Vermont. The swamp 

contains abundant and diverse shrub and fern growth and at its 

center, Northern white cedar replaces red maple as dominant. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: State, municipal, private. 

LITTLE OTTER CREEK 

MARSH 

Little Otter Creek Marsh, a large, unspoiled, fresh water wetland, 

supports a rich variety of marsh vegetation and numerous breeding 

and migrating bird species. Four streams flow through the shallow 

marsh, considered the best large expanse of marsh land in 

Vermont and possibly New England. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: State, private. 

Bennington County

FISHER-SCOTT 

MEMORIAL PINES 

An old-growth stand of white pine, Fisher-Scott Memorial Pines 

illustrates the successional white-pine subclimax forest typical to 

New England. The even-aged trees reach heights of 120 feet and 

diameters of 40 inches and are the largest pines in Vermont. 

Designated: 1976. Ownership: State. 

Chittenden County

CAMEL’S HUMP (see Washington County) 

MOUNT MANSFIELD 

NATURAL AREA 

(extends into Lamoille County) On the upper slopes and summit 

ridge of Mount Mansfield Natural Area occur virgin, red sprucebalsam fir forest, extensive alpine tundra, and rare arctic flora not 

found elsewhere in the northeast. The site includes “The Chin,” the 

highest peak in Vermont and the 600-foot cliffs of scenic and 

historic “Smuggler’s Notch.” Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 
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VERMONT

Franklin County

FRANKLIN BOG Franklin Bog is a cold, northern sphagnum-heath bog containing a 

small, dark-water pond, surrounded by an enormous floating mat 

that is dominated by sphagnum moss and low-growing leatherleaf. 

Black spruce and tamarack dominate the forested perimeter. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Grand Isle County

CHAZY FOSSIL REEF (extends into Clinton County, New York) Chazy Fossil Reef 

represents the oldest known occurrence of a biologically diverse 

fossil reef in the world, the earliest appearance of fossil coral in a 

reef environment, and the first documented example of the 

ecological principle of faunal succession. Designated: 2009. 

Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

Lamoille County

MOLLY BOG Molly Bog illustrates a classic, early successional, cold northern 

bog. The site contains a small, dark-water pond, floating mat of 

sphagnum moss and heath plants, and black spruce-tamarack 

forest. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State, private. 

MOUNT MANSFIELD 

NATURAL AREA 

(see Chittenden County) 

Orleans County

BARTON RIVER MARSH A large, shallow, freshwater marsh, Barton River Marsh is 

considered one of the best in New England. The wetland and 

winding Barton River drain northward into Lake Memphremagog 

and provide prime habitat for waterfowl and marsh birds. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

LAKE WILLOUGHBY 

NATURAL AREA 

Lake Willoughby, a deep, cold-water lake within Lake Willoughby 

Natural Area lies in a u-shaped trough cut into granite by glacial 

scouring. Mountains and 1,500-foot cliffs rise abruptly from the 

lake’s east and west shores. It is the deepest lake in Vermont and 

one of the most significant and scenic examples of glacial erosion 

in the northeast. Designated: 1967. Ownership: State. 
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VERMONT – VIRGIN ISLANDS

Rutland County

GIFFORD WOODS Gifford Woods is an old-growth, northern hardwood, climax forest 

characterized by the great height and large diameters of its canopy 

layer, representation of all-age and size trees, and a rich 

herbaceous understory. Trees reach 40 inches in diameter, over 

100 feet in height and a portion of the stand is considered near 

virgin. Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 

Washington County

CAMEL’S HUMP The mountain and metamorphic rock of Camel’s Hump illustrate the 

complex, anticlinal deformation that formed the Green Mountains, 

and support the second largest extent of alpine-tundra in Vermont. 

Altitude-related zonation of biota is demonstrated by the transition 

from treeless ridge, to alpine-heath vegetation, to boreal fir, red 

spruce-birch and hardwood forests. Designated: 1968. Ownership: 

State. 

VIRGIN ISLANDS (7) 

St. Croix

GREEN CAY Green Cay is the nesting ground for the American oyster catcher, 

brown pelican and other shore birds. Located within Green Cay 

National Wildlife Refuge, the site is also one of only two islands 

where the endangered St. Croix ground lizard, now extinct on St. 

Croix, still exists. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

SANDY POINT Sandy Point, located within Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, is 

the only place in the United States or American Territories which is 

regularly used for nesting by the endangered leatherback sea turtle. 

In addition, unique sand spits enclose a salt pond at this site. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

SALT RIVER BAY The submarine canyon at the mouth of Salt River Bay provides 

habitat for deep water corals, sponges and fishes. The site is 

primarily located within the Salt River Bay National Historical Park 

and Ecological Preserve and also includes Sugar Bay, the shores 

of which support the best remaining stands of mangrove in the 

Virgin Islands. These undisturbed stands illustrate the zonation of 

red, black, and white mangrove and support a multitude of bird 

species. Overall, the Salt River Estuary is an excellent example of 

mixed carbonate and clastic sedimentation processes. Designated: 

1980. Ownership: Federal, private. 
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VIRGIN ISLANDS - VIRGINIA

VAGTHUS POINT Vagthus Point is the best-known locality for Upper Cretaceous 

fossils in the Virgin Islands. In addition, it is the only known site in 

the world in which Barrettia and Titanosarcolites are found together. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 

St. John

LAGOON POINT Lagoon Point is an excellent example of a Caribbean fringing reef

and is unique, because unlike Buck Island or Tague Bay, this site 

represents a protected reef. The site also includes a mangrove 

area and a salt pond. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Virgin Islands 

Government, Private. 

St. Thomas

COKI POINT CLIFFS The Coki Point Cliffs are one of the rare localities on St. Thomas 

Island where fossils are found. There are very few locations where 

fossiliferous Lower Cretaceous rocks are exposed and this, the only 

place in the Virgin Islands, is quite rich in Caprinuloidea rudistids, a 

marine bivalve, as well as other fossils. Designated: 1980. 

Ownership: Private. 

WEST END CAYS The West End Cays are unique in the Virgin Islands region because 

of the nesting sea birds. Only in the Cordillera, Desecheo, and 

Mona and Monito Islands in Puerto Rico are there similar nesting 

sites free of interference from rodents and humans. These isolated 

islands are one of the few nesting sites for species such as the 

blue-faced booby, the Bahama duck and the endangered brown 

pelican. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Virgin Islands 

Government. 

VIRGINIA (10) 

Accomack County

VIRGINIA COAST 

RESERVE 

(extends into Northampton County) The Virginia Coast Reserve is 

an extensive, relatively undisturbed barrier island-lagoon complex 

serving as a valuable refuge for migratory shorebirds, waterfowl 

and colonial nesting birds. Designated: 1979. Ownership: State, 

private. 

Augusta County

GRAND CAVERNS Grand Caverns contains unique shield formations as well as 

draperies, flowstone, stalactites and stalagmites. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: Regional Park Authority. 
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VIRGINIA

Bath County

BUTLER CAVEBREATHING CAVE 

Butler Cave-Breathing Cave includes two major cave systems that 

contain a 40-foot waterfall, a natural bridge, unusually fine “floating” 

crystalline formations, and an underground lake. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 

King George County

CALEDON NATURAL 

AREA 

Caledon Natural Area is one of the best examples of oak-tulip 

poplar-dominated virgin upland forest in the country. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: State. 

Northampton County

VIRGINIA COAST 

RESERVE 

(see Accomack County) 

Orange County

MONTPELIER FOREST Montpelier Forest, located within President James Madison’s 

Montpelier, represents the best example of mature forest 

dominated primarily by tulip poplar and spicebush in the Piedmont 

biophysiographic province. This very old, mature forest is 

composed of mainly oak, hickory, and poplar. Designated: 1987. 

Ownership: Private. 

Page County

LURAY CAVERNS Luray Caverns, discovered in 1878, is ornately decorated with 

cascades, columns, stalactites, stalagmites and pools. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: Private. 

Rockbridge County

RICH HOLE Rich Hole, located within the George Washington National Forest, 

is an outstanding example of a “cove” hardwood forest. This wellprotected watershed contains a virgin forest with remarkably large 

oak and hickory trees. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal, 

private. 
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VIRGINIA - WASHINGTON

Suffolk City

GREAT DISMAL SWAMP The Great Dismal Swamp site is a remnant of the original Great 

Dismal Swamp containing geological and ecological elements 

unique in the nation. The variety of flora and fauna makes it a 

superb outdoor laboratory for the study of ecological processes. 

Designated: 1972. Ownership: Federal. 

Sussex County

CHARLES C. STEIRLY 

NATURAL AREA 

The Charles C. Steirly Natural Area, is a small essentially virgin 

stand of climax bald cypress-water tupelo swamp forest. 

Designated: 1974. Ownership: State. 

Virginia Beach

SEASHORE NATURAL 

AREA 

Seashore Natural Area, located within First Landing State Park, 

contains parallel dunes that are densely wooded with two distinct 

forest types of semitropical character. The site is also a sanctuary 

for abundant wildlife. Designated: 1965. Ownership: State. 

WASHINGTON (17) 

Adams County

DRUMHELLER 

CHANNELS 

(extends into Grant County) Drumheller Channels are the most 

spectacular example in the Columbia Plateau biophysiographic 

province of "butte-and-basin" scabland; an erosional landscape 

characterized by hundreds of isolated, steep-sided hills surrounded 

by a braided network of underfit channels. It illustrates the dramatic 

modification of the Columbia Plateau volcanic terrain by late 

Pleistocene catastrophic glacial outburst floods. These floods 

occurred at a scale remaining unparalleled on earth, either in the 

geologic record or in historical account. Designated: 1986. 

Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

Asotin County

GRANDE RONDE FEEDER 

DIKES 

The Grande Ronde Feeder Dikes is the best example of basalt 

dikes, the congealed feeder sources of the Columbia River basalt 

plateau. The site illustrates how these flows originated by eruption 

along multiple fissures. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Private. 
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WASHINGTON

GRANDE RONDE 

GOOSENECKS 

Grande Ronde Goosenecks, a 1,500-foot deep canyon that follows 

a tortuous path along meanders, illustrates regional uplift and 

forced entrenchment of a stream. Designated: 1980. Ownership: 

Federal, State, private. 

Benton County

WALLULA GAP (extends into Walla Walla County) Wallula Gap is the largest, most 

spectacular, and most significant of the several large water gaps 

through basalt anticlines in the Columbia River basin. Designated: 

1980. Ownership: Federal, municipal, private. 

Clallam County

POINT OF ARCHES Point of Arches, located within a relatively isolated part of Olympic 

National Park, illustrates a pristine spectrum of environmental 

conditions from rocky tidelands to climax upland vegetation. The 

site is also an outstanding exhibit of sea action in sculpturing a 

rocky shoreline. Designated: 1971. Ownership: Federal, State. 

Douglas County

BOULDER PARK AND 

McNEIL CANYON 

HAYSTACK ROCKS 

Boulder Park and McNeil Canyon Haystack Rocks is composed of 

two adjacent sites that together contain the greatest concentration 

and most illustrative examples of glacial erratics (large glaciertransported boulders) in the Columbia Plateau biophysiographic 

province. As the visible products of dynamic glacier processes, 

they provide important evidence for the direction of movement and 

location of glacier ice on the Columbia Plateau during the last 

glaciation. Due to the lack of vegetation in this area, these sites are 

also probably the most illustrative examples of glacial erratics in the 

United States. Designated: 1986. Ownership: State, private. 

SIMS CORNER ESKER 

AND KAME COMPLEX 

Sims Corner Esker and Kame Complex contains the best examples 

in the Columbia Plateau biophysiographic province of landforms 

resulting from stagnation and rapid retreat of the ice sheet during 

the last glaciation. The ice stagnation features at the site, including 

eskers and kame deposits, are highly visible and well-preserved 

owing to the arid climate and lack of vegetation, and so are perhaps 

the most illustrative of such features in the United States. 

Designated: 1986. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 
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WASHINGTON

THE GREAT GRAVEL 

BAR OF MOSES 

COULEE 

The Great Gravel Bar of Moses Coulee contains the largest and 

best example of a pendent river bar formed by catastrophic glacial 

outburst floods that swept across the Columbia Plateau prior to the 

last Pleistocene glaciation. The impressive scale of this feature, 

deposited in Moses Coulee, provides dramatic evidence for the 

violent flood waters that formed and once filled the coulee. As a 

constructional landform, it thus serves as a complement to 

Drumheller Channels, which was eroded during the same flood 

events further downstream. Designated: 1986. Ownership: State, 

private. 

WITHROW MORAINE AND 

JAMESON LAKE 

DRUMLIN FIELD 

Withrow Moraine and Jameson Lake Drumlin Field contains the 

best examples of drumlins and the most illustrative segment of the 

only Pleistocene terminal moraine in the Columbia Plateau 

biophysiographic province. Both features together provide readily 

observable evidence of the large-scale depositional and erosional 

processes that accompany continental glaciation. They are also 

the only such glacial features in the world to show a clear 

geological relationship to catastrophic flooding, which occurred prior 

to the last advance of the ice sheet. Designated: 1986. Ownership: 

Private. 

Grant County

DRUMHELLER 

CHANNELS 

(see Adams County) 

GRAND COULEE Grand Coulee is an illustration of a series of geological events 

including outpourings of lava, advance and recession of glacial ice, 

retreat of waterfalls, and the cutting of the Columbia River channel. 

Designated: 1965. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

Kittitas County

GINKGO PETRIFIED 

FOREST 

The Ginkgo Petrified Forest contains thousands of logs petrified in 

lava flows containing an unusually large number of tree species. 

Logs of the ginkgo tree, rarely found as fossil wood, are located 

here. Designated: 1965. Ownership: State. 

UMTANUM RIDGE WATER 

GAP 

Umtanum Ridge Water Gap is one of the anticlinal ridges in the 

Yakima Folded Ridges subsection of the Columbia Basin. The site 

illustrates the geological processes of tectonic folding and 

antecedent stream cutting. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal, 

State, private. 
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WASHINGTON

Okanogan County

DAVIS CANYON Davis Canyon contains one of the largest and least disturbed 

examples of antelope bitterbrush-Idaho fescue shrub steppe 

remaining in the Columbia Plateau biophysiographic province. 

Designated: 1986. Ownership: State, private. 

Pierce County

NISQUALLY DELTA (extends into Thurston County) The Nisqually Delta is an unusually 

fine example of an estuarine ecosystem. It is the only natural 

resting area for migratory waterfowl in the southern Puget Sound 

region. Designated: 1971. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

Thurston County

MIMA MOUNDS The Mima Mounds area is a prairie containing unusual soil pimples 

of black silt-gravel. The mounds range in height from barely 

perceptible to a maximum of seven feet. Designated: 1966. 

Ownership: State. 

NISQUALLY DELTA (see Pierce County) 

Walla Walla County

WALLULA GAP (see Benton County) 

Whitman County

ROSE CREEK PRESERVE Rose Creek Preserve is considered to be the best remaining 

example of the aspen phase of the hawthorne-cow parsnip habitat 

type in the Columbia Plateau. The site is highly valuable for 

scientific research. Designated: 1984. Ownership: Private. 

STEPTOE AND KAMIAK 

BUTTES 

Steptoe and Kamiak Buttes are isolated mountain peaks of older 

rock surrounded by basalt, rising above the surrounding lava 

plateau. These peaks are outliers of the Couer d' Alene Mountains 

of Idaho. Designated: 1965. Ownership: State, county, private. 
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WEST VIRGINIA

WEST VIRGINIA (13) 

Greenbrier County

ORGAN CAVE SYSTEM The Organ Cave System, which contains seven caves including 

Organ Cave, is the largest cave system in West Virginia. The site 

is also noted for its saltpeter troughs and vats. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Private. 

LOST WORLD CAVERNS Lost World Caverns features terraced pedestal-like stalagmites, 

flowstone, curtains, rimstone, domepits, and waterfalls. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Monroe County

GREENVILLE 

SALTPETER CAVE 

Greenville Saltpeter Cave is the largest of the saltpeter caves in 

West Virginia. The cave contains rimstone pools and saltpeter 

deposits. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Pendleton County

GERMANY VALLEY 

KARST AREA 

The Germany Valley Karst Area is one of the largest cove or 

intermountain karst areas in the country. The site is unique 

because all the ground water recharge and solution activities are 

linked with precipitation within the cove. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: Federal, private. 

SINNETT-THORN 

MOUNTAIN CAVE 

SYSTEM 

The Sinnett-Thorn Mountain Cave System includes rooms at 

various levels connected by crawlways and vertical shafts, and 

contains waterfalls and deep pits. Designated: 1973. Ownership: 

Private. 

Pocahontas County

CRANBERRY GLADES 

BOTANTICAL AREA 

Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, located within the Monongahela 

National Forest, is the largest and best example of “cranberry 

glades” in West Virginia. The natural cold air drainage and moist 

substrate provide an ideal setting for a northern sphagnum bog. 

The site contains three major vegetation types: bog forest, shrub 

thickets, and open glade. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal. 

GAUDINEER SCENIC 

AREA 

(extends into Randolph County) Gaudineer Scenic Area, located 

within the Monongahela National Forest, represents the best 

remaining virgin red spruce forest in West Virginia. Designated: 

1974. Ownership: Federal. 
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WEST VIRGINIA

Preston County

CATHEDRAL PARK Cathedral Park contains a remnant virgin hemlock forest and dense 

thickets of rhododendron on a cool, poorly drained substrate. 

Designated: 1965. Ownership: State. 

CRANESVILLE SWAMP 

NATURE SANCTUARY 

(see Garrett County, Maryland) 

Randolph County

BLISTER RUN SWAMP Blister Run Swamp, located within the Monongahela National 

Forest, represents a good, high-altitude balsam fir swamp at 

probably its southernmost extension. The swamp provides habitat 

for several uncommon and rare plants. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: Federal. 

GAUDINEER SCENIC 

AREA 

(see Pocahontas County) 

SHAVERS MOUNTAIN 

SPRUCE-HEMLOCK 

STAND 

Shavers Mountain Spruce-Hemlock Stand, located within the 

Monongahela National Forest, represents an old-growth red 

spruce-hemlock stand, locally known as a “spruce flat.” The area is 

a disjunct component of the more northern hemlock-white pinenorthern hardwood forest region. Designated: 1974. Ownership: 

Federal. 

Tucker County

BIG RUN BOG Big Run Bog, located within the Monongahela National Forest, 

contains a relict Pleistocene high-altitude northern sphagnum-red 

spruce bog that is far south of its normal range. It harbors large 

numbers of rare plants and animals. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: Federal. 

CANAAN VALLEY Located mostly within Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, 

Canaan Valley contains a large aggregation of Pleistocene habitats 

seldom found in the eastern United States. It is unique as a 

northern boreal relict community at this latitude by virtue of its size, 

elevation, and diversity. Designated: 1974. Ownership: Federal, 

State, private. 

FISHER SPRING RUN 

BOG 

Fisher Spring Run Bog, located within the Monongahela National 

Forest, is an excellent example of a sphagnum-red spruce bog 

vividly illustrating vegetation zonation. Designated: 1974. 

Ownership: Federal. 
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WISCONSIN

WISCONSIN (18)

Ashland County

KAKAGON SLOUGHS Kakagon Sloughs is an excellent representative of a true freshwater 

delta by virtue of its large size, complex mixture of marsh, bog and 

dune vegetation types, and undisturbed condition. The site is one 

of the finest marsh complexes on the upper Great Lakes. 

Designated: 1973. Ownership: Indian Trust (Bad River Indian 

Tribe), private. 

Bayfield County

MOQUAH BARRENS 

RESEARCH NATURAL 

AREA 

Located within the Chequamegon National Forest, Moquah Barrens 

Research Natural Area is representative of the jack pine-scrub oak 

barrens (savannas) of the glacial outwash area of northwestern 

Wisconsin. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

Buffalo County

CHIPPEWA RIVER 

BOTTOMS 

Chippewa River Bottoms is the largest single stand of bottomland 

hardwood forest along the once widespread post-glacial forest. 

The site includes a large great blue heron rookery. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: Federal, State. 

Dane County

CAVE OF THE MOUNDS Cave of the Mounds provides an exceptional illustration of two 

principal modes of limestone cave formation (speleogenesis): the 

solution of cave passageways by "vadose" water flowing above, 

and by "phreatic" groundwater flowing below the water table. The 

cave is richly decorated with cave formations of most known 

varieties, including stalagmites measuring 18 feet in height, and 

many colorful displays of mineral deposits, including pure calcite. 

Designated: 1987. Ownership: Private. 

Door County

RIDGES SANCTUARYTOFT’S POINT-MUD 

LAKE AREA 

Ridges Sanctuary-Toft’s Point-Mud Lake Area is a series of sand 

ridges and swales with associated boreal forest and bog vegetation. 

The site contains unusually high species diversity, as well as the 

best mixed stand of large red and white pine, hemlock, and 

northern hardwoods on the western shore of Lake Michigan. 

Designated: 1967. Ownership: State, private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 107

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JUNE 2009 

WISCONSIN

Fond du Lac County

SPRUCE LAKE BOG Spruce Lake Bog, located within Kettle Moraine State Forest, is a 

superb, unspoiled example of a northern bog. The site possesses 

relict flora and fauna from early post-glacial times. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: State, private. 

Forest County

BOSE LAKE HEMLOCK 

HARDWOODS 

Located within Nicolet National Forest, Bose Lake Hemlock 

Hardwoods is a mature northern hardwood-hemlock stand that 

contains the best virgin stand of hemlock in Wisconsin. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal. 

Grant County

WYALUSING HARDWOOD 

FOREST 

Wyalusing Hardwood Forest, located within Wyalusing State Park, 

exhibits high biological diversity illustrating nine major vegetation 

types. The site contains several rare plant species and abundant 

wildlife, including some endangered species. Designated: 1973. 

Ownership: State. 

Green County

ABRAHAM’S WOODS Abraham’s Woods is a remnant of regional climax maple-basswood 

forest, a vegetation type rare in southern Wisconsin. Designated: 

1973. Ownership: State. 

Iowa County

AVOCA RIVER-BOTTOM 

PRAIRIE 

Avoca River-Bottom Prairie is the largest intact prairie in Wisconsin. 

The site contains a nearly full complement of plant species. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: State. 

Kenosha County

CHIWAUKEE PRAIRIE The best remaining wet prairie in Wisconsin, Chiwaukee Prairie is a 

remnant of a once widespread vegetation type along the southern 

shores of Lake Michigan. The site includes several rare plant 

species. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State, private. 

Manitowoc County

POINT BEACH RIDGES Consisting of alternating ridges and swales, Point Beach Ridges 

was formed by previous water levels of Lake Michigan. The site 

exhibits a range of successional vegetation states. Designated: 

1980. Ownership: State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 108

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JUNE 2009 

WISCONSIN

Marquette County

SUMMERTON BOG Summerton Bog is a relatively large, undisturbed, and floristically 

diverse area. The site illustrates the slow, natural invasion of postglacial plant communities into a predominantly relict glacial 

community, and provides habitat for many rare plant and animal 

species. Designated: 1973. Ownership: Private. 

Oneida County

FINNERUD FOREST 

SCIENTIFIC AREA 

Finnerud Forest Scientific Area is an excellent representative of the 

northern coniferous forest complex. The site is one of the few 

sizeable areas in the lake states containing red pine forest over 100 

years of age. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

Ozaukee County

CEDARBURG BOG Cedarburg Bog is the largest and most outstanding bog in 

southeastern Wisconsin. The site serves as a refugium for many 

northern species of plants and birds and provides habitat for a great 

variety of wildlife. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State, private. 

Sauk County

BARABOO RANGE An example of an exhumed mountain range, Baraboo Range 

illustrates a changing landscape through geologic time. The 

climate, soils, fauna, and vegetation exhibit great local diversity. 

Designated: 1980. Ownership: State, private. 

Sawyer County

FLAMBEAU RIVER 

HEMLOCK-HARDWOOD 

FOREST 

Flambeau River Hemlock-Hardwood Forest, located within 

Flambeau River State Forest, is the best and largest remnant of the 

old-growth conifer-hardwood forest in Wisconsin. Severely 

damaged by a windstorm in 1977, the site is in the process of 

regeneration. Designated: 1973. Ownership: State. 

Vernon County

KICKAPOO RIVER 

NATURAL AREA 

Kickapoo River Natural Area contains the largest undisturbed 

concentration of exposed seeping sandstone in Wisconsin. The 

site is a good example, in the driftless area of southwest Wisconsin, 

of a river with many entrenched meanders. Additionally, the 

combination of geologic factors has created a multitude of diverse 

microhabitats that support many flora species, some of which are 

endangered. Designated: 1975. Ownership: Federal, State. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 109

OF NATURAL LANDMARKS 

JUNE 2009 

WYOMING

WYOMING (6) 

Albany County

BIG HOLLOW Big Hollow is a 40-square mile wind deflation basin scoured out by 

high winds during a prehistoric dry period. The hollow represents a 

classic case of “topographic reversal” and is the largest 

demonstrable example of its type in the 48 contiguous states. The 

site has typical natural wind-swept high altitude vegetation and 

examples of salt- and selenium-tolerant species. Designated: 

1980. Ownership: Federal, private. 

COMO BLUFF (extends into Carbon County) Como Bluff is one of the most 

significant Mesozoic vertebrate localities in the world. The first and 

best examples of Jurassic mammals, including the discovery of 80 

new vertebrate species, were found at this site. Designated: 1966. 

Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

SAND CREEK (extends into Larimer County, Colorado) Sand Creek possesses 

the most spectacular examples of cross-bedded sandstone and 

“topple blocks” in North America. Excellent geological, 

paleontological, and botanical features mark the importance of the 

area. Designated: 1984. Ownership: Federal, State, private. 

Big Horn County

CROOKED CREEK 

NATURAL AREA 

Crooked Creek Natural Area is a rich source of fossils of Early 

Cretaceous land vertebrates and is one of only three known areas 

representing this period of life on the North American continent. It 

has produced eight new species and three new genera of 

dinosaurs. Designated: 1966. Ownership: Federal. 

Carbon County

COMO BLUFF (see Albany County) 

Fremont County

RED CANYON Red Canyon is a scenic, well-developed example of a dissected 

cuesta, consisting of gently sloping plains bounded on one edge by 

an escarpment. The site exposes an outstanding section of PermoTriassic red beds and displays the northeast flank of the Wind River 

Range structure. Designated: 1980. Ownership: Federal, State, 

private. 
NATIONAL REGISTRY Page 110

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JUNE 2009 

WYOMING

Teton County

TWO OCEAN PASS Situated on the Continental Divide, Two Ocean Pass is located in 

the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Waters from the meadow at this 

pass divide to flow in opposite directions, toward the Gulf of Mexico 

and toward the Pacific Ocean. The site is the immigration route of 

the cutthroat trout from the Snake River (Pacific drainage) to 

Yellowstone Lake of the Missouri River Drainage (Atlantic 

drainage). It illustrates a natural phenomenon of animal distribution 

and dispersal. Designated: 1965. Ownership: Federal.